ONOMATOPOEIA  , literally the making or formation of words (Gr. ovoµarozroua, from 6Po/2a, name, word,7roeeiv, to make), hence a

term used in philology for the formation of words by imitation of natural sounds, e.g. hiss," " hush," " click." Modern philologists prefer the term " echoism," " echoic " for this process, as suggesting the imitative repetition of the sounds heard . At one time there was an exaggerated tendency to find in echoism a principal source in the origin and growth of language, ridiculed as the " bow-wow " theory of language; it is now recognized that it has played only a limited part .