the.com/soundwords
words that don't describe a sound, they just are one — bam, hiss, meow, done.
means onomatopoeia's casual nickname: words formed by imitating the noise they name.
from linguists call it onomatopoeia, from greek onoma (name) plus poiein (to make) — literally name-making, but english speakers wanted a word that didn't require a classics degree, so soundwords stuck as the plain-english shortcut.
cross-language chaosroosters go cock-a-doodle-doo in english, kikeriki in german
comics invented somepow and zap barely existed before superhero panels
babies learn these firstmoo and woof precede cow and dog developmentally