Download or read book Diachronic Problems in Phonosymbolism written by Yakov Malkiel and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1990 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phonosymbolism, or sound symbolism (Lautsymbolik), is a vital ingredient of language growth. Many serious scholars, however, have regarded it with embarrassment or indifference. A cautious reintroduction of phonosymbolism as a factor responsible for changes undergone, in varying degrees, by most languages would now seem to be in order. The present volume brings together a number of recent articles on this subject, focusing mostly on problems from Romance languages, especially Spanish; but English also figures prominently.