onomatopoetical

Updated: July 22, 2026

This idea, which is closely joined to the interjectional theory, Darwin meets with a related idea, depending upon the onomatopoetical theory, when he says, in his "Descent of Man": "Since monkeys certainly understand much that is said to them by man, and when wild, utter signal-cries of danger to their fellows, may not some unusually wise ape-like animal have imitated the growl of a beast of prey, and thus told his fellow-monkeys the nature of the expected danger?

Rudolf Schmid - The Theories of Darwin and Their Relation to Philosophy, Religion, and Morality