I tried to find an antonym for onomatopoeia and the only reference I could find on the web was this thread, which appears to have ended 8 years ago without a clear resolution. How could I not join a group of people who actually care about such things??? I feel the need to have such a word in our wonderful language. So, although I'm not particularly knowledgeable about greek and latin roots, I'll offer some suggestions and hope that others out there still care about this and we can come to a consensus and turn this figment into a real word.
I took the issues Scott raised as my starting points. So, my first premise about this word is that it should describe a word that sounds like what it doesn't mean (or more specifically like the opposite of what it means), rather than one that doesn't sound like what it means. The latter probably encompasses most words, and so it is less useful.
My second premise is that although it need not come from the same etymological roots, it would be helpful if it did in order to facilitate its incorporation into the language.
My third premise was that although it would be rich if it were an example of itself, it would not be helpful in incorporating it into the language. Also, if it were an example of onomatopoeia, that would not only facilitate incorporation, but would also be a delicious irony, since I don't think onomatopoeia is an example of itself.
Here are the roots I worked with:
anto, ante, counter, contra = opposite or against
son, phon/o = sound
nom, onoma, onym = name
And here are the resulting word ideas all in noun form only:
1. Antosonym or antesonym
2. Antosonoma or antesonoma
3. Antosonomoeia or antesonomoeia
4. Contrasonym or countersonym
5. Contrasonoma or countersonoma
6. Contrasonomoeia or countersonomoeia
7. Antophonym or antephonym
8. Antophonoma or antephonoma
9. Antophonomoeia or antephonomoeia
10. Contraphonym or counterphonym
11. Contraphonoma or counterphonoma
12. Contraphonomeia or counterphonomeia
OK, now my brain hurts.
All best,
Barbara
