An Analysis of English Onomatopoeia in Dog Man: Big Jim Begins Comic by Dav Pilkey

Tias Septiani

doi:10.55927/fjas.v4i9.329

Authors

Tias Septiani Universitas Gunadarma

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55927/fjas.v4i9.329

Keywords:

Big Jim Begins Comic, Körtvélyessy, Štekauer, Onomatopoeia

Abstract

Onomatopoeia is the act of creating or using words that include sounds that are similar to the noises the words refer to. This research explores how onomatopoeia is used in Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, applying Körtvélyessy and Štekauer’s (2024) classification from Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, 87 examples were identified and grouped into water (5), air (11), mammals (2), body (26), vehicles (2), instruments of war and destruction (26), and mechanical and electronic equipment and devices (15). Body sounds and instruments of war and destruction were the most common. Results indicate that onomatopoeia significantly enhances the comic’s atmosphere, illustrates actions, and conveys character emotions, making the story more engaging and easier to follow. This detailed classification offers deeper insights into how sound effects strengthen storytelling in comics.

References

Akcanca, N. (2020). An Alternative Teaching Tool in Science Education: Educational Comics. In International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET) (Vol. 7, Issue 4). http://iojet.org/index.php/IOJET/article/view/1063.

Ardianto, D. T., Mataram, S., Ismail, A. I., & Wicaksono, A. R. (2023). Onomatopoeia: When Sound Is Seen. Mudra Jurnal Seni Budaya, 38(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.31091/mudra.v38i1.2220.

Ardipa, I. P. M. C., Utami, N. M. V., & Jayantini, I. G. A. S. R. (2023). An Analysis Types of Onomatopoeia Words in Justice League Comic. Traverse: Journal of Language and Applied Linguistics, 4(1), 66–72. https://doi.org/10.22334/traverse.v4i1.

Badiozaman, F., Sharififar, M., Rahimi, M. Z., & Samani, E. (2024). Analysis of Sound Effect Classification in English Comics and their Persian Translations. Journal of Language and Translation, 14(3), 47–59.

Bhatia, A., Pohl, H., Hirzle, T., Seifi, H., & Hornbæk, K. (2024, May 11). Using the Visual Language of Comics to Alter Sensations in Augmented Reality. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642351.

Cohn, N., Cardoso, B., Klomberg, B., & Hacımusaoğlu, I. (2023). The Visual Language Research Corpus (VLRC): An Annotated Corpus of Comics from Asia, Europe, and the United States. Language Resources and Evaluation, 57(4), 1729–1744. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10579-023-09673-0.

Cove, R. (2025, January 31). What Is Onomatopoeia? | Definition & Examples. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/rhetoric/onomatopoeia.

Farkhodovna, J. G. (2025). The Use of Onomatopoeia in Literature. International Multidisciplinary Journal for Research & Development, 12(02), 187–190.

Guffey, D. C. (2020). The Comic Book Conundrum: Defining Comic Books as a Literary Genre [Eastern Kentucky University]. https://encompass.eku.edu/honors_theses/724.

Kim, J., & Hong, J.-H. (2025, April 26). OnomaCap: Making Non-speech Sound Captions Accessible and Enjoyable through Onomatopoeic Sound Representation. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713911.

Körtvélyessy, L., & Andrej, Ľ. (2023). Derivational Networks of Onomatopoeias in English and Slovak. Canadian Journal of Linguistics, 68(1), 74–107. https://doi.org/10.1017/cnj.2022.42.

Körtvélyessy, L., & Štekauer, Pavol. (2024). Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages: A Comparative Handbook (L. Körtvélyessy & P. Štekauer, Eds.). De Gruyter Mouton.

Kroeger, P. R. (2022). Analyzing Meaning: An Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics (3rd ed.). Language Science Press.

Langus, N., Komang Sulatra, I., & Made Verayanti Utami, N. (2023). Onomatopoeia Found in Shazam Comic. Traverse: Journal of Language and Applied Linguistics, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.22334/traverse.v4i2.

Maheni, N. K. E., Candra, K. D. P., & Juniartha, I. W. (2021). A Study of Onomatopoeia in Wonder Woman Comic. ELYSIAN JOURNAL: English Literature, Linguistics and Translation Studies, 1(3).

Muslima, A. T., Kurniawan, E., & Hermawan, B. (2024). Application of Onomatopoeia in the Comic “Popeye the Sailorman” Volumes 60-65. Tamaddun Life: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra Dan Budaya, 23. https://doi.org/10.33096/tamaddun.v23i2.778.

Nurmana, A. H. B. (2021, September 27). Komik Pertama di Dunia.

Pilkey, D. (2024). Dog Man: Big Jim Begins (K. Geist & J. Newman, Eds.). Graphix.

Pischedda, P. S. (2024). The sound of the Italian Comic Book: Representing Noises, Senses, and Emotions Across 80 Years. Open Linguistics, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2022-0273.

Prihadi, D., Jayanti, I. G. A. S. R., & Resen, I. W. (2021). An Analysis Types of Onomatopoeia Words in Batman Beyond Comic. ELYSIAN JOURNAL: English Literature, Linguistics and Translation Studies, 1(2).

Purwasari, R. (2020). The Concepts of References in Semantic. Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa STKIP Al Maksum Langkat, 1(1). https://jurnal.stkipalmaksum.ac.id/index.php/jim.

Qizi, U. M. S. (2024). Semantics, the Study of Meanings. Journal of Innovation in Educational and Social Research, 2(8). http://journals.proindex.uz.

Rohan, O., Sasamoto, R., & O’Brien, S. (2021). Onomatopoeia: A Relevance-based Eye-tracking Study of Digital Manga. ELSEVIER: Journal of Pragmatics, 186, 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.09.018.