regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Help me find an English verb that describes a sound. It is the sound of wind in trees or a waterfall/river that is in some distance. It is a monotonous sound, no internal structure can be discerned (not rustle, burble, babble). It is of medium intensity (not roar). Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Susurrus. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIN MOUSA Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 bombinate, burble, buzz, gush, hum, murmur, prattle, ripple, rumble, whiz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Murmur, mutter, drone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 Thanks, but none of these is quite it. susurrus is too quiet; murmur/mutter/burble/prattle has internal structure where you can discern sub-sounds. whiz is fast. I am looking for the English equivalent to the German word "rauschen" if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Sometimes there isn't a direct translation. When I hear rauschen, the closest English word I think of is rustle. Rustle to me does not have any kind if rhythm or structure, although I think of it more for something like wind in tree branches or small animal noises (movement, not vocalization), it doesn't also work for river noises like rauschen does... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 I googled a translation of the word ? and gained a new one in English: sough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Would adding sonorous, orotund, or mellifluous to rustle, babble, susurration, or drone be close enough? I mean, not sonorous susurration. That would be ridiculous. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbelle Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 drone or maybe hum or buzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Lapping. However, I have to admit that I think of something faster when I think of rauschen. Google water sounds. Maybe a better word will pop up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 42 minutes ago, Tanaqui said: Susurrus. This one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonflower Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 In English I'm pretty sure we'd need to use two or three words to describe the sound (although susurrus is just gorgeous and also I think very apt and I'm impressed that Tanaqui thought of it - but if you want connotations of louder than that, there's no direct word that I know of). Maybe a very dull roar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Ever since I read this I can't get the "Es klappert die Mühle am rauschenden Bach..." tune out of my head... klipp klapp, klipp klapp, klipp klapp... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 I like whisper. Both wind and water can whisper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twolittleboys Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Yeah, I would have gone for whisper as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 White noise? Not very poetical sounding. I think I would have to use two words like dull roar, distant rushing or loud hum for it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 1 hour ago, Chris in VA said: I like whisper. Both wind and water can whisper. I like it, but whisper denotes something very quiet. This is not the sound I seek to describe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 To me sough is more of a human or emotional sound like groaning rather than a more steady natural sound. I think for river and wind I would use rushing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaVT Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Flowing? (for the water) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 swoooosh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 31 minutes ago, AmandaVT said: Flowing? (for the water) that's a type of motion. I need the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 31 minutes ago, jdahlquist said: swoooosh? that's probably the best. Is it actually a real word? And what's the difference between swoosh and whoosh? To me, whoosh sounds more airy and swoosh more watery, but can the native speakers help me out here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Sighing? Both wind and water can do that. (It's more of a wind sound, though.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsidian Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 4 minutes ago, regentrude said: that's probably the best. Is it actually a real word? And what's the difference between swoosh and whoosh? To me, whoosh sounds more airy and swoosh more watery, but can the native speakers help me out here? Swoosh is a word. It's more recognizable in pop culture referring to the Nike swoosh, obviously, but I think its actual definition fits what you're looking for? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Murmuration is a flock of starlings, but it's also the action of murmuring. I've also got thrum, whir....what about "rustling thrum"? for the trees, or "rushing drone" for waterfall..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 1 minute ago, Tibbie Dunbar said: Murmuration is a flock of starlings, but it's also the action of murmuring. I've also got thrum, whir....what about "rustling thrum"? for the trees, or "rushing drone" for waterfall..? From the definition I have seen "thrum" indicates a rhythmic noise. Is that true? If so, not the word... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Just now, regentrude said: From the definition I have seen "thrum" indicates a rhythmic noise. Is that true? If so, not the word... It does, but with "rustling" it would come across as "thrum" meaning consistent or ceaseless, not rhythmic, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 1 minute ago, Tibbie Dunbar said: It does, but with "rustling" it would come across as "thrum" meaning consistent or ceaseless, not rhythmic, I think. Isn't "rustling" a sound only dry things make? Like dry leaves, or silken petticoats? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 4 hours ago, HomeAgain said: sough. This was my first thought. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 3 minutes ago, regentrude said: Isn't "rustling" a sound only dry things make? Like dry leaves, or silken petticoats? The leaves wouldn't have to be dry; I'm listening to my leaves rustling before a storm right now (midwestern USA). Deciduous bur oak and apple trees that are being blown around vigorously; definitely sounds like rustling . Again, I wouldn't it use it for the water; then I would use 'rushing.' Now that I think of it, "rushing drone" is pretty good for a waterfall... Good luck! I think it would be very frustrating to know that there's a word out there for exactly what you want...Bess Streeter Aldrich (Nebraska prairie author, sort of a minor Willa Cather) would just salt her stories with German and let it be the reader's problem to look it up if they wanted to know. She would always provide context, of course - describing what was going on and then employing her word or phrase. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 Swoosh is the name of the Nike logo. I would think of whoosh as more airy sounding and swoosh as to items brushing against each other, I think of swoosh and whoosh both having some speed associated with them (hence the Nike logo), but that would maybe depend on context. Shwoosh is sometimes used. I don't think it is an official English dictionary word (and couldn't be used in scrabble). In English there are a number of "comic book sound words" that are used by themselves. They could be used in informal writing. I am not sure that we have as many verb sounds in English; perhaps we use more adverbs in those instances Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 5, 2018 Author Share Posted July 5, 2018 How do you pronounce "sough" I have found it pronounced as both "saf" and "sow". What is more common? or is the word archaic anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonflower Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 I have never heard anyone use it in real life but have read it. I read it in my head as sof (like soft without the final T sound). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 48 minutes ago, moonflower said: I have never heard anyone use it in real life but have read it. I read it in my head as sof (like soft without the final T sound). I have also never heard it pronounced, so now you had me curious and I looked it up... there are two possible pronunciations, either rhyming with tough (not cough) or sow as in female pig, not the spreading of seed in fields. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 I'd also only ever read the word. Upon asking my husband to pronounce the word (by spelling it out letter by letter), he immediately said suff as in 2 hours ago, Matryoshka said: rhyming with tough Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Maybe this? https://www.awatrees.com/2013/01/06/psithurism-the-sound-of-wind-whispering-through-the-trees/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Regentrude, is this for your poetry? Does it have to be a real word? Could you just write the sound, like "shhhh" or "whhhh" or something else representative? I do think "sough" is too archaic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 I think I would tend to use the word rumble - I am thinking of the low sound of thunder far away, or the ocean when it is far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyBC Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 16 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said: I think I would have to use two words like dull roar, distant rushing or loud hum for it. Distant rushing was what came to mind for me, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Up the airy mountain down the rushy glen we daren’t go a huntin’ for fear of little men I think “rushed” is the right word and even sounds like the German one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Rushy means it's covered with rushes, the plants, doesn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 6, 2018 Author Share Posted July 6, 2018 18 minutes ago, Tanaqui said: Rushy means it's covered with rushes, the plants, doesn't it? yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 1 minute ago, Danae said: I don't think there is one. There's a reason English Bible translations have to go with "a sound like a mighty rushing wind" for Pentecost. This. I really don't think there's a word. A small brook burbles or babbles, a huge river roars, but something in the middle? There's just no word, you'd have to say "the sound of the rushing river," which is not very poetic. I think of the verb 'schweigen' in German. There is no verb in English that directly describes the act of being silent or saying nothing. "Hush" doesn't work because that implies you were previously making some kind of sound. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 4 hours ago, klmama said: Regentrude, is this for your poetry? Does it have to be a real word? Could you just write the sound, like "shhhh" or "whhhh" or something else representative? I do think "sough" is too archaic. Sough is rather archaic but if it is for poetry it may work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 No one in my house was familiar with sough--DH has a very wide vocabulary; there is seldom a word that he isn't familiar with. DD is the linguist in the family and she did not know it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 There is not an English word for that that is not archaic that I know of. You could go with a 2 or 3 word phrase or make up a compound word and put a star by it and explain it. Shakespeare coined thousands of words to get the exact ones he wanted!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Quote Shakespeare coined thousands of words to get the exact ones he wanted!! He did not. With increasing research, most of his citations have now been shown not to be the earliest. Of those that remain, most are obviously pre-existing words that simply had never appeared in print before or simply new uses of old words - using "gleam" as a verb instead of a noun, for example. And then there's a small number of words made up of common roots. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 1 minute ago, Tanaqui said: He did not. With increasing research, most of his citations have now been shown not to be the earliest. Of those that remain, most are obviously pre-existing words that simply had never appeared in print before or simply new uses of old words - using "gleam" as a verb instead of a noun, for example. And then there's a small number of words made up of common roots. That is interesting, thanks! I guess he just know of lot of words and made some of the less common ones more common. The word frequency and use comparison of the number of words in his works verses other works is interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 That is true. He definitely popularized a lot of words that weren't all that common before he used them ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 For the wind sound you are describing, I would use sigh. For the waterfall, I would use drone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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