A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of Onomatopoeia: A Folk Epistemological Approach in the Feyli Kurdish Dialect

Onomatopoeia is among the most archaic elements of language, establishing a direct link between sensory experience, cognitive perception, and linguistic expression. Adopting an integrated cognitive linguistics and folk epistemology perspective, this study analyzes onomatopoeic words in the Feyli Kurdish dialect and investigates their role in representing embodied experiences, emotions, motor actions, and the natural ecology of the speakers. The data were collected through qualitative methods, including field observation, semi-structured interviews with 35 native speaker, and documentary research. The analysis reveals that Feyli Kurdish onomatopoeias exhibit clear cognitive and phonological systematicity, with the selection of vowels and consonants governed by a distinct perceptual-cultural logic. High vowels and fricative consonants are predominantly employed in onomatopoeias associated with pain, crying, and suffering, whereas open vowels and plosive consonants occur more frequently in onomatopoeias related to anger, collision, and high-intensity phenomena. The findings further demonstrate that onomatopoeias carry indigenous knowledge and reflect gender-, age-, and ecology-based patterns within the speech community. Ultimately, the study indicates that the decline in the use of onomatopoeias entails the erosion of a segment of cultural knowledge and specific modes of sensory perception, underscoring the fundamental importance of their documentation and analysis for linguistic and cultural research.