The literary term for non-word sounds?

[feppish]

I have in mind here a cough, a tsk, a grunt, a snort and so on, all used to communicate something but only quasi-words at most.

I seem to remember there is a term for these, but I cannot recall it.

Thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

Hi and welcome to Using English.

Do you mean "onomatopoeia"?

 

[Munch]

I don’t think he means onomatopoeia, Barb.

Some of the “words” you are talking about are interjections, although many interjections are “real” words.

I am interested to know if there is a better term for this group of vocalisations.​

 

[Tdol]

How about vocal segregates? And paralanguage is used for the general area.

 

[Raymott]

You could try "ejaculation".
ejaculation [ɪˌdʒækjʊˈleɪʃən]
n 1. an abrupt emphatic utterance or exclamation
ejaculation - definition of ejaculation by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

When babies do it, technically it's called babbling. Adults can also babble.
babbling - definition of babbling by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
Gurgling is an informal term for babies.

"Vocalising" can include words and non-words.
Non-word vocal production ...

 

[Barb_D]

I think there's also "paraverbals" -- things that are, uh, like words but, umm, not.

 

[BobK]

There's also Phatic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but that's not non-verbal.

b

 

[maplecountry]

Hi everybody,

There is also the linguistic term: backchannels. It refers to both verbal and non-verbal responses to indicate interest, such as uh huh, hmm, tsk, oh really.

 

[5jj]

Hi everybody,

There is also the linguistic term: backchannels. It refers to both verbal and non-verbal responses to indicate interest, such as uh huh, hmm, tsk, oh really.

Welcome to the forum.

And thanks for that information.