Chut! When French sounds become words

The French language has plenty of words derived from onomatopoeia – imitating, resembling, or suggesting the sound that they describe – these are called ‘mots issus d’une onomatopée’ in French. 

One of the best examples is chuchoter, meaning to whisper, which is a variant of chucheter from the 15th Century. 

It comes from the sound made by lips when moving and its command derivative ‘chut’ reminds us of the English ‘shush’ when asking someone to talk quietly or stop talking altogether. 

Synonymous verbs of chuchoter are the equally onomatopoeiac ‘quiet talk’ verbs, susurrer and murmurer. 

Plenty of onomatopoeiac French words, especially those employed by children, are easily recognisable to the Anglophone ear, such as ‘miam’ for our ‘yummy’; ‘atchoum’ for ‘achoo’ when sneezing; and ‘pin-pon’ for ‘nee-nah’ when a fire engine passes with its sirens on.

However, sometimes to the Anglophone ear, others don’t seem to ring true, a great example being the word for a cockerel’s morning wake-up cry. 

While we use ‘cock-a-doodle-doo!’, which to your Language noter’s ear sounds pretty reflective of the farmyard holler, the French use ‘cocorico!’

If you want to be a little more direct in your request for someone to be quiet, you can use ‘tais-toi’ to someone familiar or ‘taisez-vous’ to others or to a group. It is pretty abrupt, akin to ‘shut up’. 

Readers living in the countryside who are rudely awoken early on a Sunday morning (dimanche matin) by un coq when they want a lie-in (grasse matinée) might wish to employ it out the bedroom window.