Vroom

Vroom (also spelt varoom) is an onomatopoeia that represents the sound of an engine revving up. It also describes the act of purposefully operating a motor vehicle at high speeds so as to create loud engine noises. The word is a common early childhood sound, and is used in speech therapy techniques. It is also an example of a cross-linguistic onomatopoeia.

Origins

Role in language development

"The social phonological play of two year olds is exemplified by use of conventional noises, through syllable repetition, to identify actions, events, and objects...Two children may be playing parallel or associatively with trucks. Their phonological play would be the vroom sound of truck engines"

"However, you might look particularly at the accompaniment of words with actions. ‘Vroom vroom” is a good example…We might not count this as an early word at all; it might be used by a child who is not yet using words but who is consistently using certain vocalization to express specific intentions of feelings."

Speech Therapy

"The clinician should encourage vocalizations that can be carried out in the context of body movement or activity. For instance, a client can pair vocalization with play. The clinician and client might play with a favorite toy such as a car and make a vroom sound while playing."

Other languages

Examples

References