To Sneer, Scoff, Scorn, and Cluck: An Onomatopoetic Verbal Complex in R1-n-ṣ?

Abstract Several verbs in Akkadian constructed from the radical set R1-n-ṣ relate to expressions for disgust, scoffing, and scorn. This note argues that the verbs may phonically embed a verbal clucking sound ( nṣ ) which further indexes a set of paralinguistic expressions also communicating disdain: curling the lip, baring the teeth, snorting, and looking haughtily down the nose. The verbs may have been constructed onomatopoetically, as lexicalized representations of not only social concepts but sounds, speech perceptions, and kinesthetic expressions which could never be preserved in written form.