D defs.my
Entry 1 sense Webster, 1913

Dingdong theory

· Ding·dong· the·o·ry · IPA
01 The theory which maintains that the primitive elements of language are reflex expressions induced by sensory impressions; that is, as state…
  1. 1.
    The theory which maintains that the primitive elements of language are reflex expressions induced by sensory impressions; that is, as stated by Max Müller, the creative faculty gave to each general conception as it thrilled for the first time through the brain a phonetic expression; -- jocosely so called from the analogy of the sound of a bell induced by the stroke of the clapper.(Philol.)