DINGDONG THEORY

Ding″dong′ the″o‐ry. (Philol.) 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.