Abstract: The onomatopoeic words in modern Chinese are quite flexible in use. This is mainly showed in their forms of
reduplication, multi-function and varieties. A great amount of language materials have proved that the flexibility of onomato- poeic words have a lot of causes, which mainly include differences of perceptive subjects and influence of context. Such flexibil-
ity has its own positive functions as well as the negative ones. We should know this exactly and play its best expressive effect in use.