This paper is a taxonomic and descriptive study of Chiikuhane (Chisubiya) ideophones. It demonstratesthat just like many other Bantu languages, Chiikuhane has a list of ideophones which, phonologically, fall intothree categories: monosyllabic, disyllabic and the reduplicated forms. Their tonal patterns vary as they are allpre-specified and cannot be captured by rule. In terms of meanings, Chiikuhane ideophones denote sound,intensity, motion, colour, and state of something. The paper further looks at a set of fossilized forms which describedifferent types of ‘talking’. On the surface, these forms were assumed to be ideophones as well because of theirvividness, dramatic nature and expressive function conveying the personal feelings or attitudes of the speakertowards something, typical of ideophones. However, a closer look at their morphosyntactic features shows thatthese are derived verbs with some of those ‘infrequent’ affixes observed in some Bantu languages such as Tswana.

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