In Gbaya, the notion of “eager longing” is emphasized with lɛk-lɛk, an ideophone “that is often used to describe the flames of a fire. The ideophone is therefore used in this context as an image associating the burning of a flame with the burning in their hearts.”

Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)