In Gbaya, the notion of the shriveling of skin onto bones is emphasized in Lamentations 4:8 with ɓak-ɓak, an ideophone that means to be tied or held very tightly.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
See also tongue clings to the roof of mouth,