In Gbaya, the notion of the surrounding flood that is “swirling about” in Psalms 88:17 is emphasized with nyɛŋtɛŋ, an ideophone referring to a space where the river widens and the water swirls around, or a crowd dancing in a circle; walking in single file.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)