Is Plop! a sentence? [closed]
Solution 1:
There are one-word sentences that are not conform to the normal sentences with subject and predicate. One-word sentences as yes, no, please, now, never etc must be seen as a sentence type of its own. And I would see "Plop!" as a one-word sentence describing exactly the sound your ice cream ball makes when it falls to the ground.
I understand John Lawler's view and can accept it as well. I think the matter is a thing of personal preference. And the whole question is a bit academic. Comics use a lot of such sound describing words and we don't have any difficulty understanding them, ie we don't need a grammar explanation.
Solution 2:
"In grammatical use, though not in popular language, a ‘sentence’ may consist of a single word..." (from the OED, sentence, emphasis mine). In grammatical use, either the subject or the predicate may be omitted by ellipsis. Here, "plop" can be construed as a predicate consisting of an intransitive verb meaning 'fell with a sound like that of an object falling into water without splashing' (paraphrased from plop), with the subject (the fig) omitted.
In both grammatical use and popular language, calling "Plop!" an 'interjection' instead of a 'sentence' will work:
in·ter·jec·tion n.
A sudden, short utterance; an ejaculation.
Abbr. interj. or int.
a. The part of speech that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone.
b. Any of the words belonging to this part of speech, such as Ugh! or Wow!
(From interjection. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved September 24 2015 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/interjection. Emphasis mine.)