Japanese/Vocabulary/Onomatopoeia
An onomatopoeia (オノマトペ) is a word or group of words in a language which have their meaning indicated by the sounds they mimic. Examples of English onomatopoeia include "meow", "roar", "buzz", "boom", "snap", "bang", and so on. In general, the Japanese word to refer to this concept is giseigo (擬声語).
However, Japanese not only contains words for sound effects, but also what is termed "Japanese sound symbolism" - basically, onomatopoeia describing things that don't actually make sounds. Officially, the former is called giongo (擬音語) and the latter gitaigo (擬態語). (Giseigo is an umbrella term that refers to both of these)
Giongo
[edit | edit source]擬音語 giongo are words which describe a sound. Most giongo are written in katakana. Some examples are:
| Japanese | English | Reading | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ワンワン | the sound of a dog barking | wan-wan | |
| ニャニャ, ニャンニャン | the sound of a cat meowing | nya-nya, nyan-nyan | |
| コケコッコ | the sound of a chicken or rooster clucking | koke-kokko | |
| パチパチ | the sound of hands clapping, bonfire | pachi-pachi | |
| ザーザー | sound of rain falling (heavy rain) | zaa-zaa | |
| ポツポツ | sound of water dripping or rain drops | potsu-potsu | |
| バンバン | sound of gunshooting (bang-bang) | ban-ban | |
| フワア | the sound of a yawn | fuwaa | |
| ケロケロ | the sound of frog croaking | kero-kero | |
| へへへ or ハハハ | the sound of laughter | hehehe or hahaha | |
| ドカン | the sound of an explosion | dokan | |
| ズガ | sound of a hard blow | zuga | |
| どきどき | to throb with a fast heart-beat | doki-doki |
Gitaigo
[edit | edit source]擬態語 gitaigo are words that describe an action, state, or emotion by an associated sound. They are typically written in hiragana. Some examples are:
| Japanese | English | Reading | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ムキムキ | bulge ripple, muscular physique | muki-muki | |
| いそいそ | to move around with liveliness | iso-iso | |
| いちゃいちゃ | the sound of two people making out | icha-icha | |
| うかうか | to be careless or absentminded | uka-uka | |
| うつらうつら | to drift between sleep and wakefulness | utsura-utsura | |
| うとうと | to doze off | uto-uto | |
| おどおど | to feel uneasy | odo-odo | |
| ムシャムシャ | the sound of someone eating or munching on something | musha-musha | |
| ウハウハ | jumping | uha-uha | |
| ぴょんぴょん | jumping | pyon-pyon | |
| ワイワイ | the sound of children playing | wai-wai | |
| ガヤガヤ | the sound of crowd, mob | gaya-gaya | |
| ぴかぴか | to shine, sparkle, glitter | pika-pika | |
| いらいら | to be fretful, irritated | ira-ira | |
| びっしょり | to be soaked | bisshori |
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Note on katakana vs. hiragana writings
[edit | edit source]In a typical style of Japanese writing giongo are written in katakana, while gitaigo are written in hiragana. However, this rule is not always observed. There are subtle nuances involved if you were to write one of these words in hiragana vs. katakana - katakana gives a kind of "harder" tone, while hiragana is "softer". Often, it is the author's discretion which to use.