Japanese sound symbolism
Encyclopedia
This article describes sound symbolic or mimetic
words in the Japanese language
. Most languages have such words; for example, "bang", "zap", "ding", "slither", "pop", etc. in English
. Sound symbolic words occur more often in Japanese than in English—they are found in formal as well as vernacular language.
These words cannot all be considered onomatopoeia. Many mimetic words in Japanese are for things that don't make any noise originally, most clearly demonstrated by しいんと shiinto, meaning "silently".
While onomatopoeic words abound in every language, phenomimes and psychomimes are much rarer.
In Japanese grammar
, sound symbolic words function as adverb
s, often taking the particle と (to) because they are seen as quotations. Most sound symbolic words can be applied to only a handful of verbs or adjectives. Japanese learners would be well advised to learn these words together with their possible referents. In the examples below, the classified verb or adjective is placed in square brackets.
s and psychological states. For example, the nasal
sound [n] gives a more personal and speaker-oriented impression than the velars
[k] and [ɡ]; this contrast can be easily noticed in pairs of synonym
s such as ので node and から kara which both mean because, but with the first being perceived as more subjective. This relationship can be correlated with phenomimes containing nasal and velar sounds: While phenomimes containing nasal consonant
s give the feeling of tactuality and warmth, those containing velar consonant
s tend to represent hardness, sharpness, and suddenness.
Similarly, i-type adjective
s that contain the fricative ɕ in the group shi tend to represent human emotive states, such as in the words 悲しい kanashii (sad), 寂しい sabishii (lonely), 嬉しい ureshii (happy), and 楽しい tanoshii (enjoyable). This too is correlated with those phenomimes and psychomimes containing the same fricative sound, for example しとしとと降る shitoshito to furu (to rain / snow quietly) and しゅんとする shun to suru (to be dispirited).
The use of the gemination can create a more emphatic or emotive version of a word, as in the following pairs of words: ぴたり / ぴったり pitari / pittari (tightly), やはり / やっぱり yahari / yappari (as expected), 放し / っ放し hanashi / ppanashi (leaving, having left [something] in a particular state), and many others.
Mimetic
In mathematics, mimesis is the quality of a numerical method which imitates some properties of the continuum problem. The goal of numerical analysis is to approximate the continuum, so instead of solving a partial differential equation one aims to solve a discrete version of the continuum problem...
words in the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. Most languages have such words; for example, "bang", "zap", "ding", "slither", "pop", etc. in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Sound symbolic words occur more often in Japanese than in English—they are found in formal as well as vernacular language.
These words cannot all be considered onomatopoeia. Many mimetic words in Japanese are for things that don't make any noise originally, most clearly demonstrated by しいんと shiinto, meaning "silently".
Categories
They can be classified into three main categories:- Phonomime or onomatopoeia (擬声語 giseigo or 擬音語 giongo)
- words that mimic actual sounds. Giseigo refers to sounds made by living things, while Giongo refers to sounds made by inanimate objects.
- Phenomime (擬態語 gitaigo)
- mimetic words to represent non-auditory senses.
- Psychomime (also called 擬態語 gitaigo or 擬情語 gijōgo)
- mimetic words that represent psychological states or bodily feelings.
While onomatopoeic words abound in every language, phenomimes and psychomimes are much rarer.
In Japanese grammar
Japanese grammar
The Japanese language has a regular agglutinative verb morphology, with both productive and fixed elements. In language typology, it has many features divergent from most European languages. Its phrases are exclusively head-final and compound sentences are exclusively left-branching. There are many...
, sound symbolic words function as adverb
Adverb
An adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
s, often taking the particle と (to) because they are seen as quotations. Most sound symbolic words can be applied to only a handful of verbs or adjectives. Japanese learners would be well advised to learn these words together with their possible referents. In the examples below, the classified verb or adjective is placed in square brackets.
| Sound Symbolism | Meaning |
|---|---|
| じろじろ(と)[見る] jirojiro (to) [miru] |
[see] intently (= stare) |
| きらきら(と)[光る] kirakira (to) [hikaru] |
[shine] sparklingly |
| ぎらぎら(と)[光る] giragira (to) [hikaru] |
[shine] dazzlingly |
| どきどき[する] doki doki [suru] |
with a throbbing heart |
| ぐずぐず[する] guzu guzu [suru] |
procrastinating or dawdling (suru not optional) |
| しいんと[する] shiin to [suru] |
[be (lit. do)] quiet (suru not optional) |
| ぴんぴん[している] pinpin [shite iru] |
[be (lit. do)] lively (shite iru not optional) |
| よぼよぼに[なる] yoboyobo ni [naru] |
[become] wobbly-legged (from age)¹ |
- に (ni) instead of と (to) is used for なる (naru = become)
Other types
In their Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui point out several other types of sound symbolism in Japanese, that relate phonemePhoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s and psychological states. For example, the nasal
Nasal consonant
A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
sound [n] gives a more personal and speaker-oriented impression than the velars
Velar consonant
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
[k] and [ɡ]; this contrast can be easily noticed in pairs of synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
s such as ので node and から kara which both mean because, but with the first being perceived as more subjective. This relationship can be correlated with phenomimes containing nasal and velar sounds: While phenomimes containing nasal consonant
Nasal consonant
A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
s give the feeling of tactuality and warmth, those containing velar consonant
Velar consonant
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
s tend to represent hardness, sharpness, and suddenness.
Similarly, i-type adjective
Japanese adjectives
According to many analyses, the Japanese language does not have words that function as adjectives in a syntactic sense, i.e. tree diagrams of Japanese sentences can be constructed without employing adjective phrases. However, there are words that function as adjectives in a semantic sense...
s that contain the fricative ɕ in the group shi tend to represent human emotive states, such as in the words 悲しい kanashii (sad), 寂しい sabishii (lonely), 嬉しい ureshii (happy), and 楽しい tanoshii (enjoyable). This too is correlated with those phenomimes and psychomimes containing the same fricative sound, for example しとしとと降る shitoshito to furu (to rain / snow quietly) and しゅんとする shun to suru (to be dispirited).
The use of the gemination can create a more emphatic or emotive version of a word, as in the following pairs of words: ぴたり / ぴったり pitari / pittari (tightly), やはり / やっぱり yahari / yappari (as expected), 放し / っ放し hanashi / ppanashi (leaving, having left [something] in a particular state), and many others.
See also
- Sound symbolismSound symbolismSound symbolism or phonosemantics is a branch of linguistics and refers to the idea that vocal sounds have meaning. In particular, sound symbolism is the idea that phonemes carry meaning in and of themselves.-Origin:...
- IdeophoneIdeophoneIdeophones are words used by speakers to evoke a vivid impression of certain sensation or sensory perceptions, e.g. smell, color, shape, sound, action, or movement. Ideophones are attested in all languages of the world, however, languages differ in the extent to which they make use of them...
- Kuchi shogaKuchi shogaKuchi shōga , also known as 'kuchi showa' and 'kuchi shoka', is a Japanese phonetic system for 'pronouncing' the sounds of drums, especially Japanese drums ....
, a system for "pronouncing" drum sounds - Japanese onomatopoeia at Wiktionary
- Giongo
- Gitaigo
External links
- The Collection of Japanese Onomatopoeic Vocabulary from EnglishPatterns.com
- Onomatopoeic Expressions - gitaigo and giongo from Namiko Abe, About.comAbout.comAbout.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
's guide to Japanese Language - Nihongoresources - onomatopoeia dictionary
- The Jaded Network - SFX Sound Effects Translations Online Dictionary from TheJadedNetwork.Com
- "'Tokyo Year Zero' Gets Under Readers' Skin" by Alan Cheuse, All Things ConsideredAll Things ConsideredAll Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
. A review of a novel that uses Japanese phonomime.