Onomatopoeia

I’ve now been living in Tokyo for a little over 2 years!  To celebrate this milestone (okay, fine, the milestone is just a coincidence; this blog post has nothing to do with it), I thought I’d share something I find delightful in the Japanese language, and that is its onomatopoeia.

Just like English, Japanese has words which are formed “from a sound associated with what is named.”  They are very often repeated.  Here are some examples of their words for sounds:

  • wan wan: a dog’s bark
  • nyan nyan: a cat’s meow
  • zaa zaa: heavy rain falling
  • mogu mogu: someone eating (maybe like omnomnom?)

However, Japanese also makes ample use of onomatopoetic words for things where the connection to a sound is less obvious, such as:

  • dan dan: gradually (the sound of footsteps)
  • don don: quickly (the sound of larger footsteps)
  • doki doki: nervous/excited (the sound of a fast heart beat)

And I mean waaay less obvious.  Ever wondered what sound something sparkling sounds like?

  • kira kira: sparkling, twinkling
  • peko peko: hungry (the sound your stomach makes as it gurgles perhaps?)
  • fuwa fuwa: fluffy
  • giri giri: barely

I think one of the things I love about these words (and there are oodles more) is the fact that they’re often used in casual conversation among adults.  Just this afternoon, as I was watching the Olympic men’s free skate while eating lunch at a restaurant, one of the women at the table next to me used the phrase doki doki shimasu to her companion, expressing the nerves/excitement of watching the athletes do breathtaking quadruple jumps.

Comments 4

  1. WordPress › Error

    There has been a critical error on this website.

    Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.