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 擬音語 giongo are words which describe a sound. Most giongo are written in katakana. Some examples are: begin the sound of a dog barking ワンワン wan-wan the sound of a cat meowing ニャニャ, ニャンニャン nya-nya, nyan-nyan the sound of a chicken or rooster clucking コケコッコ koke-kokko the sound of hands clapping, bonfire パチパチ pachi-pachi sound of rain falling (heavy rain) ザーザー zaa-zaa sound of water dripping or rain drops ポツポツ potsu-potsu sound of gunshooting (bang-bang) バンバン ban-ban the sound of a yawn フワア fuwaa the sound of frog croaking ケロケロ kero-kero the sound of laughter へへへ or ハハハ hehehe or hahaha the sound of an explosion ドカン dokan sound of a hard blow ズガ zuga to throb with a fast heart-beat どきどき doki-doki end Gitaigo 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: begin bulge ripple, muscular physique ムキムキ muki-muki to move around with liveliness いそいそ iso-iso the sound of two people making out いちゃいちゃ icha-icha to be careless or absentminded うかうか uka-uka to drift between sleep and wakefulness うつらうつら utsura-utsura to doze off うとうと uto-uto to feel uneasy おどおど odo-odo the sound of someone eating or munching on something ムシャムシャ musha-musha jumping ウハウハ uha-uha jumping ぴょんぴょん pyon-pyon the sound of children playing ワイワイ wai-wai the sound of crowd, mob ガヤガヤ gaya-gaya to shine, sparkle, glitter ぴかぴか pika-pika to be fretful, irritated いらいら ira-ira to be soaked びっしょり bisshori end . Note on katakana vs. hiragana writings 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. deep fr:Japonais/Vocabulaire/Onomatopées