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'{{Use American English|date = February 2019}} {{Short description|Large amount of sound-symbolic words in Japanese}} {{Redirect|Doki Doki|other uses|Doki doki (disambiguation){{!}}Doki doki}} [[File:Jaan! in Hakui.jpg|thumb|An example of Japanese sound symbolism, {{nihongo|''Jān!''|ジャーン!||'Tah-dah!'}}]] The [[Japanese language]] has a large inventory of '''sound symbolic''' or '''mimetic''' words, known in linguistics as [[ideophone]]s.{{sfn|Hamano|1998}}{{sfn|Voeltz|Kilian-Hatz|2001}} Such words are found in written as well as spoken Japanese.{{sfn|Nuckolls|2004}} Known popularly as [[onomatopoeia|''onomatopoeia'']], these words are not just imitative of sounds but cover a much wider range of meanings;{{sfn|Hamano|1998}} indeed, many sound-symbolic words in Japanese are for things that don't make any noise originally, most clearly demonstrated by {{Nihongo|2=しーんと|3=shīnto}}, meaning 'silently'. ==Categories== The sound-symbolic words of Japanese can be classified into four main categories:{{sfn|Shibatani|1990|loc=7.3 Onomatopoeia, esp. pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sD-MFTUiPYgC&pg=PA153 p. 153–154]}}{{sfn|Akita|2009}} ;{{nihongo|Animate phonomime|擬声語|giseigo}} :words that mimic sounds made by living things, like a dog's bark:(wan-wan) ;{{nihongo|Inanimate phonomime|擬音語|giongo}} :words that mimic sounds made by [[wikt:inanimate|inanimate]] objects, like wind blowing or rain falling. ;{{nihongo|Phenomime|擬態語|gitaigo}} :words that depict states, conditions, or manners of the external world (non-auditory senses), such as "damp" or "stealthily". ;{{nihongo|Psychomime|擬情語|gijōgo}} :words that depict psychological states or bodily feelings. These divisions are not always drawn: sound-symbolism may be referred to generally as [[onomatopoeia]] (though strictly this refers to imitative sounds, phonomimes); phonomimes may not be distinguished as animate/inanimate, both being referred to as ''giseigo''; and both phenomimes and psychomimes may be referred to as ''gitaigo''. In [[Japanese grammar]], sound-symbolic words primarily function as [[adverb]]s, though they can also function as verbs (verbal adverbs) with the auxiliary verb {{nihongo|''suru''|する||"do"}}, often in the [[continuous and progressive aspects|continuous/progressive form]] {{nihongo|''shiteiru''|している||"doing"}}, and as adjectives ([[participle]]) with the perfective form of this verb {{nihongo|''shita''|した||"done"}}. Just like ideophones in many other languages, they are often introduced by a [[complementizer|quotative complementizer]] {{nihongo|''to''|と}}.{{sfn|Kita|1997|p=384}} Most sound symbolic words can be applied to only a handful of verbs or adjectives. In the examples below, the classified verb or adjective is placed in square brackets. {| class="wikitable" |+ Some examples |- !align="center"| Sound Symbolism !align="center"| Meaning |- | ''jirojiro (to) [miru]''<br />{{lang|ja|じろじろ(と)[見る]}} || [see] intently (= stare) |- | ''kirakira (to) [hikaru]''<br />{{lang|ja|きらきら(と)[光る]}} || [shine] sparklingly |- | ''giragira (to) [hikaru]''<br />{{lang|ja|ぎらぎら(と)[光る]}} || [shine] dazzlingly |- | ''doki doki [suru]''<br />{{lang|ja|どきどき[する]}} || with a throbbing heart |- | ''guzu guzu [suru]''<br />{{lang|ja|ぐずぐず[する]}} || procrastinating or dawdling<br />(''suru'' not optional) |- | ''shiin to [suru]''<br />{{lang|ja|しいんと[する]}} || [be (lit. do)] quiet<br />(''suru'' not optional) |- | ''pinpin [shite iru]''<br />{{lang|ja|ぴんぴん[している]}} || [be (lit. do)] lively<br />(''shite iru'' not optional) |- | {{lang|ja|よぼよぼに[なる]}}{{efn|1={{nihongo|''ni''|に}} instead of {{nihongo|''to''|と}} is used for {{nihongo|''naru''|なる||"become"}}}}<br />''yoboyobo ni [naru]'' || [become] wobbly-legged (from age) |} <nowiki>*</nowiki> Note that (unlike the other examples) ''doki doki'' is an onomatopoeic word of the sound of two beats of a heart ==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 [[phoneme]]s and psychological states. For example, the [[nasal stop|nasal]] sound {{IPA|[n]}} gives a more personal and speaker-oriented impression than the [[velar consonant|velars]] {{IPA|[k]}} and {{IPA|[ɡ]}}; this contrast can be easily noticed in pairs of [[synonym]]s such as {{nihongo|''node''|ので}} and {{nihongo|''kara''|から}} 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 nasals give the feeling of tactuality and warmth, those containing velars tend to represent hardness, sharpness, and suddenness. Similarly, [[Japanese adjectives|i-type adjective]]s that contain the fricative {{IPAblink|ɕ}} in the group ''shi'' tend to represent human emotive states, such as in the words {{nihongo|''kanashii''|悲しい||"sad"}}, {{nihongo|''sabishii''|寂しい||"lonely"}}, {{nihongo|''ureshii''|嬉しい||"happy"}}, and {{nihongo|''tanoshii''|楽しい||"enjoyable"}}. This too is correlated with those phenomimes and psychomimes containing the same fricative sound, for example {{nihongo|''shitoshito to furu''|しとしとと降る||"to rain / snow quietly"}} and {{nihongo|''shun to suru''|しゅんとする||"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: {{nihongo|''pitari / pittari''|ぴたり / ぴったり||"tightly"}}, {{nihongo|''yahari / yappari''|やはり / やっぱり||"as expected"}}, {{nihongo|''hanashi / ppanashi''|放し / っ放し||"leaving, having left [something] in a particular state"}}, and many others. ==See also== *[[Ideophone]] *''[[Kuchi shōga]]'' (system for "pronouncing" drum sounds) *[[Sound symbolism]] *[[Chinese exclamative particles]] == Notes == {{notelist}} == Further reading == * De Lange, William. (2019). ''A Dictionary of Japanese Onomatopoeia''. TOYO Press. {{ISBN| 978-94-92722-164}} == References == {{reflist}} {{refbegin}} * Akita, Kimi. 2009. “A Grammar of Sound-Symbolic Words in Japanese: Theoretical Approaches to Iconic and Lexical Properties of Japanese Mimetics”. PhD dissertation, Kobe University. http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/repository/thesis/d1/D1004724.pdf. * Akutsu, Satoru (1994). ''A Practical Guide to Mimetic Expressions Through Pictures''. ALC Press, {{ISBN|4-87234-322-0}}. * Hamano, Shoko (1998). ''The sound-symbolic system of Japanese''. Tokyo: Kurosio. * Hasada, Rie (2001). "Meanings of Japanese sound-symbolic emotion words". In Harkins, Jean & Anna Wierzbicka (eds.) ''Emotions in Crosslinguistic Perspective'' (Cognitive Linguistics Research 17). Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 217–253. * Kita, Sotaro. 1997. “Two-dimensional Semantic Analysis of Japanese Mimetics.” ''Linguistics'' 35: 379–415. * Nuckolls, Janis B. 2004. “To Be or to Be Not Ideophonically Impoverished.” In ''SALSA XI: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Symposium About Language and Society'' — Austin, ed. Wai Fong Chiang, Elaine Chun, Laura Mahalingappa, and Siri Mehus, 131–142. Texas Linguistic Forum 47. Austin. * Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui, ''Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar'', The Japan Times, 1986. {{ISBN|4-7890-0454-6}}. * Martin, Samuel E. (1964). "Speech labels in Japan and Korea", in Dell Hymes (ed.), ''Language in Culture and Society: A reader in linguistics and anthropology.'' New York: Harper and Row. * Ono, Shuuichi (ed.) (1989). ''A Practical Guide to Japanese-English Onomatopoeia and Mimesis''. Tokyo: Hokuseidoo. * Shibatani, Masayoshi (1990). ''The Languages of Japan.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (esp p.&nbsp;153vv). * Voeltz, F. K. Erhard, and Christa Kilian-Hatz, eds. 2001. ''Ideophones''. Typological Studies in Language 44. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. {{refend}} ==External links== * [http://japanese.about.com/blgitaigo.htm ''Onomatopoeic Expressions - gitaigo and giongo''] from Namiko Abe, [[About.com]]'s guide to Japanese Language * [http://www.nihongoresources.com/dictionaries/onomatopoeia.html ''Nihongoresources - onomatopoeia dictionary''] * [http://thejadednetwork.com/sfx/ ''The Jaded Network - SFX Sound Effects Translations Online Dictionary''] from TheJadedNetwork.Com * [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16053185 "'Tokyo Year Zero' Gets Under Readers' Skin"] by Alan Cheuse, ''[[All Things Considered]]''. A review of a novel that uses Japanese phonomime. * [http://www.muri.se/misc/soundfx.html Japanese Sound effects in Manga and what they mean], originally from www.oop-ack.com ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090330142727/http://www.oop-ack.com/manga/soundfx.html archived copy of the original]) {{Japanese language}} [[Category:Onomatopoeia]] [[Category:Japanese vocabulary|Sound symbolism]] [[Category:Japanese phonology|Sound symbolism]] [[Category:Phonaesthetics]] [[ja:音象徴#日本語の音象徴]]'