Japanese sound symbolism
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/* Categories */ This page needs some work but for now I thought I would put the Japanese "dokidoki" in the box instead of a note on the bottom that doesnt make sense.
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 language|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 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.
*Phenomime (擬態語 ''gitaigo'')
:mimetic words to represent non-auditory senses.
*Psychomime (also called 擬態語 ''gitaigo'' or 擬情語 ''gijoogo'')
:mimetic words that represent psychological states or bodily feelings.
While [[Onomatopoeia|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.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ some examples
|-
!align="center"| sound symbolism
!align="center"| meaning
|-
| じろじろ(と)[見る]<br />''jirojiro (to) [miru]'' || [see] intently (= stare)
|-
| きらきら(と)[光る]<br />''kirakira (to) [hikaru]'' || [shine] sparklingly
|-
| ぎらぎら(と)[光る]<br />''giragira (to) [hikaru]'' || [shine] dazzlingly
|-
| どきどき[する]<br />''doki doki [suru] || a throbbing heart
|-
| ぐずぐず[する]<br />''guzu guzu [suru]'' || to procrastinate or dawdle<br />(''suru'' not optional)
|-
| しんと[する]<br />''shin to [suru]'' || [be (lit. do)] quiet<br />(''suru'' not optional)
|-
| ぴんぴん[している]<br />''pinpin [shite iru]'' || [being (lit. doing)] lively<br />(''shite iru'' not optional)
|-
| よぼよぼに[なる]<br />''yoboyobo ni [naru]'' || [become] wobbly-legged (i.e. 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 phonemes and psychological states. For example, the [[nasal consonant|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 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 consonants give the feeling of tactuality and warmth, those containing velar consonants tend to represent hardness, sharpness, and suddenness.
Similarly, i-type adjectives that contain the fricative [[Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative|{{IPA|[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 [[consonant length|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''), and many others.
==See also==
*[[Sound symbolism]]
*[[Ideophone]]
*[[Kuchi shoga]], a system for "pronouncing" drum sounds
== References ==
* 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.
* 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. 153vv).
==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://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16053185 "'Tokyo Year Zero' Gets Under Readers' Skin"] by Alan Cheuse, ''[[All Thngs Considered]]''. A review of a novel that uses Japanese phonomime.
[[Category:Onomatopoeia]]
[[Category:Japanese vocabulary|Sound symbolism]]
[[Category:Japanese phonology|Sound symbolism]]
[[Category:Phonaesthetics]]
[[ja:声喩]]
[[zh:擬態語·擬聲語 (日語)]]