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".
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They can be classified into three main categories:
While onomatopoeic words abound in every language, phenomimes and psychomimes are much rarer.
In Japanese grammar, sound symbolic words function as adverbs, 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 |
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 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 synonyms 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 [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.
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