What Japanese onomatopoeia actually are
English uses onomatopoeia for simple sounds like “meow” and “woof”. In Japanese they stretch much further, covering textures, motions and states of mind that have no sound at all.
Giongo and gitaigo
The two main categories are giongo and gitaigo. Giongo are typically written in katakana and gitaigo in hiragana. Katakana lends a harder tone, hiragana a softer one. The convention is not strictly enforced.
- 擬音語giongo
- Words that resemble sounds, usually made by inanimate objects, like rain falling or a door slamming.
- 擬声語giseigo
- A subcategory of giongo: vocal sounds made by people or animals, like a dog's bark.
- 擬態語gitaigo
- Words for an action, motion, or state that are not meant to resemble a sound at all. “Damp”, for instance.
- 擬情語gijougo
- A subcategory of gitaigo covering emotions and bodily feelings, such as a throbbing pain.
- 擬容語giyougo
- Often forgotten: words describing motion and movement, like moving slowly but steadily.
How they differ from English
- They appear far more often in everyday conversation.
- They are concise but carry complex meaning.
- They follow an almost regular pattern in how they are constructed.
The three forms
How a word is used shifts depending on its ending, and whether it acts as an adjective, an adverb, or a verb.
Doubled
にこにこ
The repeated form is usually used as an adjective.
と ending
にこっと
Mostly adverbial, modifying the verb that follows.
り ending
にこり
Conveys softness or slowness, the opposite of a glottal stop. Something long and deliberate rather than short and abrupt.
ん ending
ごほん
Gives the word a resonant, echoing finish.
Vocabulary
The characters that make up the category names.
- 擬
- Pseudo / mimetic
- 語
- Language
- 声
- Voice
- 音
- Sound
- 態
- Condition
- 容
- Form
- 情
- Feelings