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Phonesthenes. Basic units in sound symbolism which lies between phonemes and morphemes. Linguists, in order to study onomatopoeia, need not only know the phonemes, syntax, and morphology of the language, but also understand psychology, sensory cognition and metaphor. Affective Features.
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Phonesthenes Basic units in sound symbolism which lies between phonemes and morphemes. Linguists, in order to study onomatopoeia, need not only know the phonemes, syntax, and morphology of the language, but also understand psychology, sensory cognition and metaphor.
Affective Features Word form syllables Consonantclusters Synthetic Metonymical Metaphorical Extensions Morae vowels consonants Phonological features Kinetic Sense Features
Mimetics and onomatopoeic words have strong bonds with specific verbs or nouns. The lexical meaning of these mimetics are provided by these bonds.
Example: • The English word ‘ramble’ can be translated to: bura bura aruku - while the verb ‘aruku’ understates the idea of a ramble (aruku mean to ‘walk’) the mimetic term ‘bura bura’ when placed before aruku makes the word effective and helps us understand the concept.
Bura bura-- affecto imagistic Aruku-- analytic dimension
Remember… • Sound symbolism is productive. Many new Japanese onomatopoeic words are created by sound symbolisms such as new trends and expressions, products in the market etc.
Just to clear a few things out… • Mimetics and Onomatopoeia DO NOT refer to the same type of sound. • Onomatopoeia is the representation of sound (the barking of a dog, the sound of falling rain) • Mimetics refer to either a psychological state, or an external environment.
Onomatopoeia limited as an adverb • Mimetics can function as an adj, verb etc. (when attached with the pseudo verb ‘suru’ and the adj. affix ‘na) • Doa wo gangan tataku ”Knock on the door hard.” • Atama ga gangan itamu My head is throbbing painfully.
Japanese don’t have a wide variety of verbs to accommodate different English meanings. • Noro-noro; yota-yota; tobo-tobo are all mimetic varietions corresponding to the verb ‘aruku’ (to walk) • These words can be seen as the counterparts for the English words to walk, to skip, to straddle etc.
Other Special Features • All Onomatopoeic and mimetic sounds are formed in a C-V-C-V pattern. • Sequential Voicing, (Rendaku) is a rare occurrence in mimetics and onomatopoeic sounds. • Most of the onompatopeic sounds are written in Katakana
The use of the dakuten (ten-ten) or the maru Can harden or soften the sound or meaning of a phrase • (zuke zuke- means to speak one’s mind in a more direct way than tsuke tsuke)
( e.g. gun, gûn, gu-ûn, gun to and gutto, all describe with slightly different nuances, the use of effort or marked change)
g,z,d and b are ‘muddy’ sounds suggesting big, heavy, or dirty • (like gasshito, -strongly built andbotteri, large or fat)
k,s,t, and h are ‘clean’ sounds suggesting sharp, light, small and pretty • (hakkiri, -clearly, soyo-soyo-, light breeze • H is a dignified sound • (hou, hokekyo- the call of a nightingale)
P suggests something undignified • (pota pota-, to plop, and paku paku -to gobble) • K and T are hard (kochi kochi –hard, tsun- pointed) • S suggests a feeling of friction, of sliding or slipping along (sarari-, slide)
N suggests a feeling of stickiness (neba neba - sticky) • H suggests lightness, b heaviness, p something in between (hara hara -water streams soundlessly, bara bara -rain down and para para -sprinkle lightly)
As for vowels: • /i/- straightness, high pitch (piyo-piyo cheep cheep (sound of a small bird) • /u/- heat, tiredness, negativity (muka-muka nauseous, very angry) • /o/- small area, modesty • (dosshiri dignified, impressive)
/a/- large area, conspicuousness (chara-chara dress up too much, flirty) • /e/- vulgarity • (dere deremess around, flirt heavily, be turned to putty by someone) • (neto, neto warm, sticky and wet)
When a word is repeated to form a phrase, it suggests repetition, continuation or things happening one after another.
Wildlife • Streets in Japan, especially in Tokyo are filled with the sounds of traffic, construction work and booming music, but after the hubbub finally dies down in the evening, stray cats, peoples’ dogs, crows…
Wan wanwoof woof, bowow …Children often refer to dogs as Wan-chan • Shiranai hito ga niwa ni hairu tabi ni inu ga wan wan to hageshiku hoemashita. • Whenever a stranger entered the garden, the dog barked furiuously.
Nyaa Nyaa meow • Ofuro ni ochita neko wa kawaisoo ni nyaa nyaa naite imashita. • The cat had fallen in the bath tub and was crying pitifully.
Jii jii miin miin cicada’s chirp …Summer days are signalized by the onset of the heavy droning of the sound of cicadas as often depicted in anime and cartoons. • Ichinichijuu semi ga jii jii miin miin to naite imasu • All day long the cicadas chirrup in the trees.
WEATHER • In Japanese style houses, there are no air cons and central heating systems so it could become very damp after a rainy stretch that people used to worry about finding mushrooms growing and springing up in their shoes.
Gusho gusho - soaking/ sopping wet • Niwaka ame ni atte, kasa ga nakatta no de, kaisha ni gusho guhso ni nurete tsukimashita • The rain suddenly fell and because I didn’t have an umbrella with me, I arrived at the office sopping wet.
Zaa zaa Sound of a downpour, sound of a lot of water flowing (e.g. a waterfall) …This phrase could also be translated to the English idiom ‘raining cats and dogs’ • Hanami ni iku yakusoku o shita ji wa, ainiku asa kara ban made ame ga zaa zaa furimashita. • Unfrotunately, on the day we had agreed to go cherry blossom viewing, it rained cats and dogs from morning to evening.
Jime jime damp; dark gloomy, depressed, melancholy ....In the heart of the rainy season, no other word seems to describe the atmosphere as well, especially since jime jime can also mean gloomy and dark.
Maitoshi rokugatsu ni hairu to Nihon no jime jime shita kisetsu ga hajimaru node watashi wa nigetaku narimasu • Every year, when June comes around, I know Japan’s rainy season is about to begin and I start wanting to escape • Kanojo wa itsumo kurai kime jime shita hyoujou o shite iru • She always has a dark melancholic look
Zoku zoku- shiver due to the cold; shiver with excitement or pleasure, shiver in fear, things happening one after another …Japanese have traditionally associated fear with feeling cold so much so that horror f films used to be shown in the summer to induce a cold shiver in the audience. Ghost stories are also told for the same reason. • Kibishii samusa no tame karada zenta ga zoku zoku shita • In the fierce cold, a chill crept all over my whole body
Kira kira - twinkle, glitter shine • Tanbo o oou yozora wa kira kira to kagayaku hoshi de ippai deshita • The night sky over the paddy fields was full of brightly twinkling stars
FOOD • Foreigners have always had ambivalent feelings when it comes to food and it is so unlikely what we are accustomed to at home. Nevertheless, we still think the Japanese wants us to like their food.
Guu Guu- stomach rumbles, gurgle • Asagohan o taberu jikan ga nakatta node juuivhiji goro kara hara guuguu naridashita. • I didn’t have time to eat breakfast so from 11 o’clock, my stomach started grumbling.
Peko-peko Ravenously hungry • Okaasan! Onaka peko peko yo! • Mom! I’m starving!
Grab bags • There are always a few leftovers and misfits in any carefully worked out scheme—so here are some phrases that we couldn’t bear leave out, but couldn’t put anywhere else.
Zuki zuki heartache, throbbing • Sono mukashi no koibito o omidasu tabi nu zuki zuki to iu kokoro no uzuki o oboemasu • Whenever I think of an old flame, I remember my heartache.
Chu kiss • Dare mo mite inai toki ni kawaii kanojo ga boku ni chutto shite kureta • While no one was looking, the cute girl gave me a kiss on the cheek
beta beta A couple falling all over each other, pasted, sticky • Hitomae de beta beta shite iru kappuru wa chotto hatameiwaku da. • Young couples falling all over each other in public are a little annoying
Hera hera laugh embarrassedly • kare wa uso ga wakatta toki, hera hera to waratta • When his lie was discovered, he laughed embarrassedly. • Pera pera fluency in speaking • Ano hito wa Nihonggo gap era pera da ne. • That guy’s Japanese is fluent.
English school advertisement: • Kotoshi hera hera, Rainen pera pera!
Waku waku Excitedly, anxiously • Kaigai yokou no keikau o tatenagara mune ga waku waku shita • I felt excited while I was planning my trip abroad.
Niko niko smile warmly, grin, laugh • Minnasan wa genki ni niko niko to waratte iru. • Everyone is in good spirits and smiling happily.
References: • Millington, Suan Nihongo Pera Pera!/ Susan Milington. Tokyo: Charles e. Tuttle Company, C,1993 http/www.sedl.org/lotced/scenarios/japanese_onomatopoeia.html Toshihiko Amemiya and Satohime Mizutani/Proceedings of the First Intl’ Workshop on Kansai. Html file.(PDF)
