Japanese Onomatopoeias! February, 2004

Well, I don't know what else to call them. For most, "Onomatopoeia" is a misnomer, although some clearly are. (Yes, I am an English teacher, as a matter of fact.) In any case, there are these strange words in Japanese which contain a repeated bi-syllabic word. For example "nakanaka", "kirikiri", and "patapata". Most are adjectives or adverbs, and most are "girly"--used more by women than by men. Nonetheless, and possibly allthemore, as a group of words, I find them fascinating.

As a quick pronunciation reminder, just remember that the vowel sounds are similar to Spanish,
"ka" as in "cot", "ki" as in "key", "ku" as in "cool", "ke" as in "kettle", and "ko" as in "co-ed".

Here's some that I found while paging through my dictionary:

SOROSORO--"leisurely, slowly"
SOMOSOMO--"to begin with"
SOKOSOKO--"hurriedly"
POROPORO--"be dry and crumbly"
POKAPOKA--"be comfortably warm"
POCHAPOCHA--"a plump girl"
PIYOPIYO--"peep"
POTAPOTA--"a drip"
PIRIPIRI--"sting"
PICHAPICHA--"splash, lick, lap"
PEKOPEKO--"cringe"
PIKUPIKU--"twitch"
PERAPERA--"thin, flimsy", "fluently"
PATAPATA--"flitter, flutter, patter"
PAKUPAKU--"munch"
PACHIPACHI--"crackle"
PACHAPACHA--"splash"
PARAPARA--"sprinkles"
PARIPARI--"crisp"
OMEOME--"shamelessly" (remember, 'me' is a whole syllable, so it's "o-me-o-me")
NURUNURU--"slippery"
MADAMADA--"still more"
FURAFURA--"stagger"
FUAFUA--(not actually in the dictionary, but it's been used to describe my hair when I've just washed it; it apparently means "fluffy")
KURAKURA--"(to feel) dizzy"
KIRIKIRI--"(to have) pains"
KARAKARA--"dried-up"
JIRIJIRI--"gradually"
IROIRO--(remember your pronunciation tips--it's "ee-ro-ee-ro") "various" or "colors"
HOKUHOKU--"to play by oneself"
NAKANAKA--"very, rather"



Well, I suppose I should define "onomatopoeia" since some of you are probably headed over to dictionary.com to look it up. Onomatopoeia--"a word which originates from a sound or action" (I wrote that myself). Some common examples of onomatopoeias in English are "splat", "bang" and "meow". They are extremely common in comic books.