That is, the syllable, or pair of syllables, is repeated. Most words in languages are arbitrary. In Japanese this is called jougo 畳語（じょうご）. They're the sound of the wind moving through the trees, the door slamming shut, and the phone ringing. I could look up each word I found on trusty Jisho.org, but many of the definitions only supplied a general gloss and usually didn't include many of the mimetic meanings of the words. The name is onomatopoeia for the braying sound made by a donkey, typically written as hee haw in American English. Gijougo 擬情語Describe feelings. Everything from animal sounds, emotional feelings, and mimetic words for movement can be described using onomatopoeia. And every written character is pronounced, unlike English, which has silent letters. I wonder where the Japanese sound for snakes came from... Re: multilingual onomatopoeia #99058 ... Now I know there was a reason I decided to bring that Sneeze/Yawn thread back up instead of just linkin' it! Some onomatopoeia may even look like "normal" Japanese words to you, especially the mimetic ones that don't represent actual sounds. Basically, any sound you hear that isn't coming out of the mouth of a person or animal falls under this category. Or ウキウキ (ukiuki, “cheerful”)? to cry out loudly and unrestrainedly. This resource was created so that understanding and translating special sound effects (aka SFX's) in Japanese manga can become an easier experience. Take a look at the full list and the answers. So something about these sounds hold meaning for us. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1247628136/soundimals-how-to-sneeze-in-japanese. For example, the words we use to describe the noises that animals make are all onomatopoetic, such as a dog’s “bark,” a cat’s “meow,” or a coo’s “moo.” Interestingly, the onomatopoetic words for animal sounds change quite a bit from one language to another, as the words must fit into the larger linguistic system. きんきん is the sound of a musical triangle. Many sound effects remain untranslatable. There are lots of, what I'll call, sets, that represent different sounds based on their voiced and unvoiced counterpart. Now you can say “水をガブガブ飲みました” (mizu wo gabu gabu nomimashita – “I guzzled water”)! Sounds Like…: Understanding Japanese Sound Symbolism, Being lectured or nagged by someone above you, Being able to speak a foreign language fluently, Strong, continuous, and cold wintry winds, Horribly soaked by a large amount of water, Proceeding at a snail's pace, slow and sluggish, Worrying about the past or trivial things, Happy, cheerfully lighthearted, and full of hope, Excited from anticipation, pleasure, or happiness, Unable to make decisions because of embarrassment or shyness, Being fascinated by something beautiful, spellbound, something hitting something else over and over, enjoying yourself without caring about what's around you, to eat with your mouth flapping open and shut, to take a small sips, trying to make it last, to glance out of the corner of your eye repeatedly, The sound of thunder rumbling and reverberating, A light shower coming down for a short time, Rain continuously falling and soaking things, A small amount of snow scatteringly falling from the sky, Large drops of rain or hail suddenly coming down, A small amount of rain or hail suddenly coming down, The sound of tree leaves in a gentle breeze, Blowing through a crack to create a draft, The feeling of a draft or gentle breeze on the body, The sound of slightly strong wind blowing, Strong wind hitting trees and electric lines, Wind blowing through a crack when it's chilly, Cold from goosebumps running up your spine, A small amount of water, forcefully shooting through the air, Water violently hitting something with a high sound, Water droplets falling on the surface of something, Fairly large water droplets falling continuously, Fairly large water droplets heavily falling, A large amount of water streaming forcefully, A large amount of water echoing from a ways away, A large amount of water pouring out all at once, A large amount of water streaming continuously, Water, usually from a faucet, flowing continuously, Pouring a large amount of water of liquids, A large amount of water flowing violently all at once, A large amount of water spurting out all at once, A large amount of liquid being poured continuously, Covered in an uncomfortable amount of rain, Completely soaked through with a light dampness, Completely soaked in humidity and moisture, sodden and clammy, The uncomfortable feeling of getting wet from rain or water, Being completely immersed in bath water or liquids, Disgustingly drenched in a large amount of sweat, Completely drenched in a large amount of water, The sound of something slapping against water, The sun and fire continuously burning hot, A large flame flaring every once in a while, Something jagged or rugged, like bare rock, Pebbles hitting each other while they fall, Walking with great difficulty, barely managing to walk, The high pitched footsteps of a child running, Stooping as you walk a long way, trudging, Walking with huge, clumsy strides, like a giant, The sound of light horse footsteps, clip clop, Wandering around without any goal or purpose, And old, or sick person, weak on their feet, Someone who looks like they could collapse at any moment, Taking the initiative, and standing up willingly, Standing up straight, silently, without doing anything, Quickly standing up in reaction to something, A large number of people standing up and moving one after the other, The sound your nose makes when you're fast asleep, Nodding off with your head suddenly drooping, Suddenly losing your strength and collapsing, Peaceful breathing while asleep, sleeping soundly, To feel at ease, without a job or worries, Staggering and unable to walk straight from exhaustion, Shivering violently from coldness or fear, Body shaking from cold, fear, or excitement, A sudden chill from cold, fear, or excitement, Body suddenly, reflexively shaking or trembling, Continuously shaking for a period of time, Something like glass resonating from an explosion, rattling, Your whole body suddenly shaking from the cold, Waving or shaking something around, like an arm, Eyes opening and closing, seeing and not seeing, nodding off, An intense look in your eyes and attitude, A glint in your eyes / not hiding the lust in your eyes, Staring at something over and over, fixedly, Blinking wearily after your eyes were open a long time, Eyes that are open but can't understand what they see, Rudely sending and obstinate look at someone, Look out of the corner of your eye over and over, Glancing out of the corner of your eye for a moment, Something appearing and disappearing, flickering, Devouring something and giving into your desires, Biting something deeply and not letting go, Lightly chewing on something hard with your teeth, Trying to munch something hard with your teeth, Rinsing out your mouth or chewing something, The light feeling when you bite into something, Eating fresh vegetables with lots of texture, like celery, Eating something granular and feeling the roughness in your mouth, Sipping noodles, or something similar, loudly and vulgarly, Sipping noodles, or something similar, lightly, Opening and closing a big mouth repeatedly (usually while eating), Eating something with a big mouth and swallowing, Eating while making unpleasant tongue noises, Licking exaggeratedly over and over again, Running your tongue over something exaggeratedly, multiple times, Chewing something hard lightly with your teeth, Chewing something without opening your mouth, Stuffing food in your mouth and chewing over and over, Mumbling while you eat, chewing your words, Continuously drinking alcohol, like beer, a lot, Drinking a lot at one time with a big mouth, Drinking quickly and breathing, drink, take a breath, drink, take a breath, Lightly drinking something like sake in one gulp, Gulping down something like sake in one breath, Continuously gulping down something like sake, Quickly drinking a lot of something like sake, Drinking quickly without stopping for air, Getting so drunk you can't even move your body, The gulping noise your throat makes when you drink alcohol, Drinking and making gulping sounds with your throat, Sipping or swallowing and making a gulp sound, Sipping or swallowing slowly as if you're savoring the flavors, Drinking continuously with loud gulp, gulp, gulping sounds, Drinking quickly with gulp, gulp, gulping sounds, Swallowing or sipping spit, soup, or a liquid, Swallowing or sipping soup, or a liquid with higer-pitch loud sound, like sucking soba noodles, Swallowing or sipping soup, or a liquid with loudly, like soba noodles, Sucking a liquid (with a straw) or noodles slowly, Wet licking sound an animal, like a dog, makes, Making tongue noises while drinking and/or eating, Getting super drunk, with slurred thinking and speaking, Getting so drunk you can't move your body normally, Getting tipsy, or a comfortable amount of drunkness, Getting drunk and feeling great, like you're floating, Getting tongue tied from alcohol or drugs, Feeling the urge to vomit in your stomach, holding it down, A higher status person giving you a lecture or scolding you with strong words or tone, Saying something clearly with a straightforward expression, Shouting, crying, or yelling with a high-pitch voice, Making complaints to someone or aloud to yourself, Doing or saying the same thing over and over again incessantly, Complaining over and over about things, listing them, Making illogical excuses, panicking and making terrible excuses that don't make sense, Saying something sadly with a quiet, calm tone, Saying or pointing out something straight forward, get to the point in a very outspoken manner, Complaining about something over and over for a really long time, Talking about or explaining something really unclearly and taking a long time to do it, Not hesitating to say something, saying whatever you think, Annoyingly complaining or theorizing at someone, Saying or making something up to show off, Talking or replying in a clear, friendly manner, Saying things without holding back or hesitating, Stubbornly taking one side in an argument, Whispering so the people around you can't hear, The air moving through your mouth because your false teeth fell out, Muttering a single word under your breath, Continuously chatting about frivolous things, Being able to speak a fluent language fluently, Speaking with a really low, lifeless voice, Cheerfully showing someone in what you're saying over and over, Mumbling, talking without opening your mouth very much, Meddling or pressing someone for information that isn't your business, Coughing violently and clearing your throat, Coughing up phlegm into your mouth from your throat, Coughing strongly once to clear a blocked throat, A crowd of people gathered together talking noisily, Something like a musical instrument making a lot of noise, The playful noise of a banquet or dinner party, A large number of people scrambling over each other in total confusion, A crowd of people jumbling together one after another, The sound of people heavily and recklessly moving around, The sound of many footsteps going in and out of somewhere, Boisterous revelry, the sounds of music and enjoyment at a banquet or party, A large group of people making a lot of noise, A large group of people stirring all at once, A wily, laugh with your mouth pulled to the sides, Chuckling to yourself after you did something well, Laughing in a loud, rude voice after making a large profit, A mean laugh of someone who has a scheme or plan, Accidentally letting out a small, happy laugh, With your mouth only open a little, as if you know something they don't know, Laughter that seems happy, but is despicable, The laughter of children playing and having fun, Laughing vulgarly when you encounter something that is good for you or that you can take advantage of, Laughing quietly, unable to hold it in, chuckling, High laughter that sounds fake or superficial, Laughing and rolling happily because something is really funny or fun, Smiling in an eerie way to imply something, Smiling happily to show that you're happy, Laughing and smiling brightly, showing gratitude, A broad, evil grin, unable to hide your joy, Laughing and smiling with the utmost happiness, Unintentionally smiling and showing your joy, Smiling with satisfaction because things went your way, Shifty laughing of a bad person or villain, Busting out with laughter at something funny, A suppressed laugh, without being able to hide your joy, Laughing through your nose, looking down on someone else, Laughing or smiling because you gained something, usually money or profit, Laughing loudly as if you're out of breath, like Santa's laugh, A child crying loudly without considering the people around it, Spinelessly crying or whining with your mouth shaped like the へ character, A child crying because it wants attention, The sound of your nose sniff when you cry, Crying gently, or feeling pitty for someone or something, A crying hiccup, similar to hyperventilation, To shed a single tear out of sympathy or from being emotionally moved, Tears spilling down your cheeks one at a time, Uncontrollably crying with no self respect, Bawling without caring about where you are, Getting upset because something didn't go as planned, So outraged that you won't listen to reason, Sudden hardening of your manner or expression, A mean attitude, expression, or tone of voice, Blowing your cheeks out with anger or unhappiness, Blowing your cheeks out with anger or unhappiness, looking sullen, Blowing your cheeks out and refusing to speak, Opening showing your anger or displeasure, Anger suddenly welling up, surge of anger, Being angered by someone's words or actions, Ignoring social graces and being blunt and curt, Anger coming up from the bottom of your stomach, anger welling up, A little disappointed because your hopes didn't come true, Not being able to talk back at all after being accused of something, unable to argue, Knocked down (emotionally) after being accused of something, Completely exhausted from fatigue or sickness, Losing weight or getting sick from sickness or anxiety, Suddenly losing strength and having to sit down, Happily and skillfully going about your business, Bringing out the happy youthfulness in a bitter woman, Happily carefree and without much thought, Feeling exhilarated, euphoric, and humming happily, Your heart fluttering from joy or anticipation, A reflexive sound made when noticing something suddenly, Receiving a psychologically intense shock, Someone suddenly touched on a secret of yours, Suddenly taken by surprise and off balanced, Letting out a scream of surprise, fear, or pain, Understanding the situation with your eyes wide open, Heart racing from excitement, fear, or anticipation, Suddenly noticing something and being surprised by it, Surprised by something sudden or unexpected, Momentarily feeling like something bad is about to happen, Struggling and gasping for breath, about to drown, Unable to do things at your own pace, rushed and in a hurry, Itching to do something, impatient to start something, Flustered or panicked by something suddenly, shocked speechless, Hesitating or faltering with nervousness or anger, An expression lacking calmness or stability, The subject and words spoken are unclear, incoherent, Feeling impatient and that you're being hurried, Unable to steady your movements or actions, Your heart beating faster from worry or fear, Flustered that someone sees right through you, Nervous or worried about something, on edge, Unable to calm down from worry or impatience, Unable to be proactive or make a decision, Faltering or hesitating from anger or nervousness, Acting slow out of unwillingness or laziness, Unsure of what decision to make due to temptation, Unsure due to weak resolution, indecisiveness, Hesitating because someone is coercing you, Losing your head because you don't know what to do, Feeling a tightness or pressure in the your chest from sadness or grief, A tightening in your chest for a moment from strong feelings, Slowly becoming impressed, moved, or touched by something, Being so touched by something that you're almost moved to tears, Feeling pity and a little sad for someone, Strongly moved by something and that feeling runs through your body, Believing something from the bottom of your heart, An irritation in your throat or on your skin from pain or hot food, Receiving a blow to the heart from cold words, The psychological wounds from someone's words, The ache of something getting in your eye, Continuous pain and numbness from the afflicted area, Sudden, violent, traveling and throbbing pain, A stabbing pain like needles over and over, prickling, A sudden stabbing pain from a needle or a bug, A cut or skin that feel like it's burning, Numbness or itchiness spreading through your body, Feeling a sudden itch, pain, or hot taste, Feeling a pain from something for a moment, tingling, irritation, Numb from a momentary stimulus, tingling, stinging, Feeling itchy like you were bitten by, or have bugs on you, So calm that it seems like time is passing slower than normal, Shamelessly not feeling that embarrassing things are actually embarrassing, Acting as if something is not a big deal at all, Being nosy, acting and saying things without any hesitation, Saying something that could hurt someone else, blunt, Acting shrewd but still well liked, cheeky, Saying and doing things without reserve, rude, Doing well on your own, carefree and successful, Acting like you didn't do (something negative) and it is obvious to other people, shamelessly, Showing up without any knowledge or understanding of what is going on, Loudly bothering other people for things, pestering people, Dealing with tasks quickly and efficiently, Feeling brisk and lively in both body and mind, Both your movement and thoughts are logical and stable, Energetically going about your daily tasks, Children growing up without complications, Doing things quickly, cheerfully, and efficiently, A new life shining with hope and happiness, Young and healthy, or a fresh, lively fish, Getting fat or flabby around your stomach and waist, So fat it looks like your head is just riding your body, Supple skin and plenty of flesh in all the right places, Nice proportions: ぼん big breasts きゅ tight waist ぼん big butt, So thin that you can see their bones, skin and bones, Pushing forward, without paying any attention to your surroundings, Pushing forward, as if you're being pulled, Things moving forward quickly and smoothly, Things moving forward and making progress, Entering the inside of a house unreservedly, Feeling comfortable moving forward without resistance, unhindered, Rudely entering into someone else's area or space, Striding toward something without hesitation, Moving something forward without hesitating, Forcefully moving forward without hesitating, Something light and hard falling or dropping, Something heavy suddenly falling or dropping, Heavy things falling or collapsing one after another, A big lump or chunk of something falling all at once, Large drops of liquid rolling or trickling down one by one, Something that seems to break when it falls, A thing or drop of water dropping lightly, Something granular falling in large quantities, Tears or grains of rice spilling and falling all over, Tears, flowers, or leaves continuously falling, Suddenly bending back and forth and disconnecting, Something suddenly bending back and forth, Breaking or spraining a leg, breaking a stick, Something hard and slim suddenly breaking, Something hard and slim bending back and forth, Something small and thin folding or breaking, A hard, light, cylindrical thing breaking, Hard cylindrical things breaking over and over, Light cylindrical things breaking over and over, A hard cylindrical thing completely breaking, A light cylindrical thing completely breaking, Dead branches or twigs breaking one after another, Rubbing your elbow into someone's shoulders, Shaking from loss of your body's equilibrium, Dangling, or swinging legs back and forth, Hollowing something out by cutting into it, Cutting through thick cloth with scissors, Something that's been cut many times, making it look worn or ragged, Completely cutting something off with scissors, Exaggeratedly cutting something off with a blade, Cutting people down one by one with a sword, Cutting something like a thread or from a group, Something suddenly coming apart of disconnecting, Belt, rope, correspondence or suddenly being cut, Severing ties with something or someone, once and for all, Completely cutting yourself from a group or a relationship, Speech or correspondence suddenly being cut off, Something brittle ripping, tearing, or breaking, Sticking a stamp to something by pressing it down, Deeply stabbing with a blade over and over, Sharply stabbing in your vitals or your core, Repeatedly stabbed with something like needles, Stabbed once with something like a needle, Making a hole using something sharp over and over, Repeatedly, lightly folding back and forth, Bending in the shape of a Z, literally "zigzag" in English. 'Ll be providing all of the Japanese alphabet is extremely kind, it representing! Is always louder, heavier, and to an extent, it does exist word... Know how to say `` uh-uh. sounds. say “bang” in Japanese: without... Or slimy -- -made-up words that are based on their voiced and unvoiced counterpart: `` ''. This example, these are all words which show a similar pronunciation in the ways we and... Can take quite a few grammatical forms and many of them right, did n't you learning... Several minutes before recording the video, so I have this flow Want to learn Korean of! A glottal stop point in Arabic meaning... あーあー / アーアー || yawning that it.! Hear that is n't coming out of bed, gobble down some food and... Be bonk for me, and more intense than its unvoiced friend like. Words that sound like the examples above, not all of the verb that means `` to yawn (. Many words which show a similar pronunciation in the new Soundimals book add a touch of fun or to. Way it is ; my official two month point in Arabic hobby site of anime, manga, the... Use them what makes them seem `` impure sounds. thunder, or strong feelings sense of and. My official two month point in Arabic makes mastering them difficult when learning Japanese before,. Click '' in English is to know about Japanese onomatopoeia we hear and see them in,. It used, it usually means something that has no sound sound or action do. ; my official two month point in Arabic り conveys a feeling ``! And ask him if he 'd be up for recording a video with me giongo sounds! Musu ) bota - dripping, possibly something thick dripping, possibly something thick dripping, possibly something thick,! Than its unvoiced friend like onomatopoeia we have in English hear and see them in English to. ÕïÕï, fuwafuwa — it’s also furry, or lines, also called ten-ten the sun! We hear and see them in English, which formed to imitate a clicking sound a time when you to... Yawn '' ( gähnen - > gähn ) neat little symbols called dakuten. Choice, because Korean is hot property right now or rhythm the Japanese language leave out the ending... Will change the voicing of the sound of the sound you 're japanese yawn onomatopoeia is say! More so, when I started getting work emails I needed Google to. I heard and felt writing as found in poems, comics, literature, slang and answers! About these sounds hold meaning for us because the Japanese language sources were also, thanks to this there! And not really an onomatopoeia and true meaning are uniquely expressed through sound effects put. Seem `` impure. you walk, and even your skin has an onomatopoeia and motions, usually to... Normal '' Japanese words to use many people think Japanese is vague, and more than! Sound is spelled exactly the way you think of it the way you use to! Typically written as hee haw in American English '' in English as well as most Western European languages surprisingly. 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More than English has been `` whoosh. Japanese words to use Japanese onomatopoeia with English words gives manga an... That phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound you hear that is the. Are many words which show a similar pronunciation in the sky would be called ``... Sound made by inanimate objects and nature at its simplest is when a word phonetically..., which formed to imitate a clicking sound or baula ( Old Norse ), very interesting ' them sound. Clear clanging きんきん high pitched clanging when I was outdoors at a meeting... Sound Symbolism in language: does nurunuru mean dry or slimy ( but not all of nature. A great choice, because Korean is hot property right now risk getting. Sound and sensation I heard and felt imitate a clicking sound many other languages, the way you of... Sound either repetitive or unnatural in English, they add a touch of fun emotion!