Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [onomatopoeia]

擬声語. Mimetic words representing sounds.

Words that represent or describe sounds by imitating them.

A type of ideophone or sound symbolism, which uses sound to evoke any concept.

145 questions
15
votes
2 answers

How to write down sound of laugh in speech

I'm listening to some dialogues in Japanese and I write them down. I need to write down sound of laughter in sentence (speech) like in English for example Ha ha What I need should have notion of laughing at someone. Is it just simple 「ハハ」
viktor
  • 291
  • 1
  • 2
  • 8
11
votes
2 answers

Do native speakers ever create/improvise onomatopoeia?

Since Japanese is incredibly rich in onomatopoeic expressions which are commonly understood by most adults, I am wondering if adults ever make up new onomatopoeia on the fly, or if they always use those which they have "learned" and which are…
Earthliŋ
  • 48,176
  • 10
  • 128
  • 199
7
votes
2 answers

Is there an onomatopoeia of mumbling in japanese?

I was watching an anime, and they use repetitions of "ブツ" everytime a character is mumbling. Is this the rule for japanese or it's just something made up for a particular anime/manga?
Pablo
  • 4,415
  • 12
  • 42
  • 77
5
votes
1 answer

What does ゲヒゲヒ mean?

I saw it in the context of ゲヒゲヒ笑う and would like to know what kind of laugh it is. Some quick Googling seems to indicate it might be like laughing uncontrollably maybe but I can't find any sources.
Ringil
  • 8,514
  • 2
  • 24
  • 52
5
votes
1 answer

What does にへら mean when beginning a sentence?

For context, the sentence is にへら、という気の抜けた笑顔。 And the sentence before is そこまで考えて、胸内にふと一人の人物の顔が浮かんだ。 The character whose monologue this is is spacing out during a movie thinking about his recent past, if it helps. Could someone help me understand…
OtheJared
  • 913
  • 1
  • 6
  • 14
5
votes
1 answer

What does ふぬぬぬぬ mean?

負っけないぞ～！ ふぬぬぬぬ…… Is it the same as "ぬぬぬ…" onomatopoeia which uses when you're in a tight spot?
Guest
  • 359
  • 2
  • 6
5
votes
1 answer

What does 「コロリ、コロリと」 mean?

It's my first time asking a question in this website so I hope I'll be as clear as possible. I'm new at learning Japanese and I'm reading a book containing the phrase 「コロリ、コロリと」. It is impossible for me to understand. I tried looking it up on…
Yuuya
  • 53
  • 4
5
votes
2 answers

What does バタバタ mean?

What does バタバタ mean? コラム書かなきゃ。映像チェックしなきゃ。アレも書かなきゃ。アレも考えなきゃ。バタバタバタ子さん(´･_･`) Everything make sense to me except for the last part.
language hacker
  • 5,045
  • 7
  • 32
  • 52
4
votes
1 answer

Sound mimesis (or 擬音語【ぎおんご】 or 擬態語【ぎたいご】) of ビ and シッ

Consider this panel: What do ビ and シッ represent? I'm conjecturing ビ is the mimesis for the raised finger, and シッ is the mimesis for the scarf as she turns around.
Flaw
  • 19,964
  • 9
  • 68
  • 175
4
votes
1 answer

What is the relationship between ABAB and ABり / AっBり mimetic words?

There is a pattern in which some mimetic words that take the form ABAB have cousin words that take the form ABり or AっBり and mean something very similar, sometimes identical. For…
どっかのおっさん
  • 571
  • 2
  • 7
3
votes
2 answers

How to use ワクワクする properly

All examples are example sentences from a dictionary. I read that ワクワクする expresses an instant reaction rather than a state, as in: 彼はその美しい光景を見てわくわくした。 彼女はその有名な歌手に会えると思うとわくわくした。 But here in this following sentence it doesn’t seem to express a…
初心者
  • 31
  • 1
3
votes
2 answers

How are custom onomatopoeia made?

I am currently reading a recently released remake of 月姫, and I encountered the following sentence: 指で触ってみたら、つぷり、と指先が沈みこんだ The context is that the character can see lines that no one else can, and he is describing here what happens if he tries…
MegaZeroX
  • 1,798
  • 8
  • 25
3
votes
3 answers

onomatopoeia for cluelessness

Is there an オノマトペ for when you're absolutely clueless or expected to do something, but cannot?
manonthemat
  • 859
  • 1
  • 8
  • 13
3
votes
2 answers

Buzzwords 2016: びっくりぽん

The Japan Times has released the list of Japan’s top buzzword candidates in 2016. Among the candidates was phrase 「びっくりぽん」(I'm surprised). Now I am familiar with びっくりする, but I can't make sense of the ぽん part. I could blame it on Kyary Pamyu Pamyu…
manonthemat
  • 859
  • 1
  • 8
  • 13
3
votes
2 answers

What are those symbols above the racing cars?

In the manga, there are symbols above the cars when they race. In the picture below, it says ガッアアアア in katakana. What does it mean? Is it the sound of drifting or an engine?
Yonatan Markman
1
2