Word Play

~One of my favorite parts of the Japanese language is that it is rich in onomatopoeia. As you surely remember from middle school English class, onomatopoeia is the use of a word that imitates a sound, such as "boom" or "fizzle" for something exploding or bubbling.

I've always been fond of onomatopoeia, which perhaps explains why I like the old 1966 Batman TV series starring Adam West--you know, the one that flashed words like "BAM!" and "POW!" on the screen whenever people got punched:

^It may not be high art, but who cares--it's fun!

Anyway, there are many more examples of onomatopoeia in Japanese than there are in English, but there's more to it than that. What's different is that they're used far, far more frequently, and by people of all ages. Most of them are double words, where the onomatopoeia is repeated for effect. For example, "doki doki" is the sound of a heart beating fast, and is therefore synonymous with nervousness.

A typical Japanese conversation is laced with these kind of words. I "collect" them, and whenever I hear one of my Japanese friends or coworkers using one, I always ask what it means. In addition, I read the weekly Japanese-learning section of The Japan Times, an English-language newspaper (by the way, "shinbun" is Japanese for newspaper).

Every Tuesday, the newspaper publishes a comic called "Word Play" which humorously illustrates two similar examples of onomatopoeia. This has been running for a long time and has proved so popular that it's actually been made into a stage play. Here are some recent examples:

^ pata pata: Thinking he was going to go out and play, Pochi was happily wagging his tail.

Therefore, "pata pata" is the sound of an animal wagging its tail. This can be used for any animal with a tail, including fish and dolphins.

^ bata bata: Flapping its wings, the crane flew upward.

Note the similarity of "bata bata" to "pata pata". The former is the sound of a wagging tail, while the latter is the sound of flapping wings.

Actually, I've heard "pata pata" used in other situations. One of my students, a grade-school girl who's been going to my school for most of her life, described to me a fishing trip she went on with her family. She apparently had a very good time, and enthusiastically told me how when she caught a fish and pulled it out of the water, it flopped around on land. She actually rolled around on the floor imitating the fish and saying "bata bata bata!". It was too cute to stop, even though I'm supposed to discourage use of Japanese in class.

^ gachin gachin: By breaking the thick, frozen solid ice, he made a hole and dropped his line into the water.

When I first arrived in Japan, I heard "gachin gachin" all the time, because it was still winter. There was still quite a bit of snow and "gachin gachin" ice in Nagaoka. With the freakishly warm weather of late that's already cut winter in half, I haven't heard much of this.

I did, however, hear it on the TV news yesterday, where the meteorologist was saying something about sub-zero temperatures in Hokkaido and that drivers should be aware of icy roads. He said "gachin gachin" while talking, and I knew what it meant! How gratifying.

^ kachin kachin: Even after the new year, mochi (rice cakes) as hard as nails were kept on display.

I head "kachin kachin" all the time; for example, one of my students came to class with a hard candy (think Jolly Rancher). I told him to either eat it fast or get rid of it, and he commented that it was "kachin kachin"--it was too hard to break up and eat, so he had to spit it into the trash.

Note that the difference between "gachin gachin" and "kachin kachin" is that the former applies only to frozen liquids.

~Below is a short list of some of my favorite Japanese onomatopoeia. By the way, for you fellow English Majors out there, the word for the words formed by use of onomatopoeia is "onomatope". Hence, the words below are onomatopes, which are examples of onomatopoeia (which is a literary device). Please, stop me now.

• peko peko: the sound of a hungry stomach rumbling. This one is easy to remember, because it reminds me of the word "peckish". It's interesting how completely different languages can sometimes sound so alike. "Peko peko" is frequently used by Japanese people to express that they're hungry.

• betsu betsu: the sound of something being separated. This is mostly used at a restaurant when asking for separate checks; just say "Betsu betsu, kudasi" (separate, please). It's also part of the word tokubetsu, which means "special".
  

• boro boro: junk. If something is "boro boro", it's beat-up, old, and worthless. I learned this from two of my students, who drew of the board a patched, frayed, shirt that was falling apart to illustrate "boro boro". I told them they should sent their drawing to The Japan Times.
  

• zen zen: completely not. For example, if you had a horrible vacation and someone asks you if you enjoyed it, you could reply with "zen zen!". Actually, "zen zen" literally means "completely", the aspect of it being completely negative is simply the most common usage. Some younger people in Japan apparently use "zen zen" in the sense of completely positive, mostly to confuse older people.
  

• bari bari: literally, this is the sound of paper that is tearing apart. In practice, it's used to represent being very busy. "Moto bari bari," roughly means "There's a lot to do".
  

• giri giri: barely; something you almost missed. If you hop on the train just before it leaves, it's "giri giri".
  

• tama tama: by chance; unexpectedly. If you run into an old friend purely by accident, it's "tama tama". I'm not sure what sound this is supposed to represent, but I like it anyway.
  

• bero bero: the sound of a drunk person. If a person is described as "bero bero", it means they're drunk. I guess it's supposed to represent the sound of someone stumbling around in an alcoholic haze.

Words like these are used all the time by people of all ages. Although many of them are considered "cute", they're not considered to be childish; news reporters and politicians make frequent use of onomatopoeia. I think the recent State of the Union address by our Great and Powerful Leader would have been much more fun to watch if he'd used a few of these. He could have described the current situation in Iraq as "mera mera" or "gucha gucha" and his new Iraq strategy as "mecha mecha" (which, unfortunately, has nothing to do with giant robots).

There are many, many other examples of onomatopoeia in Japanese (click here for some examples, including the ones I just used). I have some more of the "Word Play" cartoons which I might post later, but for now, here's something to challenge you: an easy online quiz (in English) of Japanese onomatopoeia! You don't need to know any Japanese to complete it. Try it and let me know what your score is. ~Oyasumi!