More on Japanese Sound Words

Last time I talked about the sound words in Japanese and how they're a little different from the onomatopoeia we use in English. There are actually two kinds of these sound words in Japanese: giseigo ("imitation voice words") which mimic an actual sound like a bird cawing, and gitaigo ("imitation condition words"), which describe a state or action in a way that's totally different from anything we have in English. Sometimes these words work as adverbs, modifying verbs: for example, a star shining brightly in the sky is described with kira kira; an employee can work bishi bishi (fast and efficiently) or dara dara (slowly, lazily); and someone who is bilingual in another language might speak it pera pera (fluently). At other times, these descriptive words work as adjectives, expressing a state: pika pika is used to describe a brand-new toy, literally describing the sound of gleaming streaks of newness; someone who is sneaking around is being koso koso; and someone who is nervous or excited about something is doki doki. Naturally, these strange, unique words are among the most enjoyable for students of the language to learn.

If a man stares at a woman jiro jiro, she might not appreciate it.