The Intriguing Aspects of Japanese Onomatopoeia
They are not just about sounds and voices
Japanese onomatopoeia words often catch Japanese language learners’ attention.
The sheer number of onomatopoeia words in Japanese, along with the variety of unique situations in which they are used, is an interesting feature of the language with their massive number and uniqueness.
The Japanese language, along with the Korean language, is said to have far more onomatopoeia words than other languages. There are as many as 4,500 onomatopoeia listed in a Japanese dictionary.
Speakers of other languages may wonder “OK, but is that number really so huge?”
I know what you mean. Other languages also have a lot of words that express sounds such as “meow” and “smack!” But what you need to take into account when talking about Japanese onomatopoeia is the difference in its definition.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines onomatopoeia as: “The naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (such as buzz, hiss).”
On the other hand, Japanese dictionaries give a broader definition of onomatopoeia (in Japanese, オノマトペ) , which includes 擬声語 (giseigo), 擬音語 (giongo), and 擬態語 (gitaigo).
