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Japanese imitative words

author Posted by: kirin on date Oct 4th, 2009 | filed Filed under: Learn Japanese

I made another video in which I explained how we use Katakana for imitative words in Japanese.

There are a lot more of this kind, and there’s no way I can cover everything. I just wanted to tell you the image. :)


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tag15 Responses to “Japanese imitative words”

  1. Walter Said,
    October 5th, 2009 at 7:25 pm edit

    So interesting, Kirin ! I have seen these words used all over in manga everywhere , to express sounds . Like goro goro ( roll roll )
    And sure enough , some of them are in katakana , some in hiragana.
    Ofcourse we've know them in Western languages and comics too ( English dogs bark with ' woof " , French dogs with "Wouf" and everyone knows that frogs go "ribbit" )
    As a kid the first thing that I noticed in American comics was all the "Pow"," Kapow", "Zoom" etc word balloons for sounds .
    But Japanese comics ( manga ) have so many more.
    Do you use them in spoken language too or just written ?

  2. Catherine Said,
    October 6th, 2009 at 12:57 pm edit

    How cute! These words are often found on neoprints and some character goods, aren't they? ^_^

  3. Catherine Said,
    October 6th, 2009 at 1:00 pm edit

    Mm… Japanese has lots of onomatopoeia!

  4. sheryl Said,
    October 7th, 2009 at 3:30 pm edit

    Hi Kirin
    I have question here :) which I need your help. どんな
    and 何の means ~ what kind/what sort of. Are they the same meaning? They seems to be confusing to me, how & when should I use them? :)

    Thank you

  5. kirin Said,
    October 8th, 2009 at 2:17 pm edit

    Good comment, Walter. YES, we use them both in spoken and written ways. Gorogoro for rolling, such a nice example you know. We also use it in this way in conversation:

    A: How was your weekend?
    B: I was staying at home whole days and was doing gorogoro!
    (zutto ie de gorogoro shiteitayo!)
    (ずっと　いえ　で　ごろごろ　していたよ！）　
    *I put a space for your easy reading, but usually no space between these words.

    Does this B person rolling on his floor? No, he means he was relaxing at home. (LOL)

  6. kirin Said,
    October 8th, 2009 at 2:18 pm edit

    Oh are they really? Maybe…you are right. :)

  7. kirin Said,
    October 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pm edit

    Oh I'm learning a new word, "onomatopoeia".
    It's good, I teach you what I can, and I am also learning from you! :D

  8. kirin Said,
    October 8th, 2009 at 2:38 pm edit

    I'll give you quick samples as follows:

    A: I like him so much.
    B: For example? = What makes you feel like that?
    (どんなところが好き？）

    A: I'll take care of this, no matter what happens to me.
    (どんなことがあってもこの件は私が面倒をみます。）

    A: What kind of person is she?
    （彼女ってどんな人？）
    ==============================

    A: I have no idea what you are talking about.
    （君が何のことを言っているのかわからない。）

    A: I'm keeping this now.
    B: What for?
    （何のために？）
    ==============

  9. kirin Said,
    October 8th, 2009 at 2:39 pm edit

    I have a feeling that どんな is more appropriate for the meaning of what kind of/ what sort of. As you may know どんな is easy form from どのような, which exactly means "what kind of…?" ^ ^; I wonder if I explained it well…In the future I wish my blog readers who study Japanese also feel free to answer all these questions. They may answer such questions properly. hehehe… :p

  10. Becca Said,
    October 9th, 2009 at 4:37 am edit

    all the words you picked are so CUTE! haha… now I know why the frog from sanrio is called keroppi <3 kero kero!

  11. kirin Said,
    October 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pm edit

    Exactly! Kero kero keroppi! XD
    All these imitative words may sound kinda cute. Nice comment, thank you!

  12. sheryl Said,
    October 11th, 2009 at 2:06 pm edit

    Hi Kirin

    tks for answering my question :)
    I have more question to trouble you. This one will be very long. 失礼しました

    I have question regarding changing the verb form the word
    Could you guide me on that.

    For exmaples:
    鳥が鳴く ——-> question, How do I change the 鳴く
    (なくnaku)Godan to different form like
    (1) ない
    (2)ます
    (3)たい
    (4)て
    (5)た

    there are several more examples for Ichidan Verb like テレビを見る—–>miru (みる)

    and irregular verb like 宿題をする——->suru
    all these seems confusing to me.

    I wonder how am I going to change to the various form(1-5)

    thank you
    sheryl

  13. kirin Said,
    October 12th, 2009 at 8:30 am edit

    For question, 鳥は鳴きますか？(this is polite way) 鳥は鳴くか？(this is not polite way)
    nakanai, 鳥は鳴かないですか？　鳥は鳴かないか？
    nakimasu, 鳥は鳴きますか？鳥は鳴くか？(same as above)
    nakitai, 鳥は鳴きたいですか？鳥は鳴きたいか？
    naite, 鳥は鳴いていますか？鳥はないているか？
    naita 鳥は鳴いたのですか？　鳥は鳴いたか？

    For question, テレビを見ますか？テレビを見るか？
    For question, 宿題をしますか？宿題をするか？

  14. kirin Said,
    October 12th, 2009 at 8:30 am edit

    But…to be honest, I have no idea what you mean form 1-5, because that's not the way I learned it. So my answer may not be proper…I cannot give you grammar guidance because I didn't study how to teach Japanese. Sorry for that.

  15. sheryl Said,
    October 12th, 2009 at 3:46 pm edit

    thanks for the info :) ;-)

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