What would you imagine if you hear the sound “boo”? If you grew up in an English-speaking country, you may think of “Peek-a-boo” instantly. I was born and grew up in Japan, and I would answer “Boo is a pig’s cry”. You might feel it is strange, but a pig’s cry in Japanese is not “oink”, but ブーブー(bū bū), it sounds exactly the same as English “boo boo”.
I like Pixar Animation Studios’ movies, and one of my favorite movies from them is Monster’s inc. Do you know the name of the small human girl in the movie? Her name is Boo. (In the movie, her real name was not revealed, though) In Japanese dubbing and Japanese subtitles, she is called ブー(Bū) like the original English version. However, I had wondered why her name is the same as a pig’s cry for a long time because I hadn’t known the English phrase “Peek-a-boo”.
I’d like to talk about the sound “bū” and Onomatopoeia in Japanese this time. (As I mentioned, English boo sounds the same as bū in Japanese, but I’m following the Japanese writing system and will use bū in order to avoid confusions.)
(目次=Table of contents)
What is Onomatopoeia in the First Place?
For people who are not familiar with what onomatopoeia is, I quoted the definition of the word from the English dictionary. (I think knowing what English onomatopoeia is makes it easier to understand the difference of Japanese onomatopoeia in this article.)
Onomatopoeia
noun [U] (uncountable）
The fact of words containing sounds similar to the noises they describe, for example hiss; the use of words like this in a piece of writing.
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 7th edition (Oxford University Press)
Each language has different onomatopoeia. According to National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, Japanese language has the second largest number of onomatopoeic words among all languages in the world. (For your information: the first one is Korean and there are over 8,000 onomatopoeic words in their language.) It is said that there are about 4,000 to 5,000 onomatopoeic words in Japanese, but in general, Japanese people use 400 to 700 of them in daily conversations.
How Do You Say Onomatopoeia in Japanese?
Unfortunately, the words expressing this concept have not been unified in Japanese. I think many people use the word オノマトペ(onomatope) which came the French word, onomatopée in order to mention onomatopoeia. However, you need to know that the definition of Japanese onomatope is different from the one in English, since onomatope is considered to be a general term for four concepts, 擬声語(gi-sei-go), 擬音語(gi-on-go), 擬態語(gi-tai-go) and 擬情語(gi-jou-go). (These are also regarded as sound symbolism in English and ideophones in English linguistics.)
What Are These Japanese Words? Details with Examples for Each Concept.
These four concepts may look similar, but each one has a different definition. For your understanding, I’d like to explain 擬声語(giseigo) first since it has the closest concept to English onomatopoeia. (For Japanese learners: Japanese words related to these concepts are equivalent to N2 level or above of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test=JLPT).
1. About 擬声語(giseigo)
There are three kanji combined for the word. 擬(gi) literally means imitate, 声(sei) means voice, and 語(go) means word or language. 擬声語(giseigo) is translated as Animate phonomime in English linguistics, and it expresses animals’ sounds such as a pig’s cry ブーブー(bū bū) or a dog’s bark ワンワン(wan wan).
2. About 擬音語(giongo)
The first and the last kanji of this word are the same as 擬声語(giseigo). The kanji in the middle part of 擬音語(giongo) is 音(on) which means sound, and 擬音語(giongo) is translated as Inanimate phonomime in English linguistics. Unlike 擬声語(giseigo) that expresses sounds by animals, 擬音語(giongo) expresses sounds by nature (such as wind or rain) and inanimate objects (such as machinery or cooking appliances). Let me show you some examples of 擬音語(giongo).
An example sentence without 擬音語(giongo).
顔をタオルで拭きます。(Kao wo taoru de fukimasu.)
English translation: I wipe my face with a towel.
Example sentences with 擬音語(giongo).
(a)顔をタオルでポンポンと拭きます。(Kao wo taoru de pon pon to fukimasu.)
(b)顔をタオルでゴシゴシと拭きます。(Kao wo taoru de goshi goshi to fukimasu.)
(c)顔をタオルでガシガシと拭きます。(Kao wo taoru de gashi gashi to fukimasu.)
Rough English translations:
(a) I pat my face with a towel.
(b) I roughly wipe my face with a towel.
(c) I violently wipe my face with a towel.
3. About 擬態語(gitaigo)
The first and the last kanji of this word are the same as 擬声語(giseigo) and 擬音語(giongo). The middle kanji, 態(tai), literally means the shape or appearance of things, or behavior. 擬態語(gitaigo) is translated as Phenomime in English linguistics. Although sound is not actually emitted, 擬態語(gitaigo) is used to represent the movement and/or state of something.
This concept is not included in English onomatopoeia because it is rare in English (the word, zigzag, is an example) to express things without using the actual sound. Therefore, 擬態語(gitaigo) is one of the difficult points to understand for Japanese learners. Here are some examples of the use of 擬態語(gitaigo).
An example sentence without 擬態語(gitaigo).
こっちを見ないでください。(Kocchi wo minai de kudasai.)
English translation: Don’t look this way, please.
Example sentences with 擬態語(gitaigo).
(a) こっちをじろじろ見ないでください。(Kocchi wo jiro jiro minai de kudasai .)
(b) こっちをじっと見ないでください。(Kocchi wo jitto minai de kudasai.)
(c) こっちをちらちら見ないでください。(Kocchi wo chira chira minai de kudasai.)
English translations:
(a) Please don’t stare this way. (jiro jiro: Being observed from head to toe according to the other person’s interests. Mostly in a negative way so that you feel uncomfortable.)
(b) Please don’t keep looking this way. (jitto: Keep being looked at by another person without them taking their eyes off. It doesn’t necessarily contain any negative feelings)
(c) Please don’t keep glancing this way. (chira chira: Trying not to be seen by you, but glancing at you continuously.)
4. About 擬情語(gijougo)
The first and the last kanji of this word are the same as the rest of the three, and the middle kanji, 情(jou), literally means emotion, consideration, or pity. 擬情語(gijougo) is translated as Psychomime in English linguistics. 擬情語(gijougo) mainly expresses a psychological state or physical sensation, and personally I think it is very useful when you see a doctor and need to explain the details of your symptoms.
An example sentence without 擬情語(gijougo).
頭が痛いです。(Atama ga itai desu.)
English translation: My head hurts.
Example sentences with 擬情語(gijougo)
(a) 頭がズキズキと痛いです。 (Atama ga zuki zuki to itai desu.)
(b) 頭がズキンズキンと痛いです。(Atama ga zukin zukin to itai desu.)
(c) 頭がガンガンと痛いです。 (Atama ga gan gan to itai desu.)
English translations:
My head is throbbing, and it hurts. (zuki zuki: Continuously with a bit of stimulation.)
My head is throbbing, and it hurts. (zukin zukin: Intermittently with stronger stimulation.)
My head hurts a lot. (gan gan: Continuously excruciating.)
*擬容語(giyougo)
Haruhiko Kindaichi, a Japanese linguist, classified Japanese onomatope into 5 categories, 擬声語(giseigo), 擬音語(giongo), 擬態語(gitaigo), 擬情語(gijougo) and 擬容語(giyougo). Basically, 擬容語(giyougo) is almost the same as 擬態語(gitaigo), except it is used when the sound represents the movement and/or state of something only related to animals including human beings. (This is just my personal opinion, but I don’t think you need to remember this term since gitaigo already includes this concept.)
The Use of オノマトペ(Onomatope) in Japan
Onomatope is not only used in daily conversations in Japan, but is also used for product names and character names as well. If an onomatopoeic word is included in a product name, customers can easily imagine what kind of product it would be. For a character names, Pokémon is a good example.
Do pig-like Pokémon have ブー(bū) sound in their names in Japanese?
There are at least 10 Pokémon that are modeled after a pig (or a boar), and 5 of them have bu or bū sound in their names.
| Original Japanese name | English name |
| バネブー (Banebū) | Spoink |
| ブーピッグ (Būpiggu) | Grumpig |
| ポカブ (Pokabu) | Tepig |
| チャオブー (Chaobū) | Pignite |
| エンブオー (Enbuō) | Emboar |
If I have a chance, I’d like to write an article about the difference between Pokémon’s original Japanese names and English names.
Japanese ブー(bū) does not only express a pig’s cry.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, ブー(bū) sounds like a pig’s cry, but the sound ブー(bū) has other expressions as below.
(1) Pig’s cry
(2) Booing (You need to extend the sound of u part like English)
(3) A sound when someone gets an incorrect answer on a quiz show
(4) A vibration sound of a smart phone (needs to be more than 2 or 3 times repeatedly)
(5) An expression that a character’s nose bleeds violently in manga
(1) and (2) are 擬声語(giseigo), (3) and (4) are 擬音語(giongo), and (5) is 擬態語(gitaigo).
Conclusion
My American husband often complains that there are too many onomatopoeic words in Japanese. He even has said they sound like a different language, not Japanese. However, I think Japanese onomatope is very useful especially when I want to add detailed nuances without making it complicated. There are many merits to learn Japanese onomatope if you are studying Japanese or if you want to live in Japan in the future.
Please read the next article for more information about Japanese オノマトペ(onomatope)!