Benefits of Learning Japanese Onomatopoeia

I wrote about the basics of Japanese onomatopoeia in this article. If you have not read it yet, please check it first.

　
Even if you don’t know onomatope, it is possible to communicate with Japanese people and there is no problem to live in Japan. However, I would like to recommend people who are like below to study Japanese onomatopoeia.

• People who want to communicate with Japanese people more smoothly.
• People who want to read Japanese manga with the original Japanese.
• People who like to buy Japanese snacks and candies at a grocery store or convenience store.
• People who want to live in Osaka (or Kansai region) in the future.

(目次=Table of contents)

(1) Using Onomatope Makes Communication with Japanese People Smoother

Japanese people use a lot of onomatope in their daily conversations. The more onomatope you know, the more smoothly the communication is going to continue. I wrote down example casual conversations, and each sentence has one onomatope.

(1-a) an example dialogue (daily conversation) in Japanese with onomatope

A「お腹がグーグー鳴っているけど、大丈夫？」(Onaka ga gū gū natte iru kedo daijoubu?)
＝Your stomach is growling. Are you alright?

B「もうお腹ペコペコだよ。」(Mou onaka peko peko dayo)
= I’m already starving.

A「この課題をさっさと終わらせて、昼食を食べに行こう。」(Kono kadai wo sassa to owarasete chushoku wo tabe ni ikou)
= Let’s finish this task quickly and go to lunch.

B 「そうだね。簡単な課題だから、ちゃちゃっとやってしまおう。」(Soudane. Kantan na kadai dakara, chachatto yatte shimaou)
＝ You are right. Let’s do this easy task quickly (and effortlessly).

(1-b) Pera pera, the best complement for learners of a foreign language (not native level)

You should aim to be ペラペラ(pera pera) level for your goal if you are a Japanese learner! If you are studying Japanese language and when in Japan try to communicate with local people in Japanese, most of them will be relieved to hear Japanese and will be more willing to talk with you.
You might hear that someone says, 「日本語ペラペラですね。」 (Nihongo pera pera desu ne) to you. ペラペラ(pera pera)* is an onomatope and it means a state of someone speaking a foreign language fluently. So “Nihongo pera pera desu ne” is one of the top complements and it means your Japanese is very fluent. If you don’t know what ペラペラ (pera pera) means and miss catching the complement, the person who says that to you might get sad a little bit. (>_<)

*ペラペラ(pera pera) has another meaning that is very thin and weak for a paper or fabric, but if you say “any language + ペラペラ(pera pera)”, it always means “speaking a language fluently”.

(1-c) What is the difference between 上手(jouzu) and ペラペラ(pera pera)?

Some Japanese people may say 「日本語が上手ですね。」(Nihongo ga jouzu desu ne) which means “Your Japanese is good.” However, I recommend you should not take this as a serious complement since people tend to say it even if you can say only a few short phrases in Japanese such as “Arigatou gozaimasu.” or “Onegai shimasu.” Personally, I think it is more like a casual remark for your conversation than a complement. It seems to me Japanese people like to complement foreigners even if it is for a trivial thing for smooth communication. Additionally, if you are able to use chopsticks, eat raw fish or natto (fermented soy beans, which has strong smell), or count from one to ten in Japanese as a foreigner in Japan you may receive similar complements.

(2) It Is Necessary to Know Onomatope to Read Manga in Japanese

There are tons of onomatope in manga! You can enjoy anime without knowing onomatope since anime has sound effects and BGM, but you definitely need to know a good number of onomatope if you want to read manga in Japanese. Manga writers put onomatope with intentions, so it is important to read not only the lines that manga characters are saying but also the onomatope written in the background in manga.

There is no strict rule for onomatope used in manga, and the manga writers’ preference is prioritized so that they can use whatever onomatope they want to for their works. Additionally, there are some manga writers who create a new onomatope in their manga to express their unique individuality. This leads to wider variations of onomatopoeic expressions, but at the same time, there’s possibility to make their readers confused since there is no clear rule for the definition of new onomatope.

(2-a) There is a trend for onomatope used in manga

There is also a trend in onomatope used in manga, and it may be related to the generation of manga artists. For example, フワフワ(fuwa fuwa) used to be used commonly for fluffy animal’s hair, but モフモフ(mofu mofu) is more common nowadays. For eating sounds, もぐもぐ(mogu mogu) is still commonly used, but I often see some manga writers use もっもっ(mo…mo…) instead, in recent years.

(2-b) ボボボーボ・ボーボボ(Bobobōbo・bōbobo)

There is a manga (also an anime) where both the title and the protagonist’s name are from onomatope. You must be a big Japanese manga (and anime) fan if you have heard of ボボボーボ・ボーボボ (Bobobōbo・ bōbobo). The protagonist of this comedy manga is ボーボボ(Bōbobo) who can extend his nose hair at will and fights against an evil army called the Hair Hunters. The name ボーボボ(Bōbobo) is from ボーボー/ぼうぼう*(bōbō/boubou), an onomatope which expresses the way weeds or hair is growing and disorganized.

*ぼうぼう(boubou) also describes the sound of a vigorously burning fire.

(3) Knowing Onomatope Will Help You When You Buy Japanese Snacks and Candies

There are a lot of snacks and candies sold in Japan with packages on which onomatope is written. The onomatope usually shows the texture of the product so that consumers can easily imagine what kind of snack or candy it would be. These are onomatope that are mainly used to describe textures of food.

A list of onomatope often used for describing textures

Onomatope	English translation	Examples
サクサク(saku saku) / サクッ(saku...)	crusty, flaky	biscuit, corn flake, wafer, scone
ザクザク(zaku zaku) / ザクッ(zaku...)	very crunchy	granola, biscotti
カリカリ(kari kari) / カリッ(kari...)	crunchy	almond chocolate, candied apple, rice cracker
パリパリ(pari pari) / パリッ(pari...)	crispy	thinly sliced chips, tortilla chips
もちもち(mochi mochi)	soft and chewy	mochi, boba, gummy
ふわふわ(fuwa fuwa)	fluffy	cotton candy, marshmallow, chiffon cake, Japanese pancake
しっとり(shittori)	moist	madeleine, soft cookie, pumpkin pie, cheese cake
ねっとり(nettori)	soft and sticky, but not slimy	mashed potato, peanut butter, Greek yogurt

(4) People in Osaka (or Kansai Region) Generally Use Onomatope a lot in Their Conversations

It is said that people living in Kansai region (West Japan) especially in Osaka prefecture, tend to use onomatope in their conversations more often than people in other regions in Japan. If you travel in Osaka and ask a local person in Japanese about the way to a station, there’s a possibility that the person answers like below.

Japanese with Osaka dialect and onomatope version

(Onomatope part is written in red)

「この道を真っ直ぐバーっと行ったら、ドーンと突き当りや。ほんで右に曲がって道をズズーって歩いとったら、デーンと公園が出てくるわ。公園を通り過ぎて左にピュッと入ったら、駅や。」

Romaji :
「Kono michi wo massugu Bā tto ittara、 dōn to tsukiatari ya. Honde migi ni magatte michi wo zuzū tte aruitottara、dēn to kouen ga detekuruwa. Kouen wo toori sugite hidari ni pyu tto haittara eki ya.」

(If you are studying Japanese and couldn’t understand onomatope in the sentence, please don’t worry about it. Japanese people in other regions, including me, don’t understand them 100% either.)

Standard Japanese version

「この道をしばらく真っ直ぐ行くと、突き当りに出ます。そこから右に曲がって少し歩くと、公園が出てきます。公園を通り過ぎて、左に行けばすぐに駅に着きますよ。」

Romaji :
「Kono michi wo shibaraku massugu ikuto, tsukiatari ni demasu. Soko kara miigi ni magatte sukoshi arukuto, kouen ga dete kimasu. Kouen wo toori sugite, hidari ni ikeba, sugu ni eki ni tsuki masu yo.」

English translation (for both standard Japanese and Osaka dialect sentences)*

“If you go straight on this street for a while, you’ll reach a T-junction. Turn right at the junction and walk a bit, and then there is a large park. After you pass the park, turn left and walk a little bit, and the station is there.”

*Onomatopoeic words used in the Osaka dialect version are for emphasizing the distance you need to walk or how things and places show up. Which means the sentences still make sense without those onomatope, and the above English translation does not include the emphasized information.

Conclusion

Even though Japanese people use a lot of onomatope in their daily conversations, most people don’t pay attention to the fact that they are using onomatope because it is too natural for them. There are some people who even don’t know the word, onomatope (or giongo, giseigo, etc.) itself, although they use onomatopoeic words without problem.

As I mentioned that people in Kansai region use onomatope more frequently than people in other regions in Japan, there are also some differences between areas and people’s generations. Some onomatope are used only in a certain area so that they are regarded more as dialects.

If you get sick of learning onomatope (like my American husband), please remember that the more you learn onomatope, the more your Japanese skill will improve. If you have any questions about studying Japanese, please feel free to leave your comment!