On this page, you can learn Japanese onomatopoeia.
Three types of Japanese onomatopoeia
Japanese onomatopoeia can be divided into three groups: 擬声語, 擬音語 and 擬態語.
- 擬声語（ぎ・せい・ご）：to describe voice (声 means ‘voice’)
- 擬音語（ぎ・おん・ご）：to describe sound (音 means ‘sound’)
- 擬態語（ぎ・たい・ご）：to describe states of being (態 means ‘state of being’)
擬声語
It is a word to describe voice of people or animals.
Example
わんわん is the sound dogs make when they bark.
犬がわんわんほえています。
A dog is barking.
擬音語
It is a word to describe sound.
Example
ざあざあ describes heavy rain falling.
雨がざあざあふっています。
It is pouring.
擬態語
It is a word to describe states of being, not sound or voice.
Example
じろじろ describes somebody staring at something. It is used as じろじろみる which means ‘stare’.
人をじろじろみるな。
Do not stare at people.
Written both in Hiragana and Katakana
Japanese onomatopoeia can be written either in Hiragana or Katakana. The examples above can be わんわん or ワンワン, ざあざあ or ザーザー and じろじろ or ジロジロ.
Onomatopoeia with verb
Japanese onomatopoeia is often used to make a verb more informative.
Example 1
みる means ‘see’ but onomatopoeia plus みる can convey more information.
- じろじろみる：stare
- ちらちらみる：glance
Example 2
なく means ‘weep’ but onomatopoeia plus なく can convey more information.
- ぼろぼろなく：weep with big drops of tears
- しくしくなく：weep quietly
- えんえんなく：kids cry hard to get attention
- わんわんなく：cry hard (so loud)
Repeat twice or not
Need to repeat twice
Many Japanese onomatopoeias repeat two letters twice such as じろじろ, ぼろぼろ, しくしく, えんえん, わんわん etc.
They must be like that if they are used with a verb. For example, ‘stare’ is じろじろみる. Nobody says じろみる. You need to say じろっとみる if you just use じろ once.
No need to repeat
You don’t have to repeat two letters if they are not used with a verb. See the manga below.
ゾク describes the state of fear. If you want to make a verb ‘fear’, it has to be ゾクゾクする.
little つ or ツ at the end of onomatopoeia
See the manga below. ニヤ describes somebody who smirks. ッ at the end of ニヤ gives readers a sharp sound. ニヤッ sounds sharper than ニヤ.