Pain – Japanese mimetics
How to say it hurts in Japanese: ずきずき, きりきり, がんがん and four more words for pain, each for a different kind of it.
ずきずき · to throb with pain
Pain that returns with your pulse.
Voiced ず is heavy and deep, but there is no pair here: neither すきすき nor ぢくぢく exists. What separates it from ちくちく is not a diacritic but a rhythm — the pain comes back in waves with the pulse instead of pricking at one point. The other two neighbours part just as plainly: がんがん pounds the whole head, heavy and dull, while じんじん does not hurt at all — it goes numb and tingles.
Examples
- 虫歯が脈打つようにずきずきする。The bad tooth throbs in time with my pulse.
- ぶつけた所が赤く腫れ上がり、しびれはないのに鼓動のたびにずきずきと痛む。The place I banged is red and swollen; there is no numbness, yet with every heartbeat it throbs with pain.
ちくちく · to prickle
Small repeated pain, like a needle.
Voiceless ち is fine and sharp — many small pricks, not one big one. Pricking, not itching: むずむず makes you want to scratch, ちくちく to take off whatever is pricking you. And ずきずき throbs in time with the pulse instead of stabbing at one point.
Examples
- セーターの毛が刺さって、背中がちくちくして、痒いのではなく痛い。The wool of the sweater digs in and my back prickles — it does not itch, it hurts.
- 細い針が刺さったように、指がちくちくと痛い。My finger prickles as if a fine needle had gone into it.
ひりひり · to sting, to burn
A burning sting on skin or tongue.
Voiceless ひ is delicate — the surface burns, not the inside.
Examples
- 日に焼けた肩にシャワーの湯がしみるほど、焼けるようにひりひりする。My sunburnt shoulders sting as if they were on fire; even the shower water smarts.
- 辛い物を食べて、舌が焼けるようにひりひりする。I ate something spicy and my tongue is burning.
がんがん · to pound
A heavy, dull headache; also noise hammering your ears.
There is a pair here, and a textbook one: かんかん is glare and anger seen from outside (かんかん照り, かんかんに怒る). The 濁点 in が lets that same force inside the head — a pounding you cannot turn down. What separates it from ずきずき is reach: がんがん pounds the whole head, heavy and dull, while ずきずき throbs at one point and in time with the pulse.
Examples
- 二日酔いで、鈍く重い痛みが奥から突き上げ、頭ががんがんする。I am hungover: a dull, heavy pain pushes up from inside and my head is pounding.
- 騒音のせいで、頭の芯に鉛が入ったように鈍く、こめかみの奥ががんがんと痛む。The noise leaves my head dull, as if lead had been poured into it, and deep in my temples it is pounding.
きりきり · to have a gripping pain
A stomach that feels squeezed and twisted.
Voiceless き keeps the pain thin and sharp. The voiced ぎりぎり means something else entirely — “just barely” — so there is no pair here. What separates it from しくしく is force and pace: きりきり grips suddenly and sharply enough to catch your breath, while しくしく aches faintly, dully and without end.
Examples
- 発表の前になると、胃が急に締めつけられるようにきりきりと痛む。Before a presentation my stomach suddenly cramps with a sharp pain.
- 冷たい物を飲むと、胃が急に締めつけられるようにきりきりして痛い。When I drink something cold my stomach suddenly twists with pain.
しくしく · to ache dully and long
A weak belly ache that will not end.
The voiced じくじく does exist, but it speaks of a wound that weeps — the 濁点 shifts nothing about the pain here. The neighbour in the same belly settles it: きりきり grips suddenly and sharply, しくしく aches faintly and without end. The other neighbour lies across the line into weeping: めそめそ is snivelling and self-pity, plainly heard and seen on a person, while the しくしく of this card hurts inside and shows nothing.
Examples
- 鈍くて軽い痛みを顔には出さず、朝からずっとお腹がしくしくしている。I let nothing show of the dull, mild pain, and my belly has been aching since morning.
- お腹が鈍くしくしくと痛むが、薬を飲むほどではないので表に出さないままでいる。My belly keeps aching dully, though not enough to take anything for it, so I let nothing show.
ちかちか · to sting, of the eyes
Fine, flickering light; this card takes the use about the eyes it hurts.
Voiceless ち makes the stimulus fine and pinpoint. The dictionary gives two uses and both are ordinary: the small light blinking on and off (電気がちかちかする, 星がちかちか光る), and the eyes that this glare hurts (目がちかちかする). This card teaches the second one — hence the sentences about the person looking. The separate word ぴかぴか speaks of a steady, strong shine; it is no voicing pair, because 半濁点 belongs to the は row: the plain counterpart of ぴか is ひか (from 光る), not ちか. What separates them is the root, not the diacritic. ちらちら flickers too, but it describes the thing that flickers — snow, a light, something caught out of the corner of the eye; the ちかちか of this card is about the eyes that the glare hurts.
Examples
- 暗い部屋でスマホをつけたら、細かい光が明滅を繰り返して、見ているこちらの目がちかちかとして痛く、思わず閉じたくなった。I turned on my phone in a dark room: the fine light flickered on and off again and again, and from looking at it my eyes stung so much I wanted to shut them without thinking.
- 雪の照り返しがまぶしく、細かい光が次から次へと目の奥で瞬いて、見ているこちらの目がちかちかして、涙が出るほど痛い。The glare off the snow dazzles, fine light flickers one after another deep in the eyes, and from looking at it my eyes sting until they water.
Where this comes from
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