Sound pairs: the か row – Japanese mimetics
からから, かちかち, かりかり – pairs from the か row that are a noise and a state at once; 濁点 thickens the sound itself.
かさかさ · to be dry and chapped
Winter cheeks, cracked lips.
かさかさ is the dry, thin roughness of skin — and the same word names the quiet, thin rustle of dry things (落ち葉がかさかさと鳴る), so rustling is not what tells it from がさがさ. Degree is: かさかさ is skin merely dry and flaking off in fine dust, がさがさ skin already rough and thickened — 手ががさがさ is a worse state than 手がかさかさ. ざらざら differs not in degree but in subject: ざらざら is the coarse grain of a surface you would rather not run your hand over (sandpaper, a concrete floor), かさかさ the thin dryness of skin itself.
Examples
- 冬は頬の皮膚が少し粉をふいてかさかさする。In winter my cheeks get a little dry and flaky.
- 乾燥して少しかさかさの唇にリップを塗る。I put balm on my slightly dry lips.
がさがさ · to rustle coarsely
A big paper bag, cardboard.
がさがさ is the loud rustle of coarse paper, a sound that gets into your ears. That is what separates it from ごそごそ: there the same hands shift the same things, only quietly, and it bothers nobody. ざらざら is not a sound at all — it is the grain of a surface under your finger. Chapped skin takes both がさがさ and かさかさ, but not at the same degree: がさがさ is skin already rough and thickened, かさかさ skin merely dry and flaking off in fine dust (手ががさがさ is a worse state than 手がかさかさ).
Examples
- 乾いた紙袋が部屋じゅうにがさがさと鳴る。A dry paper bag rustles loudly through the room.
- 粗い段ボールを動かすと、大きくがさがさと鳴る。Move the rough cardboard and it rustles loudly.
かたかた · to clatter lightly
A pot lid, an empty carton on top of a washing machine.
Voiceless か keeps the clatter quiet and hollow — you hear it a metre away, not a room away; a room away is がたがた. からから shares the skeleton and is a sound as well (空き缶がからからと鳴る), so a split between state and sound does not tell those two apart. What tells them apart is what they rule on: からから says there is nothing inside — no moisture and no contents (喉がからから, a drained bottle) — while かたかた rules on the knock itself: light, and hollow in tone. A thing that is empty inside answers that way most clearly, which is why it stands in the examples, but the word settles nothing about the contents — a lid clatters the same on a full pot as on an empty one.
Examples
- 空の箱が洗濯機の上でかすかにかたかたしている。An empty box clatters faintly on the washer.
- 湯が沸いて、鍋のふたが小さくかたかたしている。The water boils and the pot lid clatters softly.
がたがた · to rattle and shake
A shelf unit in an earthquake, a heavy metal door.
Voiced が swaps the pot lid for a whole shelf unit: the same motion, now heavy, loud and unpleasant — かたかた stays a metre away, がたがた carries into the next room. The other neighbours are told apart not by force but by subject: がちゃがちゃ is the metallic clink of things knocking together (keys, a door handle), がらがら the emptiness and the hollow rattle that carries in it; ぐらぐら is the wobble of an unsteady thing and makes no sound, がくがく the shaking of joints, so knees rather than shelves; and でこぼこ names the unevenness of the road itself, while がたがた is what that road does to the cart.
Examples
- 重い棚が鈍い音でがたがたと揺れた。The heavy shelf shook with a dull rattle.
- 鉄の戸が鈍い音で一晩じゅうがたがたと鳴った。The iron door rattled dully all night long.
かちかち · to be rock-hard; to click dry and high
Dried-out clay, frozen ground, a ticking clock.
Voiceless か is hardness itself and a high, clean click — two sides of one word: you know a block has dried right through because flicking it answers exactly like that. It settles nothing about size or weight — かちかちに凍った地面 is a whole frozen field. Nor about the actor: it works for things and for people alike (緊張でかちかちになる). The hardness it shares with がちがち, and hardness is not what decides between them — what kind of hardness it is, does. かちかち answers high and clear, so it takes a clock (時計がかちかち) and two pebbles flicked together; がちがち answers low and loud (歯ががちがち), and where there is no sound at all it rules on a clamping after which nothing moves — and there it reaches where かちかち does not: not stiffening as such, since 肩がかちかち and 緊張でかちかち are both fine, but what is unyielding by nature (がちがちの規則, 守りをがちがちに固める).
Examples
- 時計が小さく硬い音でかちかちと時を刻む。The clock ticks off time with small, hard clicks.
- 硬い粘土を爪で弾くと小さくかちかちと鳴る。Flick hard clay with a nail and it clicks softly.
がちがち · to clench so hard it will not let go — and to knock bluntly doing it
Teeth in the cold, a rule with no exceptions.
Voiced が adds force, and the force is both audible and visible. Audible: 歯ががちがち鳴る is a low, blunt, loud knock — かちかち is high and clear, and no amount of volume closes that gap, because カチカチ is never 鈍い in any sentence. Visible: something has been clamped so tight that it no longer gives — 肩ががちがち, 緊張でがちがち, がちがちの規則, ネジががちがちに締まって回らない, 守りをがちがちに固める. Who did the clamping the word does not settle: the tension may be the thing's own, and somebody else's hand may have screwed it down — がちがち rules on the result, on nothing moving any more. It is neither weight nor size: かちかち takes heavy, large things too, and がちがちに凍った雪 is fine.
Examples
- 震えが止まらず、歯ががちがちと鳴った。Shivering nonstop, my teeth chattered hard.
- この会社の規則は昔からがちがちだ。This company's rules have always been rigid.
かちゃかちゃ · to clink
Cutlery on a plate, a bunch of keys.
Voiceless か keeps the clink thin and quiet — it bothers nobody, whereas がちゃがちゃ makes that same clink insistent: you can think through かちゃかちゃ and not through がちゃがちゃ.
Examples
- 食器を軽く重ねると、小さくかちゃかちゃと鳴った。Stacked lightly, the dishes clinked softly.
- 混ぜるたびに、スプーンが軽くかちゃかちゃと鳴る。Each time I stir, the spoon clinks lightly.
がちゃがちゃ · to clank and rattle noisily
A heavy metal door, a toolbox.
Voiced が does not change the kind of sound — it is still metal on metal — it changes WHAT is clinking and how much it gets in the way: かちゃかちゃ is the thin clink of a teaspoon or a bunch of keys you can think through, がちゃがちゃ the clink of bigger, heavier things (an iron door, a toolbox), which you cannot. From its neighbours it differs by the kind of noise or by how long it lasts: がたがた is the dull rattle of something heavy shaking, not a metallic clink, and がらがら carries the emptiness of a hall rather than the contents of a toolbox. バタン and ガシャン are single events — one slam of a door, one crash of breaking glass — while がちゃがちゃ goes on for as long as somebody keeps rummaging.
Examples
- 誰かがドアノブを何度もがちゃがちゃと回した。Someone kept rattling the doorknob.
- 工具箱の中で金具どうしががちゃがちゃしている。Metal parts clank together in the toolbox.
からから · to be bone-dry; to clatter dry and hollow
A drained water bottle, a parched throat, a can with not a drop inside, clogs on cobbles.
からから rules on there being nothing inside — no moisture and no contents: 喉がからから is “my throat is parched”, and a shaken-out can is からから. The same word names the sound of that emptiness, because a dry, hollow thing answers exactly like that: 空き缶がからからと鳴る, 下駄がからからと鳴る, からからと笑う. That, and not a split between state and sound, is where the border with かたかた runs: かたかた is a sound too, but it settles nothing about the contents — it is a loose part knocking against something hard, and a lid clatters the same on a full pot as on an empty one. がらがら is not the stronger form either: it is about the absence of people (がらがらの電車), a different emptiness — the two are easy to confuse, but neither is the stronger version of the other.
Examples
- 軽い缶の中が乾いてからからになった。The light can has gone bone-dry inside.
- 一滴も残っていない軽い水筒はからからだ。The light flask is bone-dry, not a drop left.
がらがら · to be empty (of people); also to rattle, to clatter
A carriage with no passengers, a deserted hall — and the rattle of a sliding door.
がらがら has two uses that no single image joins — they have to be learned separately. One is a place with nobody in it (座席ががらがら, がらがらの電車); the other is the loud rattle of something sliding or collapsing (引き戸をがらがらと開ける, 建物ががらがらと崩れる). All it shares with からから is the kana skeleton; that word is about a dry emptiness inside a thing, not about a hall with nobody in it. がたがた is the shaking and banging of the thing itself and がちゃがちゃ the metallic clink of objects knocking together; neither says anything about the hall being empty — only the first use of がらがら carries that.
Examples
- 古い引き戸をがらがらと開けた。I rattled the old sliding door open.
- 開演前の大きなホールはまだがらがらだ。Before the show, the big hall is still empty.
かりかり · to crunch hard and fine (roasted nuts)
Roasted beans, almonds.
Voiceless か keeps the crunch small and appetising — here hardness is a virtue. がりがり takes a bigger, harder mouthful, until it grates (ice, a bone). ぱりぱり is about something thin and brittle snapping flat (nori, crackling), where かりかり is a hard grain crunching under the tooth; さくさく crunches short and quietly, like batter or puff pastry, while かりかり is harder and plainly audible.
Examples
- 小さく硬い炒り豆をかりかりと噛む。I crunch on small, hard roasted beans.
- 硬いアーモンドは歯触りがかりかりだ。A hard almond is nicely crunchy to bite.
がりがり · to scrape or gnaw
Shaving ice, a dog on a bone.
Voiced が enlarges the mouthful and sharpens it: the same hard biting, only かりかり crunches small and appetising while がりがり grates on the ear — which is why it takes ice and bone rather than a roasted almond.
Examples
- 大きな硬い氷の塊をがりがりと削る。I grind away at a big, hard block of ice.
- 犬が大きな硬い骨を削るようにがりがりとかじる。The dog gnaws a big, hard bone as if shaving it.
Where this comes from
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- OnomatopeManga and anime vocabulary
See also
- Voicing – casual Japanese – voicing in casual speech – the same 濁点, in contractions rather than in mimetics