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.
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. It is also used of chapped skin, in exactly the place かさかさ is, so this is not a pair that teaches the rule.
Examples
- 大きな紙袋を抱え直すたびに、粗い表面がこすれ合い、耳ざわりな音を部屋じゅうに響かせてがさがさと鳴る。Every time the big paper bag is shifted in the arms, its rough surface rubs against itself and rustles through the whole room, grating on the ear.
- 大きな段ボールの粗い縁をこすると、耳につく音が部屋の隅まで届いてがさがさと鳴る。Rub the rough edge of a big cardboard box and the grating rustle carries into every corner of the room.
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
- 古くて重い棚が、鈍い音を隣の部屋まで響かせながらがたがたと揺れた。An old, heavy shelf unit shook, its dull rattle carrying all the way to the next room.
- 重い金属の戸が、眠れないほど鈍い音で一晩じゅうがたがたと鳴り続けている。A heavy metal door keeps rattling dully all night long, and you cannot sleep through it.
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
- 乾いた空気の中で、置き時計が、枕元にだけ届く澄んだ細い音で、止まることなくかちかちと時を刻む。In the dry air the desk clock keeps time with a thin, clear sound that carries no further than the pillow, and it never stops.
- 何か月も形を変えない粘土は、乾いて硬くなり、指ではじくと耳元にだけ残る澄んだ高い音でかちかちと鳴る。The clay has not changed shape in months: it has dried so hard that a flick of a finger sets it ringing high and clear, no further than your ear.
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
- 寒さで震えが止まらず、硬い歯と歯がぶつかって、離れた人にも聞こえる低く鈍い音でがちがちと鳴った。He could not stop shivering in the cold; his hard teeth knocked against each other with a low, blunt sound that carried across the way.
- その会社の規則は何年も変わらず、例外を一つも認めない上に、事情を説明しても取り合ってもらえないほどがちがちだ。The company's rules have not changed in years, they allow not a single exception, and you can explain your circumstances all you like — nobody will hear you out.
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
- 洗い終わった食器を重ねると、皿とスプーンが軽く当たり、高く細い音が手元だけでかちゃかちゃと鳴った。Stacking the washed dishes, plate and spoon met lightly and rang out high and thin — audible only up close.
- 軽い鍵束が高く細い音を手元だけで立ててかちゃかちゃしている。A light bunch of keys rings out high and thin, only right there in the hand.
がちゃがちゃ · to clatter and bang
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
- 大きな金属の扉が、耳をふさぎたくなるほど鋭い音を響かせて何度もがちゃがちゃと鳴った。The big metal door clanged sharply, again and again, until you wanted to cover your ears.
- 大きな工具箱の中で金具どうしがぶつかり、鋭い音が大きく響いてがちゃがちゃしている。Inside the big toolbox metal knocks against metal and a sharp sound rings out loudly.
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
- 中をのぞいても何も入っていない軽い缶は、内側まで乾いてからからになった。Look inside the light can and there is nothing there; it has dried out right through.
- 一滴も残っていない軽い水筒は、すっかり乾いてからからだ。Not a drop is left in the light flask; it has dried out completely.
がらがら · to be empty — and to rattle hollow in that emptiness
A carriage with no passengers, a deserted hall, a heavy door carrying an echo.
がらがら is about the absence of people (座席ががらがら) and about the hollow rattle such a space carries. 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, which is exactly what がらがら carries.
Examples
- 座席が一つも埋まっていない大きな車両で、重い引き戸が虚ろに響いてがらがらと開いた。Not a single seat was taken in the large carriage, and the heavy sliding door rolled open with a hollow rattle that carried through the emptiness.
- 開演前の大きなホールは席が半分も埋まらず、重い扉の音だけが響いてがらがらだ。Before curtain-up the big hall is not even half full; only the heavy door echoes.
かりかり · to crunch finely
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
- よく炒った豆は小さくて乾いて硬く、香ばしくて手が止まらず、噛むとかりかりと音がする。Well-roasted beans are small, dry and hard, so fragrant you cannot stop, and they crunch when you bite them.
- 殻を割って取り出したアーモンドは小さくて軽く、乾いて硬く、歯触りがかりかりだ。An almond cracked out of its shell is small and light, dry and hard, and that is how it crunches.
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
- 大きな氷の塊は硬く、削ると粗い削りかすを残してがりがりと音を立てる。The big block of ice is hard; scraping it grates and leaves coarse shavings.
- 犬が大きくて硬い骨を削るようにがりがりとかじっている。The dog gnaws at a big, hard bone as if he were shaving it down.
Where this comes from
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See also
- Voicing – casual Japanese – voicing in casual speech – the same 濁点, in contractions rather than in mimetics