Voicing pairs: た–ほ – Japanese mimetics
とろとろ and どろどろ, はらはら and ばらばら – four pairs from た to ほ, where the voicing mark makes things thicker and heavier.
たらたら · to run down in a thin thread
Rainwater off the eaves, a dripping tap.
たらたら is an unbroken thin thread — rainwater off the eaves, water from a tap, blood from a split lip. Sweat runs both ways in Japanese, 汗がたらたら and 汗がだらだら, so sweat is not what tells these two apart. Drop-by-drop dripping is ぽたぽた, not this word.
Examples
- 軒先から雨水が細く軽い筋になり、濡れた壁に線を引いて止まらずにたらたらと落ちていく。Rainwater runs from the eaves in a thin, light thread, drawing a line down the wet wall, and will not stop.
- 濡れた蛇口から水が細い筋になり、止まらずにたらたらと流れている。Water runs from the wet tap in a thin thread and will not stop.
だらだら · to drag on endlessly
A three-hour meeting.
Voiced だ adds weight and reluctance: たらたら stays with the thin thread, while 汗がだらだら流れる is still liquid, only too much of it for too long. From there it is a short step to 会議がだらだら続く. The neighbours are about other things: ぐずぐず is an accusation levelled at a person who cannot get started (ぐずぐずするな), whereas だらだら describes the event itself dragging on; ずるずる always drags something along — noodles pulled in with a slurp, or a deadline that keeps being pushed back — while だらだら drags nothing, it simply goes on and will not end.
Examples
- 会議は重い空気のままゆっくり進み、三時間もだらだらと続いた。The meeting crawled on in a heavy mood and dragged for three hours.
- 重い議題が並んだ会議はゆっくりとしか進まず、午後じゅうだらだらしている。A meeting with a heavy agenda barely moves and drags on all afternoon.
とろとろ · to be thick and smooth
Melted cheese, a soft-set egg yolk.
Voiceless と keeps the thickness light and edible — voiced ど, the other half of this pair, turns it into どろどろ, mud you do not eat. Nor is it ぐつぐつ: that word says nothing about thickness, only that the pot is bubbling (鍋がぐつぐつ煮える). Note: とろとろする most often means “to doze off” (授業中にとろとろする) — of a dish thickening you say とろとろになる or とろとろと煮る.
Examples
- 溶けたチーズは水分を含んで柔らかく、口に運びたくなるほどとろとろだ。The melted cheese holds its moisture, goes soft, and is so tempting you want a spoonful.
- 割った半熟の卵から皿に広がった黄身は、水分を含んで柔らかく、そのまま飲みたくなるほどとろとろだ。The yolk that spread across the plate from a soft-boiled egg is moist and soft — so smooth and thick you could drink it.
どろどろ · to be muddy
Ground after a downpour, boots off a field.
Voiced ど adds weight and dirt — the same thickness, now inedible: とろとろ stays light enough to eat (melted cheese), どろどろ is mud you do not.
Examples
- 雨で水を含んだ地面は重く、足を取られるほどどろどろだ。The rain-soaked ground is heavy and pulls your feet in.
- 水を含んで重くなった土が、靴の底でどろどろしている。Waterlogged, heavy soil clings under the sole.
はらはら · to flutter down one by one
Tears one after another, ash off an incense stick.
はらはら is the slow fall of small things, one after another — and that is what this card teaches. ひらひら describes the manner in which one thing moves, turning over in the air (a ribbon, a handkerchief), while はらはら is a succession of many falling one behind the other. ちらちら comes in gaps and never settles, like the fine snow you see one moment and not the next. Note: the word has a second and today commoner sense, and that is the one that takes する: はらはらする means “to fret, to watch anxiously” (試合を見ていてはらはらした) — close there to ひやひや, except that ひやひや is fear for yourself that runs cold down your back, and はらはら the onlooker's worry about somebody else. It is not the same thing said differently — 涙がはらはらする is not Japanese. Falling is はらはらと散る, はらはらと落ちる, with と only.
Examples
- 風のない庭で、小さな金木犀の花が軽く、ゆっくりはらはらと散り落ちる。In a windless garden the tiny osmanthus flowers come down one after another, lightly and slowly.
- はさみが入るたび、短く切られた細い髪が軽く、ゆっくりはらはらと肩に落ちる。With every snip of the scissors the short, fine cut hair comes down onto the shoulder, lightly and slowly.
ばらばら · to fall apart
A smashed plate, a collapsing model.
ばらばら is scattering and coming apart — 皿がばらばらになる, 意見がばらばら. It makes no pair with はらはら: there something drifts down, here something stops being whole. ガシャン is no state at all but a single blow to the ear — the crash of breaking glass at the moment the plate hits the floor; ばらばら names what is left afterwards.
Examples
- 硬い大きな皿が落ちて、すっかり割れてばらばらになった。A big plate of hard porcelain fell and shattered completely.
- 硬くて大きな模型は崩れ、すっかりばらばらだ。The big model of rigid plastic has come apart and lies in pieces.
ほろほろ · to crumble gently
Stewed meat, steamed fish.
Voiceless ほ keeps the crumbling soft and wanted — that is how good meat should give way; ぼろぼろ is a coming-apart nobody wanted and nobody can undo, worn-through shoes rather than stewed beef.
Examples
- 長く煮込んだ肉は柔らかく、ねらいどおり口に入れた一瞬でほろほろと崩れた。Long-stewed meat is soft and, just as intended, falls apart the moment it is in your mouth.
- 柔らかく蒸した魚の身は食べごろで、箸を当てた一瞬でほろほろだ。The steamed fish is just right and falls apart at the first touch of the chopsticks.
ぼろぼろ · to be tattered
A ten-year-old bag, worn-through shoes.
Voiced ぼ turns pleasant crumbling into ruin: ほろほろ falls apart the way it was meant to — stewed meat under a fork — and ぼろぼろ the way it was not; the same falling apart, only slow and past saving.
Examples
- 十年使った鞄は表面が粗くなり、すっかりぼろぼろだ。A bag used for ten years has gone rough and is falling to pieces.
- 十年使った靴は、粗い布地がすっかりほどけてぼろぼろになった。In shoes worn for ten years the coarse fabric has come apart completely.
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