Voicing pairs – Japanese mimetics
Pairs such as さらさら and ざらざら: the same word without 濁点 and with it, and the change of state the voicing mark alone makes.
さらさら · to be smooth and dry
Hair, sand, a stream — dry and smooth.
Voiceless さ leaves the surface smooth: the hand runs over it without catching. What separates it from ざらざら is what the hand feels, not how strongly — there the hand catches. すべすべ is smooth too, but it is about skin the hand glides over and rules nothing about dryness, whereas さらさら is always dry and loose (hair, sand, a stream), which is why a baby's skin is すべすべ. さわさわ is not touch at all, but the faint rustle of leaves.
Examples
- 洗ったばかりの髪は乾いていて空気を含み、指を通すとさらさらする。Freshly washed hair is dry and full of air; fingers slip right through it.
- 乾いて空気をよく含む滑らかな砂は、握っても固まらずに指の間からさらさらと落ちる。Dry, airy, smooth sand will not clump in your fist and runs through your fingers.
ざらざら · to be rough
A surface you do not want to run your hand over.
Voiced ざ turns smooth into rough: sandpaper instead of freshly washed hair, so さらさら and ざらざら sit at the two ends of one axis. That is the usual direction — but 濁点 is a strong tendency, not a law, and some pairs shift a completely different axis. The remaining neighbours differ not in degree but in what they are about: でこぼこ is unevenness big enough to see with the eye, shaping the thing itself (a stone wall, a yard), while ざらざら is a grain you feel with a fingertip on a surface that is otherwise flat; ごわごわ rules on the stiffness of a towel that will not bend, not on its grain; かさかさ on thin, dried-out skin; がさがさ mostly on the loud rustle of coarse paper; and じゃりじゃり on loose grit that shifts under a tooth or in a shoe, not on a surface.
Examples
- 紙やすりの表面は硬くて粗くて、触るとざらざらする。The surface of sandpaper is hard and rough, and you feel it the moment you touch it.
- 乾いたセメントの床は硬くて粗くて、素足で踏むとざらざらだ。A dried-out concrete floor is hard and rough, and a bare foot feels it.
くるくる · to spin nimbly
A spinning top, a pinwheel, a reel.
Voiceless く makes the turn small: the circle fits in your hand, where ぐるぐる traces a circuit you have to walk round. A top spins fast because it is small, not because it lacks 濁点 — voicing changes no tempo in this pair.
Examples
- 小さな独楽が机の上で、見ていて楽しくなるほど速くくるくると回っている。A small spinning top whirls on the desk so quickly it is a pleasure to watch.
- 小さな糸巻きが毛糸を巻き取りながら、見ていて飽きないほど速くくるくると回っている。A small reel winds up the yarn, spinning so quickly you never tire of watching.
ぐるぐる · to go round and round
A Ferris wheel, a tenth lap of the field.
Voiced ぐ widens the circle: the くるくる turn that fitted in your hand becomes a circuit. It does not slow it — 目がぐるぐる回る is fast. くらくら turns nothing: it is how someone feels when the room spins on them, not a movement you can watch. うろうろ traces no circle either — it is walking back and forth, with no plan and no centre.
Examples
- 大きな観覧車が、朝から休まずぐるぐると回っている。The big Ferris wheel has been turning since morning without a moment's pause.
- 大きな水車が川の水を受けて休みなくぐるぐると回り続ける。A big waterwheel takes the river's flow and keeps turning without a break.
きらきら · to sparkle
Stars, dew in the morning sun.
Voiceless き breaks the light into small points and leaves it pleasant to the eye — ぎらぎら is that same brightness pushed until you look away. ぴかぴか does not break the light into points: it is a polished surface giving the light back evenly (shined shoes), or a light that comes on and goes off as a whole (稲光がぴかぴか光る); きらきら is many points glittering at once.
Examples
- 夜空で小さな星が明るく光ってきらきらと輝いている。Small stars shine brightly in the night sky.
- 小さな水滴が朝日を受けて明るく光ってきらきらしている。Small droplets catch the morning sun and glitter brightly.
ぎらぎら · to glare
Midsummer sun, neon at night.
Voiced ぎ does not make the light bigger — it pushes it past the limit; you look away. きらきら stays with the small points that are pleasant to look at, and ぴかぴか describes a clean surface giving the light back evenly (polished shoes); neither of them glares.
Examples
- 真夏の太陽が、目を開けていられないほど朝から夕方まで休みなくぎらぎらと照りつける。The midsummer sun beats down from morning to evening without a break, too bright to keep your eyes open.
- 街の看板の光が、目を開けていられないほど夜じゅう消えずにぎらぎらしている。The light of a street sign never goes out all night and glares too hard to keep your eyes open.
しとしと · to drizzle quietly
Fine rain that falls on and on.
しとしと says HOW it rains: slowly, finely, on and on — and that “on and on” is what pushes ぽつぽつ aside, since ぽつぽつ names the first separate drops on the pavement, still countable and still no promise of rain. ザーザー stands at the other end: a downpour you can hear through a closed window, while しとしと is not heard at all. It makes no pair with じとじと — that describes the state of the air and cannot rain (じとじと降る is not Japanese).
Examples
- 細かい雨が、やむ気配もなく朝からゆっくりしとしとと降っている。Fine rain has been falling slowly since morning, with no sign of stopping.
- 春の細かい雨が、夜まで途切れずに屋根をぬらしながらゆっくりしとしとと降り続ける。The fine spring rain falls slowly right into the night, wetting the roof without a break.
じとじと · to be damp and clammy
The air in the rainy season, a sweat-soaked shirt on your back.
じとじと describes heavy, muggy damp that hangs in the air and settles on things — and that is all it does. Rain falling is しとしと: a fine, quiet drizzle that goes on and on (しとしとと雨が降る). The test is one sentence long: しとしとと降る is ordinary Japanese, while じとじと降る is not — じとじと does not rain, it stays, on your skin, on the walls and in the washing. So it is not an intensified しとしと but a second word built on the same kana skeleton.
Examples
- 梅雨のあいだじゅう空気が重く、干した洗濯物が乾かないほどじとじとだ。All through the rainy season the air is heavy and so clammy that the hung-out laundry will not dry.
- 汗を吸ったシャツが背中に張りつき、重く湿ったまま一日じゅう乾かずにじとじとする。The sweat-soaked shirt clings to his back and will not dry all day — heavy with damp and clammy.
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.
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.
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.
くしゃくしゃ · to be crumpled
A screwed-up sheet, a receipt balled up in a fist.
Voiceless く measures the force of a hand: a sheet squeezed in your fist takes しわ and is still a sheet. The creases on their own are しわしわ — an unironed shirt is しわしわ although nobody crushed it — while くしゃくしゃ always reports an action, something balled up in a hand. There is no verdict in it — くしゃくしゃの笑顔 is warm, and a crumpled receipt bothers nobody; it takes ぐしゃぐしゃ to crush hard enough that the shape breaks up. Note: くしゃくしゃする belongs to a face and a mood (顔をくしゃくしゃにして笑う, 気分がくしゃくしゃする); of a sheet of paper you say くしゃくしゃだ or くしゃくしゃになる.
Examples
- メモ用紙は、指先で軽く握るだけでたやすくつぶれ、一度もんだだけで丸い塊になって、もうくしゃくしゃだ。The note gives without resisting at the lightest squeeze between the fingers and after a single crumple it is already a round little ball — completely crumpled.
- 一度丸めただけの紙は、指で軽く押せばすぐへこむくしゃくしゃの塊で、机の上に転がっていても誰も気に留めない。A sheet balled up in a single motion is a crumpled lump that dents at a light press of the finger, and nobody gives it a second look lying there on the desk.
ぐしゃぐしゃ · to be squashed to a pulp
A cardboard box under a boot.
Voiced ぐ does not change the action, only its force: くしゃくしゃ leaves creases, ぐしゃぐしゃ presses hard enough for the shape to give way (強く押しつぶされて形が崩れる). That is why a boot, a wheel and a weight belong here, and not fingers alone. It adds no size — 小さな紙をぐしゃぐしゃに丸める is perfectly ordinary. Nor does the 濁点 itself bring water: ぐしゃぐしゃ is wet as readily as dry (雨で道がぐしゃぐしゃになる, ぐしゃぐしゃに潰れた車). Being soaked through is ぐっしょり — wet to the last layer, but with the shape intact; ぐしゃぐしゃ always rules on a shape that has given way. Note: ぐしゃぐしゃする is a different thing — a squelch inside a wet shoe (靴の中がぐしゃぐしゃする) or a head in a muddle; of a crushed box you say ぐしゃぐしゃだ or ぐしゃぐしゃになる.
Examples
- 段ボール箱が体重をかけて踏みつけられ、靴の下でつぶれて、もとの形が見分けられないほどすっかりぐしゃぐしゃだ。The cardboard box, stamped on with the full weight of a body, was crushed under the boot until there was no telling what shape it had been.
- 重しの下で押しつぶされた紙束は、一枚ずつの見分けもつかないほど形が崩れ、すっかりぐしゃぐしゃの状態になった。The stack of paper, pressed flat under a weight, lost its shape until you could no longer tell one sheet from another.
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