Hi all,
Man, it's been busy here! My first houseguest is here, and we're having an absolute blast. One or many posts will come from that, but I definitely need more time than I've had to sort through all these photographs and memories. Soon to come
I did, however, get sent this article from a friend as a birthday present--too cool not to pass on:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/61269/designer-chocolates-let-you-taste-meaning-japanese-words
One of the coolest features of the Japanese language (my friend that sent this to me is an avid linguist) is its attraction to . . . well, onomatopoeia isn't quite the right word, although I used it in this blog's title. Onomatopoeia is for a word expressing how a concept sounds, but what's the word for a word expressing how it feels? And not just in terms of texture--in terms of sight, or texture, or even emotion of the concept
Bonus word to add on to the ones in the chocolate box: Pika pika, which means bright and sparkly. And "chu" is the sound a mouse makes. So now you know :D
Noah out
One of my favorites is neba neba used to described slippery slimy viscous things like natto and okra. Then there is gassa gassa, which is used to describe someone who never sits still.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was already on their list, "fuwa fuwa". Especially with the extra-aspirated "f" sound in Japanese (halfway between an "f" and an "h"), it just sounds so fluffy XD
DeleteShabu shabu, and kori kori which I love to describe sashimi kai, that sort of crunch, hey! English has those kinds of words, too. Crunch.
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