擬態語 III

寝坊ねぼうしてあたふたと家いえを出でた。

I overslept and left the house in a fluster.

Usage Used with と or する. The repeated あた suggests hands going everywhere at once: panicked haste. Colloquial.

Remember it あたふた → hands and feet moving faster than the plan.

母はははいそいそと出でかけて行いった。

My mother set off cheerfully.

Usage Used with と. The sound is of quick light steps taken in pleasure. Unlike あたふた, the hurry here is eagerness, not panic.

Remember it いそいそ → the step of someone glad to be going.

うかうかしていると置おいていかれる。

Be careless and you will get left behind.

Usage Used with する, most often in うかうかしていると, 'if you let your guard down'. The sound is of drifting untethered.

Remember it 浮く (float) doubled → floating along with nothing holding you to the task.

見みているだけでひやひやした。

Just watching put me on edge.

Usage Used with する. The ひや is the cold running down your spine: anxious, heart in your mouth. From 冷やす, to chill.

Remember it 冷や (chill) doubled → the cold that fear puts down your back.

子こどもはおずおずと手てを挙あげた。

The child raised a hand timidly.

Usage Used with と. The sound suggests drawing yourself in: hesitant, half afraid. Also written 怖ず怖ず.

Remember it 怖ず (be afraid) doubled → the hand going up and half coming back.

教室きょうしつががやがやとうるさい。

The classroom is noisy with chatter.

Usage Used with と. The がや is many voices overlapping: the noise of a crowd. Used only of human voices, unlike the broader ざわざわ.

Remember it がやがや → a roomful of voices with no one voice on top.

きびきびと働はたらく姿すがたが気持きもちいい。

It is a pleasure to watch him work briskly.

Usage Used with と. The sharp き is crisp and economical: quick, decisive movement. Complimentary. Opposites: のろのろ, だらだら.

Remember it きびきび → each movement finished before the next begins.

あの一件いっけんから関係かんけいがぎくしゃくしている。

Since that incident relations have been strained.

Usage Used with する. The ぎく is a joint that catches: relations gone awkward, movement gone stiff. Its commonest partner is 関係.

Remember it ぎくしゃく → the joint that no longer moves smoothly in its socket.

満員まんいん電車でんしゃはもうこりごりだ。

I have had quite enough of packed trains.

Usage Used as 〜はこりごりだ — never again. From 懲りる, to learn one's lesson. It always looks back on an unpleasant experience.

Remember it 懲りる (learn the hard way) doubled → learnt, and learnt thoroughly.

木この葉はがざわざわと音おとを立たてる。

The leaves rustle in the trees.

Usage Used with と or する. The ざわ is many small things stirring: leaves rustling, a crowd murmuring. Broader than がやがや, which is voices only.

Remember it ざわざわ → many small movements adding up to one sound.

野菜やさいがしゃきしゃきしていて美味おいしい。

The vegetables are crisp and delicious.

Usage Used with する. The crunch of fresh vegetables; and しゃきしゃきした人, someone brisk and decisive. One sound serves for texture and for temperament.

Remember it しゃきしゃき → the clean snap of something fresh, in a vegetable or a person.

断ことわられてすごすごと引ひき下さがった。

Turned down, he withdrew crestfallen.

Usage Used with と. The sound is of steps gone heavy: slinking away after a refusal or a failure. There is always embarrassment in it.

Remember it すごすご → leaving with your eyes on the ground.

朝あさからせかせかと歩あるき回まわっている。

He has been bustling about since morning.

Usage Used with と or する. From 急かす, to hurry someone: restless, unable to sit still. Faintly critical of the want of composure.

Remember it 急かす (hurry) doubled → hurried even when nothing is chasing you.

一人ひとりとぼとぼと家路いえじについた。

He trudged home alone.

Usage Used with と. Heavy and slow: plodding wearily, and alone. Unlike すごすご, the stress is on tiredness rather than humiliation.

Remember it とぼとぼ → one tired step, and then another.

なよなよとした仕草しぐさが印象いんしょうに残のこった。

The delicate way he moved stayed with me.

Usage Used with と and した. The soft な has no strength in it: limp, lacking firmness. From 萎える. Usually critical.

Remember it 萎える (wilt) doubled → bending wherever it is pushed.

何なにがおかしいのかにやにやしている。

He is smirking at something or other.

Usage Used with する. A soundless smile with something private behind it, which is why it unsettles people. One voiced consonant separates it from にこにこ, an open smile.

Remember it にやにや → the smile that is keeping something back.

よくもぬけぬけと嘘うそがつけるものだ。

How brazenly he can lie.

Usage Used with と. Doing something shameful without so much as a blink. It often pairs with よくも〜ものだ, 'how dare you'.

Remember it 抜ける (slip through) doubled → slipping past shame without touching it.

見みている方ほうがはらはらした。

Watching was nerve-racking.

Usage Used with する. On tenterhooks watching someone in danger; and 涙がはらはらと落ちる, tears falling. The subject tells you which.

Remember it はらはら → things falling one after another, whether petals, tears, or your nerve.

文句もんくをぶつぶつ言いっている。

He is muttering complaints.

Usage Used directly with 言う. The ぶつ is small broken speech: grumbling to oneself. It has a quite separate sense, bumps on the skin.

Remember it ぶつぶつ → words coming out in small lumps rather than sentences.

むっつりした顔かおで座すわっていた。

He sat there with a sullen face.

Usage Used with する and した. The むっ is a mouth clamped shut: taciturn and visibly displeased. Distinct from 寡黙, which is approving.

Remember it むっつり → the lips pressed together and nothing coming out.

赤あかちゃんがよちよちと歩あるき始はじめた。

The baby has begun to toddle.

Usage Used with と. Only of a baby's or a duckling's first steps. よちよち歩き is toddling. Affectionate.

Remember it よちよち → the wobble of legs not yet sure of the ground.