Moderately Interesting Japanese Ep. 2: Onomatopoeia for Animals
It’s been a little over ten years since I started studying Japanese, and there are still quite a few facets of it that I find challenging. One of those is onomatopoeia. Japanese uses it much more than English, so much so that onomatopoeia is split into five classifications:
擬声語 Giseigo
Sounds that humans and animals make like “eek!” and “meow”
擬音語 Giongo
Sounds that things make like the “creak” of a door or “ring” of a phone
擬態語 Gitaigo
“Sounds” that describe the physical appearance of something, like “sparkly” or “curvy”
擬容語 Giyougo
“Sounds” that illustrate a person’s appearance like “gangly” or “loitering”
擬情語 Gijougo
“Sounds” that illustrate a person’s emotional state like “irritated” or “excited.”
I know that 3-5 might not be making a lot of sense right now, but I’m planning to make a post for each, so stay tuned! Today I’m just going to cover giseigo and provide you a few examples of each.
★ コケコッコー Kokekokkou
The sound a rooster makes, “cock-a-doodle-doo.”
★ ケロケロ Kero-kero
The sound a frog makes, “Ribbit”
★ ミーンミーン Miin-miin
The sound cicadas make
★ ガオ Gao
The sound a lion or tiger makes, “Roar”
★ モー Mou
The sound a cow makes, “Moo”
★ ニャー Nyaa
The sound a cat makes, “Meow”
Cats are sometimes referred to as “nyanko” because of this.
★ ワン Wan
The sound a dog makes, “Woof”
Dogs are sometimes referred to as “wanko” because of this.
I find it really fascinating how the way we interpret a sound can be different based on our mother tongue! That’s all for today, but stay turned for next time when I talk about giongo!
i might be going homeless soon. not now. but soon. as some of you may know, i've been couch surfing since mid october.
i just called someone i know, and the thing with dogsitting her dogs in exchange for 2 months free housing isnt going to happen, cause she's getting renovations done and she has a friend from out of town visiting.
and now all my eggs are in one basket on this organisation that "prevents queer youths from going homeless," but the first time i visited, they told me i'd be low priority cause I'm "not homeless." so.. i finally have a proper meeting with someone scheduled for the 31st. but im so fucking scared and nervous and idek what im going to do if this doesnt work out. i have one place i can stay for a week, but that's it. all the other places ive stayed i've exhausted cause it's too expensive for them to house me again. and I do not want to return to living with my parents. it won't go well and i'll stuck in the same shit cycle of verbal and emotional abuse.
I'm making minimum wage, my hours are shit, and i'm struggling to find another job. I hate being this pessemistic but it's all falling apart.
Please consider tipping my paypal if you like my lewds and want to help out so i can at least afford groceries ~nya
I wanted to cause problems on purpose. guess i'm also at 1500 followers, which is 1000more than when i first posted this a year ago. (first post got nuked recently) ~nya
the other day at my starbucks job I served a bootlicker who wanted to pay for the order of the pigs behind him. i viscerally gagged. then i had to interact with said pigs and witness their joy at being treated like idols by getting free things. Don't be a bootlicker, cops aren't people and don't deserve your money ~nya
literally love the cocept of like dildos and plugs "popping into place," like. yes, that's right, this hole was made to be filled, nd those things are made to belong inside us. We all just want to be in a place we belong ~nya
my bnnuygirl as of last week helped devise a weekly task chart for me with just like. basic things to get done on the daily. like eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and journal, and every 3 days its shower, skincare, makeup. and my gf is gotten involved in it now too to help me ensure i do those things. i've never felt so cared for and loved and i. am . so fucking gay and . its so cool to have this and i get litle rewards for things i do, and punishments for things i dont 🥺💜🥺🥰 ~nya
im in crisis right now. my mum started spewing the most awful and biggoted transphobic and homophic things, including that my existence is making her life misrerable. i don't want to really repeat the other things here, but im having a full blown emotional breakdown. thankfully.. my sister's husband intervened and tried to help me calm down.. and, as mildly as he could, told my mum that she is being awful. he's trained in this stuff, helping people in crisis.. and he was asking me if i could contact my gf and stay with her for the next while cause i really need support and it would be best if i left for a while. and he assured me he would try to help in any way he can to get me the support i need.. idk what that is tho.. ive been wanting out of this house since i was 13.. fortunately my gf was already on her way over. so. tldr; she helped me pack some of my things, her brother came to pick us up, and i'm staying with her & her family for the indefinite future...
i have a job interview tomorrow, but for the sake of honesty things are not looking great. if you can please donate any bit to my paypal in my pinned post it would be incredibly helpful. this feels like a nightmare. I don't know what's going to happen ~nya
how the date went yesterday!!! she made me into a constelation then gave me her sweater, that smells most like her, to wear when she walked me back. it was an amazing 10hs 😻💜 ~nya