Ideophone

Yesterday, I wrote about onomatopoeia. Today, I will introduce ideophones which are words that describe a particular situation or feeling. Ideophones are highly idiomatic; they can be difficult to understand but they often sound funny.

Japanese is full of ideophones; we can hear them in almost every conversation. Japanese ideophones usually function as adjectives or adverbs and are often identical rhyming repeaters, for example:

fuwa-fuwa (something soft)
atsu-atsu (passionate lovers)
doki-doki (fluttering heart)
iro-iro (various types)

English has ideophones too, though far fewer than Japanese. In English, ideophones usually function as adjectives or nouns and are often non-identical rhyming repeaters, for example:

topsy-turvy (upside down)
lovey-dovey (being in love)
wishy-washy (weak character)
itsy-bitsy (very small)
hanky-panky

The list goes on. Ideophones often begin as slang then become common usage, so you can find them in your dictionary.

Tomoko, please tell your friend again!

Please note that many people confuse ideophones with onomatopoeia.