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Can Japanese onomatopoetic words... 2010/5/18 06:15
Hi, I was wondering about onomatopoetic words, such as ばらばら and きらきら.

I know they are usually used as adverbs, but I was wondering if they could be used as nouns.

For example, would any of these be correct?:

A) 星はきらきら。 (The star is sparkly/glittering)
a) きらきらに星 (The star that sparkles)

B) 絵はばらばら。 (The painting is in pieces)
b) ばらばらに絵 (The painting that is in pieces)


Please let me know if any of those are correct and if one is more correct than the other, or what would be correct.

Thank you so much!
by Lija (guest)  

... 2010/5/18 10:46
A) 星はきらきら。 (The star is sparkly/glittering) - OK
星はきらきらしている。 - Also OK

a) きらきらに星 (The star that sparkles) - No.
きらきらする星 would be OK.

For this one, "kirakira suru" is a verb that means to sparkle.

B) 絵はばらばら。 (The painting is in pieces) - OK
絵はばらばらになっている。would be also OK.

b) ばらばらに絵 (The painting that is in pieces) - No.
ばらばらな絵 would be OK.
ばらばらになった絵 (The painting that has gone into pieces) would be OK.

For this one, "barabara (na)" is a na-adjective. "barabara ni naru" would be a verb meaning "to go into pieces."
by AK rate this post as useful

. 2010/5/18 12:12
Thank you so much!

Your answer really helps me a lot :]
by Lija (guest) rate this post as useful

. 2010/5/18 14:24
Nouns as expressed in katakana.
星は、キラキラと輝く。
絵は、バラバラになった。
雪は、しんしんと降る。
Gives the exact sound of falling snow in the mental observation by hiragana, not by katakana.
霰(あられ)は、こんこん。Same here.
歯は、ガチガチとふるえる。
目は、キョロキョロしている
ドタバタと走る。
ワーワーと泣く。
etc.
by ay (guest) rate this post as useful

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