Yeah, I know I've heard it before too, but I just encountered it again (using My Japanese Coach) and I just realized that we now have an English an analogue that will help me remember the meaning really well XD
Korean has a ton of onomatopoeia (I can never spell that without a dictionary) that are essentially two syllables, repeated, and usually sound nothing at all like what a Westerner would associate them with. And they use these words constantly as adverbs, often modifying a verb that means the exact same thing.
They go far beyond sounds, too. I recall running across one that means "woven or braided" (although I can't recall what it is).
That's interesting, I didn't know any other languages used onomatopoeia as extensively as Japanese. Really, onomatopoeia isn't even the right word, as it only refers to words that represent sounds, and in Japanese (and apparently Korean), they have "sound effects" for non-sound states. My favorite Japanese onomatopoeia is the one for dead silence XD But they also have onomatopoeia for things like states of light (sparkling, glittering), speaking fluently, speed of progression (gradual, quickly), being excited, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they have one for woven or braided as well.
Whenever I tell people what the most difficult things about the Japanese language are, I always tell them honorific speech, counters and onomatopoeia.
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They go far beyond sounds, too. I recall running across one that means "woven or braided" (although I can't recall what it is).
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That's interesting, I didn't know any other languages used onomatopoeia as extensively as Japanese. Really, onomatopoeia isn't even the right word, as it only refers to words that represent sounds, and in Japanese (and apparently Korean), they have "sound effects" for non-sound states. My favorite Japanese onomatopoeia is the one for dead silence XD But they also have onomatopoeia for things like states of light (sparkling, glittering), speaking fluently, speed of progression (gradual, quickly), being excited, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they have one for woven or braided as well.
Whenever I tell people what the most difficult things about the Japanese language are, I always tell them honorific speech, counters and onomatopoeia.
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