A Contrastive Study on the Mimeticization of Onomatopoeic Words in Japanese and Chinese : Focusing on the Japanese ABAB Type Onomatopoeia and Chinese ABB Type Adjectives

On the onomatopoeia, there are a large number of studies from the perspective of rhyme, morphology, etc. But few studies have been done from the perspective of cognition. In this paper, the process of the mimetic words being made from onomatopoeic words in Japanese ABAB type onomatopoeia is compared with Chinese ABB type adjective from the perspective of cognition. The results are as follows: in both languages, the same process can be observed, that is onomatopoeic (adjective) words shift focus from the sound to the sound source first, then they are extended to describe the appearance and state of other things that look like the sound source. It is also one of the most common process. However, following differences are also found. (1) In the process of creating the mimetic words, the dependency on the sound of Japanese onomatopoeic words is stronger than that of Chinese adjective words. (2) The meaning of Japanese ABAB type onomatopoeia will extend without changing the form of words. But in Chinese ABB type adjectives, before the suffix BB, there must be some words which will cause the meaning of BB suffix to extend. (3) The meaning of mimetic words is decided by the onomatopoeic words in Japanese, but in Chinese, it is influenced by the word that combines with the adjective word