Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Peter: Peter here. Onomatopoeia Lesson 7. This Japanese Lesson Will Put A Grin on Your Face!
なつこ: [*]こんにちは、なつこです。 Hi everyone, this is Natsuko.
Peter: Welcome to japanesepod101.com’s onomatopoeia series. In this series, we are exploring the wonderful world of Japanese onomatopoeia.
なつこ: そうですね。That’s right. We are studying Japanese onomatopoeia. [*]擬音語 and [*]擬態語
Peter: Now onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what it is named. Examples in English include words like
なつこ: Crash and splash.
Peter: The sounds of the word imitate the meaning. Also many animal sounds are onomatopoeia. For example,
なつこ: ばうわうand [*]ねー
Peter: Now Natsuko san, Japanese has tons of onomatopoeia.
なつこ: Right.
Peter: So if you are going to take your Japanese to the next level, you need to become familiar with as many of them as you can.
なつこ: Japanese onomatopoeia is not only useful, it’s also fun.
Peter: So we hope you will enjoy this enjoyable ride into the wonderful world of Japanese onomatopoeia. In the previous lesson, we learned about the onomatopoeia that describes laughter.
なつこ: Oh yes. [*]クスクス and ゲラゲラas in [*]ゲラゲラ笑う
Peter: To laugh loudly
なつこ: And [*]クスクス笑う
Peter: To chuckle. So when you are watching a comedy show at your home, you would probably
なつこ: [*]ゲラゲラ笑います
Peter: Laugh out loud but when you are watching a comedy show on iTunes on the train, you would
なつこ: [*]多分、クスクス笑います
Peter: Maybe chuckle. Now in this lesson, we are going to learn about the onomatopoeia that describes grin or smile. Today’s’ onomatopoeia expression is
なつこ: にこにこand [*]にやにや
Peter: Now we can’t translate them without context.
なつこ: Yes.
Peter: So Natsuko san, can we hear them in context?
なつこ: Sure [*]なんでにこにこ笑ってるの。なんか良いことあったの。
Peter: Why are you smiling? Something good happened.
なつこ: [*]なんで にやにや笑っているの?何か企んでいるの?
Peter: Why are you smirking? Are you plotting something or are you up to something. Now [*]にこにこ refers to a broad grin accompanied by happiness and of course it contains positive connotation where as にやにやrefers to a sinister smile or grin and is inferring that the person is hiding un-seemingly pleasure or a scheme.
なつこ: ずいぶん違いますよねSo the nuance is really different.
Peter: Very different but both にこにこand にやにやare usually used with
なつこ: [*]笑う
Peter: To laugh or
なつこ: [*]する
Peter: To do. For example,
なつこ: [*]にこにこ笑う or [*]にこにこする
Peter: And they both mean to smile. Now I just kind of want to point out here quick. When you look in the dictionary, 笑うmeans to laugh but it also means
なつこ: To smile.
Peter: So sometimes someone will say to you え、なんで笑っているwhich could mean depending on the context why are you laughing or why are you smiling.
なつこ: Yes.
Peter: So let’s take a look at the other onomatopoeia we covered.
なつこ: [*]にやにや笑う。にやにやする
Peter: And they both mean to smirk.
なつこ: We sometimes use this shorter version which is にこっとor [*]にやっと
Peter: When you say [*]にこっと or [*]にやっと it means someone smiles or smirks only once for a short moment whereas repetitive onomatopoeia such as にこにor [*]にやにや indicates a continuous action or a state.
なつこ: Yes right.
Peter: Can we have a sample sentence?
なつこ: [*]警官は一瞬にこっとしたが、またすぐに怖い顔になった。
Peter: The police officer flashed a smile but he soon put on a serious face. So just for a second.
なつこ: Yes.
Peter: Very interesting. I didn’t even know about this usage.
なつこ: Oh really?
Peter: [*]にこっと
なつこ: [*]にこっと
Peter: Natsukosan,
なつこ: [*]はい。
Peter: Speaking of grin, I’ve heard にたにたand [*].へらへら
なつこ: Ah はいはいas in にたにた笑うand [*]へらへら笑う
Peter: Right. Now my question is this. What’s the difference between にこにこ にやにや にたにたand [*]へらへら
なつこ: Umm that’s a good question. [*]にこにこ is a nice smile and にやにやand [*]にたにた are pretty similar. Both mean to smirk.
Peter: Ah.
なつこ: And they don’t give people nice feelings and へらへらthat could be a grim but also it could be a laugh and it could be used to describe a vague or meaningless grin.
Peter: Umm [*]へらへら could mean the grin or a smile some people wear when they are embarrassed.
なつこ: Umm yes it can be used.
Peter: Okay so I think we can best illustrate this with an example. Natsuko san, what do you think?
なつこ: [*]例えば、ピーターは先生に怒られたが、へらへら笑っていた。
Peter: Hah translation. Although Peter was scolded by the teacher, he was grinning.
なつこ: So he is showing no remorse.
Peter: Umm pretty accurate sample sentence. So you don’t think there is anyone who likes [*]にやにや grin.
なつこ: I think so.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Peter: Okay let’s recap the words we looked at today and we are going to do this with sample sentences.
なつこ: That’s good. The first word is [*]にこにこ 佐藤さんは、いつもにこにこしていて感じがいい。
Peter: Literally Mr or Mrs [*]佐藤 always has a smile on his or her face and is so congenial. In natural English, Mr. 佐藤is always smiling and it’s nice and what’s the second word?
なつこ: [*]にやにや 鈴木さんと田中さんが私のほうを見ながらにやにやしている。感じが悪い。
Peter: Mr. Suzuki and Mrs. Tanaka are looking at me and grinning and it makes me feel uncomfortable. Okay Natsuko san, just to recap quick, in this lesson, we learned
なつこ: にこにこand [*]にやにや
Peter: なつこさんは、にこにこした人と、にやにやした人、どちらが好きですかLike Natsuko san, what did you like better? A person who has a にこにこgrin or [*]にやにや grin?
なつこ: [*]にやにやしてる人のほうが好きっていう人は、いないと思います
Peter: So you don’t think there is anyone that has にやにやgrin.
なつこ: I think so because you know the difference is whether you feel nice about that smile or not.
Peter: Hah I guess we’ve translated this. Do you like you know, happy people or do you like dark sinister people?
なつこ: Dark umm yes it’s just the [*]にやにや笑い doesn’t make people feel nice or comfortable. For example, do you know the Alice in Wonderland story?
Peter: Ah of course.
なつこ: cat with a grin?
Peter: Yeah, yeah.
なつこ: That disappears and only the grin is left.
Peter: Remains?
なつこ: Yeah remains. I remember that was translated into Japanese as [*]にやにや笑い
Peter: Ah.
なつこ: So it’s not you know really that serious like you know, something distasteful but it’s like more kind of uncomfortable or something strange, strange smile.

Outro

Peter: Okay that’s all for today. Now be sure to stop by the website and pick up the lesson notes. There you will find a detailed write up of this lesson. Also on the website, you can access some of the previous lessons. With a basic or premium membership, you can access all the audio and lesson notes from this series and every other series. You can find out more information by visiting japanesepod101.com
なつこ: [*]それではまた今度

Kanji

Review & Remember All Kanji from this Lesson

Get complete breakdowns, review with quizzes and download printable practice sheets! Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Comments

Hide