Degree Thesis
Bachelor’s level (First cycle)
Translating Japanese Onomatopoeia into Finnish in
Literature: A Case Study
Author: Kosti Vanninen Supervisor: Hiroko Inose Examiner: Herbert Jonsson
Subject/main field of study: Japanese Course code: GJP23Y
Higher education credits: 15 credits Date of examination: 15.1.2021
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Abstract:
Japanese is a language rich in onomatopoeic and mimetic words, words that mimic
sounds and other phenomena with their form. They are an integral part of the
language and are used in nearly all situations, they also pose their own peculiar
challenge to both learners and translators of Japanese. This study examines the
Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words in the novel Sensei no kaban by
Hiromi Kawakami, and their translations in its Finnish translation, to determine
what techniques are most commonly used and why? As Finnish is also said to have
a rich onomatopoeic and mimetic vocabulary, the frequency at which these terms
are translated into equivalent onomatopoeic or mimetic words is also examined.
The results show that the majority of the Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic
words, most of which function as adverbs, are translated as adverbs or verbs or
they are completely omitted. Exactly a quarter of the examined cases have been
translated using onomatopoeic or mimetic words, most of which are verbs.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ... 4
2. Background ... 5
2.1. Onomatopoeic and mimetic words ... 5
2.2. Onomatopoeic and mimetic words in Japanese ... 5
2.3. Onomatopoeia and mimetic words in Finnish ... 7
2.4. Onomatopoeia and mimetic words as a translation problem ... 8
3. Previous research ... 8
4. Material & Method ... 11
4.1. Material ... 11
4.2. Methodology ... 12
5. Results ... 12
6. Analysis ... 14
6.1. Translation using an adverb ... 14
6.2. Translation using a verb ... 15
6.3. Translation using an adjective ... 16
6.4. Translation using a noun ... 17
6.5. Translation using onomatopoeia ... 17
6.6. Translation using idioms ... 18
6.7. Translation using a combination of words or a set phrase ... 19
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1. Introduction
The Japanese language is known to have a rich vocabulary of onomatopoeic and mimetic words that are commonly used in various situations, both in speech and text, in casual contexts and sometimes even more formal ones. They are considered an essential part of the language and they are something everyone who tries to speak Japanese will come face to face with sooner or later (Makino & Tsutsui, 1986). As onomatopoeic and mimetic words are very culturally bound, they’re often the source of headaches for many
students and translators of Japanese.
The Finnish language (and other Finnic languages) is another language said to have a sizable vocabulary of onomatopoeic and mimetic words (Heinsoo & Saar 2015), and similar to Japanese they can be used in numerous different contexts without any issues. This shared quality between Japanese and Finnish piqued my curiosity, which eventually developed into the present study, that examines how Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words are translated into Finnish. The aim of this study is to examine the onomatopoeic and mimetic words used in the 2004 novel “Sensei no kaban” by Hiromi Kawakami, and their translations in the Finnish translation of the book (“Sensein salkku” translated by Raisa Porrasmaa). The onomatopoeic/mimetic words and their translations are analysed in order to determine what translation techniques are used to translate these words, and to find out which techniques are the most common and why? Additionally, since both languages boast a large vocabulary of onomatopoeic and mimetic words, this study also examines how often the translation manages to preserve the onomatopoeic/mimetic aspect of the source text.
The study is presented in seven chapters beginning with this introduction. The second chapter briefly explains both Japanese and Finnish onomatopoeic and mimetic
expressions in more detail and presents some potential difficulties in translating these expressions. Chapter 3 presents previous studies on the translation of Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions. Chapter 4 introduces the material used in the study and the methodology used in collecting and analysing the expressions, while chapter 5 presents the findings as numerical data. In chapter 6 each translation
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2. Background
2.1. Onomatopoeic and mimetic words
Onomatopoeic and mimetic words, or sound symbolic words as they are also known, are words that attempt to imitate various phenomena with their sounds. Onomatopoeic words, or onomatopoeia, refers to words that mimic various sound, be it animal noises or other sounds such as the sound made by a stream of water. Mimetic words on the other hand are words that mimic other, non-auditory phenomena, such as the manner in which something happens, internal states both physical and emotional, physical
characteristics of objects and so on. In speech onomatopoeic and mimetic typically express the emotion or impression the speaker has about the subject of discussion (Hinton et al. 1994; Flyxe 2002; VISK §154, 2004).
The field of linguistics has traditionally considered the relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning to be arbitrary. Onomatopoeic and mimetic words however directly oppose this assertion, as they mimic phenomena outside the language, and thus have their sound linked to their meaning. A common feature of onomatopoeic and mimetic words is the use of sounds or combinations of sounds that are otherwise uncommon in the language. In addition to this, certain sounds used in these words maybe associated with certain meanings. For example, the high front vowel /i/ has been shown to be associated with smallness and sharpness in certain languages, while fricatives often imply a meaning related to the movement of air (Hinton et al. 1994; Koivisto 2013).
2.2. Onomatopoeic and mimetic words in Japanese
In Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words are commonly referred to as giongo (擬音 語) and gitaigo (擬態語) respectively. Onomatopoeiae can also be further divided into
giseigo (擬声語) for words which mimic sounds or perhaps more accurately “voices”
made by animate sources, and giongo which are used to mimic other sounds. Similarly,
gitaigo can also sometimes be further divided into giyougo (擬容語) which are used to
describe the external states or movements, and finally gijougo (擬情語) which describe internal feelings and sensations. The latter two categories are however rarely used, and
gitaigo is usually understood as an umbrella term for all three categories. Even giseigo
and giongo are often discussed by using only the term giongo to refer to both types of words. (Ono 2007)
6 The vast majority of Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words function as adverbs, though some of them can be used as adjectives or verbs as well. They are often followed by the quotative particle “to”, which may be optional or required, depending on the word (Hamano 1986). A typical example would be geragera to warau (げらげらと笑う), where “to” connects the onomatopoeic/mimetic adverb geragera (the manner or sound of laughing heartily, guffawing) to the verb warau (to laugh/smile), thus the whole phrase means “to guffaw”. The verb warau itself does not have onomatopoeic or mimetic qualities, nor does it specify the manner in which it is performed. Together with the onomatopoeic or mimetic word however, the manner and/or sound of the verb is made apparent, giving a vivid impression of the kind of laughter in question.
As Inose (2008) explains, onomatopoeic and mimetic words typically follow established forms, which all imply different nuances when applied to the “core sound” carrying the basic meaning of a word. Table 1 introduces some of the more common forms and the nuance they typically represent. In the table “C” stands for a consonant, while “V” represents a vowel. “Q” denotes a glottal stop, “N” the moraic nasal “ん” (often /n/, but the pronunciation varies depending on surrounding phonemes), and finally “R” is used to denote that the preceding vowel is elongated.
Table 1
Typical forms for Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words (Based on Inose 2008 and Ono 2007)
Form Example Nuance
CVCVCVCV pachipachi Repetition of sound/action
CVCVQ pachit(to) Abrupt sound/action happening once CVCVri pachiri Sound/action happening once
CVCVN pachin Sound/action lingering or reverberating CVCVRN pachiin Longer sound/action lingering or reverberating Combinations of the various forms are also possible, such as the CVQCVri combination, which is often seen in highly lexicalized words such as ‘hakkiri’ (clearly) or ‘yukkuri’ (slowly). Flyxe (2002) mentions various qualities this form might imply such as
roundness, femininity, thoroughness or completion. Of course, the specific implication depends on the specific core used in each word.
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2.3. Onomatopoeia and mimetic words in Finnish
Like in Japanese, Finnish onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions are prevalent on all levels of language. From small children to politicians and newspaper headlines. One of the most comprehensive Finnish grammar books, Iso Suomen Kielioppi (VISK 2004) describes onomatopoeic and mimetic words as expressive words that “convey the speaker’s or writer’s feelings, sensations or impressions” (VISK §154, 2004).
In Finnish research tradition, the terminology used to discuss onomatopoeic and mimetic words has often been varied and confusing, with different researchers using different terms such as “expressive”, “descriptive”, “onomatopoeic”, “imitative” and even “descriptive-onomatopoeic” and more, with no clear consensus on which term refers to what. However, in recent years the situation has improved, and it has become more common to refer the onomatopoeic and mimetic words as a whole with the term “expressive words”. Expressive words themselves are further divided into onomatopoeic words and “descriptive words”, which corresponds to the English term mimetic words (Mikone 2002).
Finnish onomatopoeic and mimetic words are typically formed by attaching various inflectional and derivational suffixes to a descriptive (mimetic) word stem. The Finnish language uses a large number of derivational patterns for word formation, and some of these derivational patterns are more typically, or even exclusively, seen in onomatopoeic and mimetic words. For example, so called “ise”-verbs (named after the derivational components present in them), such as suhista (to hiss) or kahista (to rustle), are exclusively onomatopoeic or mimetic (Koivisto 2013; VISK §154, 2004). Finnish
onomatopoeic and mimetic words are commonly verbs or nouns, but a single descriptive word stem can usually be used in large number of different derivations across word classes. As an example, the stem ”suh-” can become “suhista”, the verb mentioned previously, or it can become the noun “suhina” (hissing) or the adjective “suhiseva” (hissing), which can be further derived into the adverb “suhisevasti” (in a hissing manner).
Finnish onomatopoeic and mimetic words can also be used in a special construct peculiar to Finnic languages, called the colorative construction. The colorative construction is a two-verb expression that consists of a neutral verb for an action (a
8 colorative construction is somewhat similar to how Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words are used: a neutral non-onomatopoeic/mimetic verb is given a vivid description by the use of another, onomatopoeic or mimetic word.
2.4. Onomatopoeia and mimetic words as a translation problem
Translation of onomatopoeic and mimetic words presents a unique challenge, as it can be argued that in many cases the form of the word being translated is as important as the meaning. An ideal translation for such a word would thus be equivalent in both aspects. However, finding such a perfect equivalent may be difficult. Flyxe (2002) suggests that differences in the complexity of the sound symbolic systems in each language can cause difficulties in finding a suitable equivalent. When the source language uses a more complex system with a larger vocabulary and more minute nuances contained in each word compared to the target language’s sound symbolic system, finding the right translation choice can be problematic.
Flyxe (2002) also mentions the issues of formality and register. While some languages like Japanese can use onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions in nearly any
circumstances, other languages may not allow for such a freedom. Flyxe notes that Swedish is one such language where onomatopoeic or mimetic words may carry a nuance that may be considered “childish” or even “sometimes vulgar”. Therefore, even if it was technically always possible to translate a mimetic word with a mimetic word, the end result might alter the register or formality of the text too much.
Because of these difficulties it may often be more straightforward to try and find a translation that only captures the primary meaning of the onomatopoeic or mimetic word, at the cost of losing the sound-symbolic element of it. However, disregarding the sound-symbolic effect may also have an undesired effect on the translation. Similar to how the use of onomatopoeic and mimetic words may affect the register or formality of a text, they can also more generally have a great impact on the style of the text. Inose (2008) effectively demonstrates this with an example translation of a Japanese poem which uses multiple onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions to attain a very specific rhythm, that both she and arguably the poet refer to as “almost, music” (Inose 2008, p. 103). A translator should therefore carefully consider what effect the onomatopoeic or mimetic words bring to the source text, and how to best replicate it in the target text.
3. Previous research
9 Mölsä 2016). Of closest relevance to the current study is perhaps Holmela’s (2014) study on formal and dynamic equivalence in the German and Finnish translations of Ai
Yazawa’s manga Nana. As onomatopoeia and mimetic expressions are very common in manga, Holmela briefly touches on the topic as well. However, as the focus of the study is elsewhere, they only really offer a brief explanation.
Research on translating Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions into other languages has been conducted by several researchers such as Flyxe, Inose, and Sasamoto.
Flyxe (2002) examined how the degree of lexicality in an onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions affects the translation. In his study he collected 275 occurrences of
onomatopoeia in various Japanese novels and their Swedish translations. The novels in question included Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, Shūsaku Endō’s Scandal, and three novels by Kenji Miyazawa. Flyxe explains that the more incorporated an onomatopoeic word is into a language’s lexicon, the less mimetic it generally is. With this observation as his basis, he categorized his material into two groups: onomatopoeia with a low degree of lexicalization (e.g. “pinpon”, a word directly mimicking the noise a doorbell makes) and a high degree of lexicalization (e.g. “nonbiri”, describing a relaxed, leisurely or peaceful manner). He then examined the onomatopoeia in each group and the techniques used to translate each type within the texts. According to his results, more highly lexicalized words are generally more difficult to translate and see a wider variety of techniques applied to translating them, while words with low lexicalization were most often translated as sound symbolic verbs.
Inose (2008) has researched the translation of onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions from Japanese to both English and Spanish, focusing on the preservation of information within the translations. Using Haruki Murakami’s novel Sputnik no koibito and its translations in each language as the material, Inose collected all 295 occurrences of onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions in the work and their corresponding translations. Each expression was then categorized according to their type and function, while the corresponding translations were categorized by the translation strategy used. She noted that while the majority (77.3%) of the original expressions functioned as adverbs, the translations often did not follow suit, opting instead for other methods of expressing the original meaning such as using paraphrasing or idioms. She also notes that in many cases (19.7% of cases in both translations) the translations choose to completely omit the onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions, which is seen undesirable, except potentially in cases where the information expressed by the onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions is deemed to not offer any extra information.
Inose has also conducted a brief study with the same language pairings on the techniques used to translate onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions in manga
10 traditional literature, which is reflected in how onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions are used. While Inose’s earlier study (2008) on Murakami’s novel found that mimetic expressions were more common than onomatopoeic (267 and 28 cases respectively), here the situation is the opposite with onomatopoeic words being more common in the material examined (108 onomatopoeic vs. 33 mimetic words). Inose hypothesizes that because onomatopoeia and mimetic words in manga are often used as independent sound effects and always accompanied by pictures, translators are afforded more freedom in choosing their translation techniques when compared to other text types. As part of their book Onomatopoeia and Relevance, Sasamoto (2019) conducted a corpus-based analysis of translations of cooking recipes from Japanese into English, focusing on onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions and the perceived difficulty in translating them. The data for Sasamoto’s study was extracted from the popular recipe website Cookpad, which hosts recipes submitted by the site’s users. Recipes containing onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions, and their translations were extracted and analysed. Based on her data, Sasamoto suggests that translating onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions is perceived to be harder than it actually might be, partly based on her data showing that a single onomatopoeic expression often had numerous different solutions applied to it instead of there only being a limited range of techniques that could be used. However, Sasamoto does not consider that, by their very nature, cooking recipes often require a more communicative translation strategy compared to literature, which can allow translators to use more straightforward translation techniques as they do not need to concern themselves with problems like trying to accurately replicate the style of an author. This means that when translating, the sound symbolic or mimetic elements of a word can often be disregarded in favour of providing a recipe that is simple to follow, whereas in other text types replicating these elements might be considered more desirable.
Sato (2017), as part of their study on translanguaging1 in translation, examined seven
different Japanese to English translations of Kenji Miyazawa’s novel Ginga Tetsudou no
Yoru. Sato collected all onomatopoeic and mimetic words and their translations from the
titles and examined how many of the translations preserved the sound-symbolic aspect of the original word by translating them with onomatopoeic or mimetic words. Across the seven translations an average of 15.61% of the cases preserved sound-symbolism. Most cases preserved in a single translation was 21.32% of the total.
1 Translanguaging refers to multilingual speakers using the full range of their linguistic abilities,
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4. Material & Method
4.1. Material
The primary material used in the study is the 2004 edition of author Hiromi Kawakami’s 2001 novel Sensei no kaban (センセイの鞄2), published by Bungei Shunju, and its
Finnish language translation Sensein Salkku, published in 2017 by Kustantamo S&S and translated by Raisa Porrasmaa. The novel consists of 17 chapters totalling 270 pages in Japanese and 243 pages in the Finnish translation. It is the story of Tsukiko, a woman who after a long time happens to run into her high school teacher at a bar. From then on, they keep meeting each other and as the story progresses, so does their relationship. Hiromi Kawakami’s works have received praise both in and outside of Japan and she has received prestigious awards such as the Tanizaki Prize for Sensei no kaban. The book in question is perhaps the most well-known of her works outside Japan, having been translated into 14 different languages (Kustantamo S&S n.d.). I chose to use the title as material for this study as both the book and its translation are fairly recent and thus should reflect current language usage accurately. Both works were also readily available and relatively well-known.
For the study, the first 200 cases of onomatopoeic or mimetic expressions in the book were recorded in order of appearance. The number of cases to record was chosen based on the number of cases that other similar studies such as Flyxe (2002) and Inose (2008) used. The desired number of cases was reached just a little past the first six chapters of the book.
To aid in identifying onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions in the original text, the study uses Nihongo onomatope jiten (Ono, 2007), perhaps one of the most
comprehensive dictionaries on such expressions with 4500 headwords. For Finnish onomatopoeic and mimetic words multiple dictionaries are used:
- Suomen Sanojen Alkuperä (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Kotimaisten Kielten
Tutkimuskeskus 1992-2000), an etymological dictionary
- Nykysuomen Etymologinen Sanakirja (Häkkinen 2004), an etymological
dictionary of modern Finnish
- Kielitoimiston sanakirja (Kotimaisten kielten keskus 2020), an online dictionary of
modern Finnish
Additionally, descriptions and definitions of onomatopoeic and mimetic words, as presented in Iso Suomen Kielioppi (VISK 2004) and Deskriptiiviset sanat (Mikone 2002), are used to complement the dictionaries above.
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4.2. Methodology
For the purposes of this study, occurrences of onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions were collected from the novel, along with their corresponding translations. Each occurrence is recorded with its own unique case number and both the chapter and page numbers on which it appears. The expression is recorded both as it is, and within
context, i.e. the whole sentence where it appears is transcribed. The translations are also handled in the same manner. The grammatical category of each expression is recorded as well as whether they are onomatopoeic or mimetic. Finally, the translations are categorized by the method used. The categories used in this study are based on the categories that Inose (2008) used and are as follows:
1) Translation by adverb 2) Translation by adjective 3) Translation by noun 4) Translation by verb
5) Translation by a combination of words (such as adverb+verb, etc.) or a set phrase 6) Translation by idiom
7) Paraphrasing 8) Omission
9) Translation by onomatopoeia
As Finnish onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions can take various forms and
grammatical functions, they are primarily categorized by their function. Whether or not the translation is also onomatopoeic or mimetic is recorded separately, and category 9) is preserved for cases where an onomatopoeic expression does not fall into any of the other categories, such as when the expression in question is an imitation of an animal’s sound. Category 5), Translation by a combination of words or set phrase, is used when the meaning of the source text onomatopoeic or mimetic words is carried by multiple words or a set phrase (words that typically appear together in a fixed order) that is not idiomatic in the translation.
5. Results
13 Table 2
ST cases categorized by word class
Word class Number of cases % of total
Adverb 169 85 % Adjective 9 5 % Noun 1 1 % Verb 10 5 % Onomatopoeia 11 6 % Total 200 100 %
While the majority of the source language expressions were adverbs, much more variation can be seen in how they were translated. In the translation, adverbs were still the most common, but far fewer than in the source text, totalling just 57 out of the 200 (29%) cases. As for the rest of the cases 15 (8%) were translated by adjectives, 6 (3%) by nouns, 35 (18%) by verbs, and 8 (4%) cases were translated as onomatopoeia used as sound effects or to otherwise imitate a sound or noise. A combination of one of more words or a set phrase were used to translate 24 (12%) cases, and 9 (5%) were translated by paraphrasing, while 5 (3%) were translated with an idiom. A total of 41 (21%) cases were omitted entirely by the translation (Table 3).
Table 3
Used translation techniques
Translation technique No. cases % of total
Translation using adverb 57 29 %
Translation using adjective 15 8 %
Translation using noun 6 3 %
Translation using verb 35 18 %
Translation using onomatopoeia 8 4 %
Translation using combination of words/set phrase 24 12 %
Translation using idiom 5 3 %
Paraphrase 9 5 %
Omission 41 21 %
Total 200 100 %
As Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words are often used to give nuance and depth to verbs, it is not surprising that translation using verbs was the second most common technique employed. Of the 36 translations using verbs, a total of 25 use an
14 25 onomatopoeic and mimetic verbs also make up just over half of all onomatopoeic or mimetic expressions used in the translation, which total at 49 cases out of the 159 translations (31% of all translations, excluding omissions).
6. Analysis
This chapter introduces each translation method observed in the data with relevant examples and an analysis of the translation. Examples are first presented in the original Japanese using Japanese orthography. This is then followed by the corresponding sentence from the Finnish translation, as well as my own English translations based on said Finnish translations. The onomatopoeic or mimetic words in the Japanese and their corresponding translations in Finnish and English are presented in a bold font, no other alterations have been made to the original texts.
6.1. Translation using an adverb
As the majority of the onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions in the source text are used as adverbs modifying verbs, translating them as equivalent adverbs in the target
language is probably the most straightforward approach a translation can take. Should an equivalent adverb be available in the target language, the resulting translation can often reach an almost word for word translation, at least within the expression.
(1) No. 25
センセイはゆっくりと杯を干し、手酌でふたたび杯を満たした。 Sensei tyhjensi hitaasti sakekuppinsa ja täytti sen itse uudelleen.
Sensei slowly emptied his sake cup and filled it again himself.
Here the translation uses the adverb hitaasti (slowly), derived from the adjective hidas (slow), as the equivalent for the Japanese mimetic word yukkuri, which means to do something in a slow or relaxed manner. The Finnish word does not necessarily contain the nuance of relaxing, but in this case the context of the situation implies a relaxed setting, minimizing any information loss. This kind of “sti”-adverbs are very common in Finnish and they are used to indicate the manner, amount or intensity of an action.
(2) No. 98
センセイは、と見れば、すずしげな様子で、鞄を片手にすいすいとのぼっ てゆく。
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When I peeked to see how Sensei was doing, I saw him trekking swiftly, looking as if he was not feeling hot at all.
In another example of the same type of sti-adverb, the translation here uses the mimetic adverb sutjakasti for the ST adverb suisui(to), which expresses a manner of moving forward in a smooth and swift manner with little or no resistance. The chosen word is probably as close to an ideal equivalent as can be reached in this situation as it retains both the meaning and mimetic component of the original word. Both expressions even share the initial su sound.
6.2. Translation using a verb
Excluding cases of omission, translation by verb is the second most common technique used by the translator, after translation by adverbs. As Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words most commonly appear as verb modifiers, translation by verb is often a very effective technique. This is especially the case when the target language has a rich vocabulary of strong verbs that include a more descriptive meaning of the action performed.
(3) No. 142
「おかあさんが死んじゃうよ」とわあわあ泣くのです。 "Äiti kuolee!" hän vollotti.
“Mom is going to die!” he bawled.
Here the translation uses the sound-symbolic verb vollotti (past tense of vollottaa, to cry in a loud voice), to capture the meanings of both the onomatopoeic/mimetic ST adverb
waawaa (the sound or manner of crying in a loud voice) and the following verb naku (to
cry), a neutral verb with no onomatopoeic or descriptive elements. Finnish has numerous onomatopoeic and mimetic verbs of this type, where the verb itself includes both the action and the manner in which it is done. Translating Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words with this kind of verbs can be very effective and potentially improve the readability of the text by making it more compact without losing meaning.
(4) No. 144
トオルさんとサトルさんは、二人で意味もなくげらげら笑っていた。 Toru ja Satoru nauraa hohottivat syyttä suotta.
Toru and Satoru guffawed with laughter for no reason.
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hohottivat ((they) guffawed), forming a two-verb predicate for the sentence, essentially
functioning as a single unit (verb). As mentioned in the background chapter, the colorative construction is somewhat similar to how onomatopoeic and mimetic words are typically used in Japanese where an onomatopoeic or mimetic word gives a more neutral verb some texture and a more precise meaning. In the colorative construction, the neutral verb tells us the action, and the following onomatopoeic or mimetic verb gives the action added descriptive detail.
6.3. Translation using an adjective
Translation by adjective was used in 15 (8%) cases out of the 200. As Japanese
onomatopoeic and mimetic words are often used to describe the states or qualities of things, using an adjective to translate them can be an effective technique. The relatively low number of cases using adjectives can partly be explained by the fact the many Finnish adverbs are directly derived from adjectives.
(5) No. 97
空気はひんやりしているのに、汗が吹き出した。 Aloin hikoilla, vaikka ilma oli viileä.
I started sweating, even though the air was chilly.
In this example the translator uses the adjective viileä (cool, chilly) together with the auxiliary verb oli (‘was’, the past form of olla) to translate the ST mimetic word which is in its verbal form hinyari shite iru.
(6) No. 116
かわりに、ルルルルル、という高い声が聞こえてくる。 Sen sijaan kuului korkea, luritteleva linnun ääni.
Instead, a bird’s high chirping voice could be heard.
17 identically to either Finnish sound. Fast repetitions of either /l/ or /r/ in Finnish (such as in rurururu or lulululu) can also sound similar to the Japanese /r/.
6.4. Translation using a noun
Translation by using a noun was a technique employed in only 6 cases out of the 200 and even then, 5 cases out of the 6 use nouns that have in fact been derived from
onomatopoeic or mimetic verbs. (7) No. 171
しゃくしゃくと嚙む音の合間に、涙が流しのステンレスにぽたりと垂れる 音がした。
Kyyneleet ropsahtelivat lavuaarin terästä vasten omenan rouskutuksen lomassa.
Tears pattered against the steel of the sink amid the crunching of the apple. Shakushaku is an onomatopoeic and mimetic word both describing the manner and the
crunchy sound of biting into something crispy. It appears here as part of a noun phrase, which the translation handles very economically by translating the whole phrase as one onomatopoeic and mimetic noun: rouskutuksen. This noun is the genitive form of the word rouskutus, which both describes a crunchy or crispy sound, and is the action noun for biting or eating something crispy, derived from the onomatopoeic and mimetic verb
rouskuttaa.
This seemingly almost perfect translation choice shows how effective translation by noun can be, and how economical Finnish can be with its numerous derivational suffixes. However, as most Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words are typically used as adverbs or verbs, translation using a word from either of those two classes is likely more effective in most cases. Especially considering that out of the 6 cases of translation by noun, 5 are in fact using a noun derived from a verb in the first place. Nevertheless, in these particular cases, translation by noun rather than verb (given that both are valid options) may be more justified, as in all 6 cases the ST onomatopoeic and mimetic words appear as parts of noun phrases.
6.5. Translation using onomatopoeia
All eight cases that are translated by using onomatopoeia as a sound effect are limited to cases where the original use has been the same.
(8) No. 112
タララララ、が近いところから聞こえてくる。 Ra-ta-ta-ta kuului ihan läheltä.
18 In fact, all eight cases are essentially more of a modified transcription of the original sound onomatopoeia, rather than translation as it is usually understood. In the case shown above, the translation has slightly modified the sounds to better suit the phonetic system of Finnish. In this case by reversing the consonant sounds from tararara to
ra-ta-ta-ta. The translation also adds dashes to add rhythm to the sounds. Half of the cases are
repetitions of this same sound and in the other half two cases have undergone similar small modification, while the last two are transcribed directly as is.
As this type of expression directly imitates a sound, it is often likely that a direct equivalent cannot be found, especially in cases where the source of the sound is not specified. If the translator knows exactly what is making the sound, they can attempt to see what type of onomatopoeic expressions are commonly used for it in the target language. In cases where the sound source is unknown or ambiguous, leaving the sound as it is may be the best choice, but as with the example above, it may be necessary to slightly alter the expression to better suit the sound system of the target language. While the translator may not know the source of the sound when doing these modifications, it is still important to understand and be aware of the sound symbolic (and acoustic) qualities of the original expression and what they imply (i.e. is the sound high/low, fast/slow, repeating or not etc.). These elements should then be taken into consideration when performing necessary modifications in transcribing the expression.
6.6. Translation using idioms
Sometimes an idiom may be a suitable choice to translate an onomatopoeic and mimetic expression, as an idiom may include descriptive elements that give the translation a similar feel as the original expression.
(9) No. 174
また涙がじんわりと出た。
Jälleen kyyneleet pulpahtivat pintaan.
Once again, the tears welled up to the surface.
19 (10) No. 182
センセイに撫でられながら、わたしはゆっくりとお酒をすすった。 Siemailin kaikessa rauhassa sakea samalla kun Sensei silitteli hiuksiani.
I sipped the sake in peace, as Sensei caressed my hair.
This sentence is another occurrence of the mimetic word yukkuri introduced in example (1). The same translation could easily be used here as well, but the translator has instead chosen to use the idiomatic expression kaikessa rauhassa (lit. “in all the peace”) to emphasize the emotive side of the ST expression. As explained in example (1), the word
hitaasti primarily only expresses the speed at which the action is done and alone does
not imply anything more, though naturally the context of the scene would imply a relaxed setting here as well even if hitaasti was used. However, the translator’s choice to translate the same word with a different expression, in this case kaikessa rauhassa, puts more emphasis on the mental state of the subject as well as the speed of their actions.
6.7. Translation using a combination of words or a set phrase
Using a combination of words may be a necessary translation technique in cases such as when the ST onomatopoeic or mimetic expression includes multiple nuances that are hard to express with a single word in the TL. They may also be used for further emphasis of some quality, which may be useful as a stylistic tool for compensating the loss of sound symbolism in the translation. Finally, sometimes the nuance of the ST expression is simply best captured by an established set phrase in the TL.
(11) No. 88
どこまでも、サトルさんにそっくりである。 Mies oli tismalleen samannäköinen kuin Satoru[...].
The man looked exactly the same as Satoru[…].
The Japanese mimetic word sokkuri carries the meaning of someone or something appearing exceedingly similar to something or someone else. The translation here uses the combination of the adverb tismalleen (exactly) and the adjective samannäköinen (alike) to capture the meaning of the ST word. While the translation could have simply used the word samannäköinen to indicate likeness, the very high degree of the likeness would be lost.
6.8. Translation by paraphrasing
20 expressions may sound weird in the target language, even if they are grammatically possible and correct.
(12) No. 73
どうしてこんなところを歩いているのか、さっぱりわからない。 Miten ihmeessä olin päätynyt tänne?
How in the world had I ended up here?
Sappari is a mimetic word that with a negative verb carries the meaning “not at all”, thus
in this case, together with the verb wakaru (‘to understand’), the meaning becomes “(I) did not understand at all”. While this type of more literal translation would have
certainly been possible in Finnish as well, the translation instead opts for a paraphrasing of the expression by turning it into an internal question the speaker makes to themselves in the scene. The emphasis sappari provides to the sentence is preserved in the adverb
ihmeessä, which is typically used in Finnish questions as an emphasizer word (similar to
how the English expression “in the world” is used).
6.9. Omission
Omission is often regarded to be the final drastic option a translator should use, when all other tools have been exhausted. Out of the 200 cases, 41 (21%) omitted translating the onomatopoeic or mimetic expression altogether. The total percentage is in a similar range to what studies with other language pairs have discovered so far (Flyxe 2002; Inose 2008). The following are a selection of examples where various reasons for omitting the onomatopoeic or mimetic can be speculated.
(13) No. 94
「そ、そうですね」わたしが答えると、前からトオルさんがそっくりの声 で、「ゆっくりのぼれよな、ゆっくり」と言った。
"Ni-niinhän se on", minä vastasin, ja Tōru totesi edestä tismalleen samanlaisella äänellä kuin Satoru: "Noustaan hitaasti."
”T-that’s right”, I replied, and in front of me Toru remarked with a voice identical to Satoru’s: “Let’s climb slowly.”
21 (14) No. 64
秋の蕭々とした風ではない。冬の荒々しい寒さを呼ぶ、そんな風の日だっ た。
Sinä päivänä ei enää puhaltanut lauhkea syystuuli, vaan talven raakaa kylmyyttä enteilevä viima.
That day the wind wasn’t a mild autumn wind anymore, instead it was a cold wind foreboding the harsh cold of winter.
In this peculiar case, the translation has omitted the ST mimetic word shoushou
(expressing dreariness, loneliness) and has replaced it with an entirely different term to describe the quality of the wind. The omission is potentially due there not really existing expressions that combine the quality of loneliness to the phenomenon of wind, though arguably in a poetic sense it should be possible even if not common. The word used in the translation to describe the wind, lauhkea, simply means ‘mild’ or ‘temperate’, giving off a quite different impression. Arguably the translation does however preserve the comparative aspect of the original sentence, where the quiet loneliness of the autumn wind is contrasted with the almost violent coldness of the wind on that day. In the translation the focus is absent for the other qualities of the wind, but the contrast in temperature is present, perhaps even emphasized somewhat.
(15) No. 173
ゆったりとした、これも何年か着ている赤いセーターの下は、茶色いウー ルのパンツにした。
Punaisen, vuodesta toiseen käyttämäni paidan pariksi puin ruskeat villakangashousut.
I put on brown woollen trousers to go with the red shirt that I had worn year after year.
Here the translation omits the mimetic word yuttari which expresses looseness,
comfortableness. As plenty of suitable translations exist, there seems to be no apparent reason for the omission. The end result is a description that is clearly not as detailed an image as it would otherwise be.
7. Discussion
According to the gathered data, the great majority of the translations of onomatopoeic or mimetic words favour the use of either adverbs or verbs in the translation.
22 words or a set phrase are used, an adverb or a verb is present in 19 of the 24 cases. In total, just over half of all cases, 56%, use an adverb or a verb as part of the translation. The fact that Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words are typically adverbs could explain why in most of the cases the translation opts to use adverbs or verbs, as translating an adverb with an adverb is likely the most straightforward approach, followed by translation by verb since adverbs modify verbs. Despite its similarity to how Japanese uses onomatopoeic and mimetic words, the colorative construction was used sparingly in only 3 cases. However, as Sivula (1990) notes, the colorative construction in general is used quite sparingly. Furthermore, as both verbs in the colorative construction can also function alone it may be more straightforward to simply use the onomatopoeic or mimetic verb alone.
Other researchers have found translations using adverbs to be fairly common with other language pairs as well. In Inose’s (2008) study on translating onomatopoeic and mimetic words into Spanish and English, she found adverbs were used in 21% and 16.3% of the cases respectively, while Flyxe’s (2002) study on translation into Swedish found that 19.7% of the cases used an adverb. Although not a unique feature to Finnish, one possible reason for why the translation used adverbs more often could be the relative ease at which Finnish allows many of its words, most commonly adjectives, to be easily derived into adverbs, as can be seen in examples (1) and (2) in the analysis section. While only 8% of the cases in the current study translate onomatopoeic or mimetic words with adjectives, both of the studies mentioned above found translations using adjectives to be more common. According to Inose 18% of the cases in Spanish and 15.3% cases in English used adjectives, while Flyxe’s study found a grand total of 36.7% using adjectives.
Continuing with comparisons to research on other language pairs, the rate of omitted cases found in the current study (21%) is similar to what both Inose (2008) and
Minashima (2003) found. In Inose’s study, both the Spanish and the English translations omitted 19.3% of the onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions from the translation, while Minashima’s study found 16.3% of the expressions omitted. The similar rate of omissions is somewhat surprising, considering that Finnish is known to have large vocabulary of onomatopoeic and mimetic words, and thus could potentially be expected to be more straightforward to translate into. Surprisingly Flyxe’s (2002) study only found 6.7% of the cases omitted, despite the fact that he points out multiple times that the sound-symbolic system of Swedish is quite limited when compared to Japanese.
23 Of the 200 cases examined, a total of 50 (25%) use an onomatopoeic or mimetic word in the translation. In 6 cases the dictionaries and literature used did not provide a clear answer on whether or not the word in question was onomatopoeic or mimetic. The majority of the words are verbs, with 23 cases from the category of translations using verbs being onomatopoeic or mimetic.
The total number of cases using onomatopoeic or mimetic words in the translation is similar to that found in a study on English translations of Kenji Miyazawa’s novels by Kubo (1997 as cited in Flyxe, 2002), which found that 22% of the Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words appearing in the novels were translated with onomatopoeic or mimetic words. Sato (2017) also examined English translations of Kenji Miyazawa’s work, and found that across seven different translations of Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru, 15.6% of the translations of onomatopoeic or mimetic words maintained the sound symbolic aspect in the target text.
Even though Finnish has a large vocabulary of onomatopoeic and mimetic words, the translation did not seem to use them significantly more than what was observed in the studies examining translation into English. As only a single work by a single translator was examined, it is possible this is simply due to the translator’s personal style of writing. It is possible they did not give the sound symbolic elements of the words any deeper consideration and rather focused on expressing the meaning alone. Editorial direction can also have an effect on how often onomatopoeic or mimetic words appear in a translation. Naturally some onomatopoeic or mimetic words in one language may simply not have any onomatopoeic or mimetic counterparts in another, forcing the translation to use other means that lack a sound symbolic element to express the nuance of the word. In some cases, the nuances of a sound symbolic word may be deemed superfluous and subsequently the entire word is discarded in the translation if the additional nuance is not considered important to getting the meaning across. Further studies with a wider selection of data sources, and other language pairs are needed to be able to say
something more conclusive on the matter.
8. Conclusion
24 which may explain why their usage was found to be somewhat higher than that found in other similar studies on translation of Japanese onomatopoeic and mimetic words into other languages. As Finnish is rich in onomatopoeic and mimetic verbs, it comes as no surprise that they were also employed relatively often in the translation. Translation by verb was the second most common translation technique (excluding omissions) with 23 of the 35 cases of translation by verb using an onomatopoeic or mimetic verb.
The aforementioned omissions actually comprised the second largest group of cases, which I consider surprising considering the large onomatopoeic and mimetic vocabulary available in Finnish. The total number of omissions (21%) was however similar to what other studies have found. Particularly perplexing were cases where no apparent reason for the omission could be seen, in contrast to cases where it was obviously made for, for example, stylistic reasons.
Out of all the cases, 25% used an onomatopoeic or mimetic word in the translation. The majority of these were verbs, which is not surprising as Finnish onomatopoeic and mimetic words are perhaps most commonly verbs (Leskinen, 1998, as cited in Mikone, 2002). This however tempts the question, why didn’t more cases use onomatopoeic or mimetic words? Some of it may be because of a mismatch in the onomatopoeic and mimetic vocabularies between Japanese and Finnish; some words that are sound-symbolic in one language simply are not in the other. It may also be, that despite Finnish having a lot of onomatopoeic or mimetic words, their overuse might be jarring for a reader and thus the translation opts to use them less often than might be possible. A study on the respective frequencies of appearance of onomatopoeic or mimetic words in Japanese and Finnish literature could shed light on this. It would also be interesting to examine the usage of onomatopoeic or mimetic words in a translation, that originally were not onomatopoeic or mimetic in the source text.
As the current study examines only one translation by one translator (and by extension author), the results may not indicate any significant patterns in translating onomatopoeic and mimetic words from Japanese to Finnish. Further studies with larger samples, preferably from multiple authors and translators, will be needed for more definitive results.
25 used as a tool to enable more in-depth studies of the variety the present study
represents.
26
References
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29
Appendix
Cases of onomatopoeic and mimetic expressions collected from the novel “Sensei no kaban” and their equivalents in the Finnish translation “Sensein salkku”:
Kawakami, H. (2004). Sensei no kaban. Bungei Shunju.
Kawakami, H. (2017). Sensein salkku (R. Porrasmaa, Trans.). Kustantamo S&S. (Original work published 2004) Includes the first 200 onomatopoeic and mimetic words/expression in order of appearance in the Japanese original text. Case
# ST Page
No. ST O/M Expression ST Context ST Type
TT Page
No. TT Exp TT Context Translation technique
O/M TT Exp 1 9 ちょくちょく 数年前に駅前の一杯飲み 屋で隣あわせて以来、ち ょくちょく往来するよう になった。 Adverb 9 satunnaisesti
Joitakin vuosia sitten kuitenkin kohtasimme aseman lähellä olevassa baarissa, ja siitä lähtien tapailimme satunnaisesti. Translation using adverb No 2 10 しずしず（と） 「キミは女のくせに一人 でこういう店に来るんで すね」センセイはさらし くじらの最後の一片にし ずしずと酢味噌をから め、箸で口に持っていき ながら言った。 Adverb 10 sievästi
"Käyt tälläisessa paikassa, vaikka olet nainen", opettaja vitsaili samalla kun höysti sievästi viimeisen valaspalasen etikka-misolla. Translation using adverb No 3 12 もやもや（と） 塵ひとつないような部屋 かとおもっていたが、隅 のくらがりのあたりに、 もやもやと物が置いてあ る。 Adverb 12 epämääräistä
Sinne tänne nurkkiin oli kuitenkin kasautunut epämääräistä tavaraa.
Translation using
30 4 13 しん（と） 玄関につづく古いソファ のあるじゅうたん敷きの 部屋は、しんとして何の 気配もなかったが、次の 八畳間には本やら原稿用 紙やら新聞やらが散らば
っていた。 Adverb 12 täysin hiljaista
Suoraan eteisestä avautuvassa huoneessa oli vanha sohva ja matto lattialla, täysin hiljaista ja autiota, mutta toisessa
kahdeksan tatamin kokoisessa huoneessa lojui kirjoja ja kirjoituspaperiarkkeja ja sanomalehtiä hujan hajan levällään. Translation using combination of words/set phrase No 5 13 なみなみ（と） ちゃぶ台を広げ、部屋の 隅に置いてある物の間か ら一升瓶をひっぱり出 し、大きさの違う茶碗に センセイは酒をなみなみ とついだ。 Adverb 13 piripintaan
Sensei nosti esiin matalan pöydän, veti huoneen nurkkaan jätettyjen tavaroiden joukosta esiin vajaan parin litran vetoisen pullon ja kaatoi kaksi keskenään erikokoista teekulhoa piripintaan sakea. Translation using adverb Unkn own 6 13 うすぼんやり （と） ガラス戸越しに、木々の 枝がうすぼんやりと浮か んで見えた。 Adverb 13 häämötti
Lasioven toisella puolella
häämötti puiden oksia. Translation using verb No
7 14 ぴりぴり（と）
ぴりぴりとした辛味が、 なるほど酒によく合っ
た。 Adverb 14 pieni polttelevuus
Riisikeksien pieni polttelevuus tosiaan sopi hyvin saken kylkeen.
Translation using combination of words/set phrase No 8 14 ひょい（と） 今日の新聞ではない、散 らばっていた中からひょ いと取ったものだろう。 Adverb 14 -
Lehti ei ollut sen päivän, hän oli ilmeisesti poiminut sen nurkassa
lojuneiden seasta. Omission -
9 15 そっ（と）
「これ、これですよ」セ ンセイは目を細め、そっ
と畳に陶器を並べた。 Adverb 15 varovasti
"Tässähän ne ovat", Sensei sanoi silmiään siristellen ja asetti astiat varovasti riviin tatamille.
Translation using adverb No 10 15 じっ（と） どこかで見たことのある ような、と思いながら、 じっと見た。 Adverb 15 Tuijotin
Tuijotin astioita pohtien, että olin
31
11 17 せっせ（と）
せっせと自分のために働 いてくれた電池があわれ
で捨てられない。 Adverb 17 Tunnollisesti
Tunnollisesti palvelleita paristoja ei raaski heittää pois.
Translation using adverb No 12 17 くっきり（と） 月は朧の中から抜け出 て、くっきりと輝いてい る。 Adverb 17 kirkkaasti
Kuu oli tosiaan tullut esiin pilviharsojen takaa ja loisti kirkkaasti. Translation using adverb Unkn own 13 18 がさごそ 一升瓶の置いてあったあ たりをがさごそかきまわ して茶筒を取り出した。 Adverb 18 - Hän penkoi tavarakasaa sakepullon tienoilta ja veti esiin
teepurkin. Omission - 14 19 そっ（と） テスター？ と問い返す わたしの手からセンセイ は黒い箱をそっと受け取 り、物の間をがさごそか きまわした。 Adverb 18 -
Yleismittari? Sensei otti mustan laatikon kädestäni ja penkoi
tavaraläjää. Omission - 15 19 がさごそ テスター？ と問い返す わたしの手からセンセイ は黒い箱をそっと受け取 り、物の間をがさごそか きまわした。 Adverb 18 -
Yleismittari? Sensei otti mustan laatikon kädestäni ja penkoi
tavaraläjää. Omission -
16 19 のんびり
「そのうちに全部死に絶 えるけれどねえ」のんび
りした、遠い声である。 Verb 19 raukea
"Kaikki ne kuitenkin kuolevat ennen pitkää." Hänen äänensä oli raukea, poissaoleva. Translation using adjective Unkn own 17 20 ちびちび（と） センセイはちびちびとす すっている。 Adverb 20 siemaili vähän kerrassaan
Sensei siemaili sakea vähän kerrassaan. Translation using combination of words/set phrase No 18 20 こうこう（と） 月がこうこうと輝いてい
る。 Adverb 20 kirkkaasti Kuu loisti kirkkaasti.
Translation using adverb Unkn own 19 20 ろうろう（と） ろうろうとした声であ る。 Adverb 20 soinnukkaalla
Sensei lausui äkkiä soinnukkaalla äänellä. Translation using adjective No 20 20 ちゃん（と） 「ツキコさんあなた国語 の授業ちゃんと聞いてな Adverb 20 kunnolla
"Sinä et ole kuunnellut kunnolla äidinkielen tunnilla."
Translation using
32 かったですね」と言っ た。 21 21 ぼんやり（と） わたしはぼんやりと大小 の電池を眺めた。 Adverb 21 mietteisiini vaipuneena
Minä katselin isoja ja pieniä paristoja mietteisiini vaipuneena.
Translation using combination of words/set phrase No 22 21 しん（と） 電池は、淡い光のもとで しんと静まっていた。 Adverb 21 hiljaa
Ne lepäsivät hiljaa himmeässä valossa. Translation using adverb No 23 23 ゆっくり（と） 「二十八日ですか」答え ながら、わたしは自分の 手帳をゆっくりとめくっ たが、なに、予定など最 初からない。 Adverb 23 hitaasti "Kahdeskymmeneskahdeksasko?" vastasin ja lehteilin hitaasti omaa kalenteriani, vaikka eihän minulla ollut tiedossa mitään menoja.
Translation using adverb No 24 24 ちびちび（と） この薄暗い飲み屋で、今 の季節ならば冷や奴、少 し前の季節ならば湯豆腐 を箸でくずしながら、ち びちびと酒など飲みなが ら隣合う、というのがい つものセンセイとわたし の会いかたである。 Adverb 24 siemaillen
Meillä oli tapana nähdä hämärässä baarissa, istua rinnakkain sakea siemaillen ja poimia puikoilla tofua, joka tarjoiltiin näihin aikoihin kylmänä, koleana vuodenaikana taas
keitettynä. Translation using verb No
25 24 ゆっくり（と）
センセイはゆっくりと杯 を干し、手酌でふたたび
杯を満たした。 Adverb 24 hitaasti
Sensei tyhjensi hitaasti sakekuppinsa ja täytti sen itse uudelleen. Translation using adverb No 26 24 とくとく（と） 一合徳利をほんのちょっ と傾け、とくとくと音を たててつぐ。 Adverb 24 - -
(The entire sentence has been
omitted) Omission - 27 25 しっかり 以来、杯は左手にしっか り持ち徳利は右手で杯ぎ りぎりまで近づけてつぐ という無粋な手酌に徹し ている。 Adverb 24 tiukasti
Siitä eteenpäin jatkoin tyylitöntä tarjoilutapaani: pidin tiukasti kupista kiinni vasemmalla kädellä ja vein oikealla tokkurin miltei kiinni kuppiin.
Translation using
33 28 25 ぎりぎり 以来、杯は左手にしっか り持ち徳利は右手で杯ぎ りぎりまで近づけてつぐ という無粋な手酌に徹し ている。 Noun 24 miltei
Siitä eteenpäin jatkoin tyylitöntä tarjoilutapaani: pidin tiukasti kupista kiinni vasemmalla kädellä ja vein oikealla tokkurin miltei kiinni kuppiin. Translation using adverb No 29 25 まじまじ（と） 驚いて同僚をまじまじと 眺めた。 Adverb 25 Tuijotin Tuijotin työkaveriani
hämmästyneenä. Translation using verb Yes
30 25 ぐいぐい こりゃいかん、と、ぐい ぐい押しつけられてくる 同僚の顔を両手ではっし と受け止め、押しやっ た。 Adverb 25 -
Hitto sentään. Pysäytin kasvojani vasten työntyvän naaman äkkiä molemmin käsin ja työnsin
suukottelijan pois luotani. Omission -
31 25 はっし（と） こりゃいかん、と、ぐい ぐい押しつけられてくる 同僚の顔を両手ではっし と受け止め、押しやっ た。 Adverb 25 äkkiä
Hitto sentään. Pysäytin kasvojani vasten työntyvän naaman äkkiä molemmin käsin ja työnsin suukottelijan pois luotani.
Translation using
adverb No
32 25 ぐっ（と）
吹き出しそうになるのを
ぐっとこらえた。 Adverb 25 Pinnistelin
Pinnistelin etten olisi
purskahtanut nauruun. Translation using verb No
33 25 ぽかん（と）
口をぽかんと開けている 同僚をくらがりに置き、 さっと走って地下鉄の入
り口を下った。 Adverb 25 -
Jätin kollegan suu auki pimeään, pinkaisin metron sisäänkäynnille
ja laskeuduin alas. Omission -
34 25 さっ（と）
口をぽかんと開けている 同僚をくらがりに置き、 さっと走って地下鉄の入
り口を下った。 Adverb 25 pinkaisin
Jätin kollegan suu auki pimeään, pinkaisin metron sisäänkäynnille
ja laskeuduin alas. Translation using verb No
35 26 くすくす（と）
鏡の中の、少し髪を乱し た自分の顔を見ながら、
くすくすと笑った。 Adverb 25 (nauraa) kihersin
Katsoin peilistä pörröttyneen tukan kehystämiä kasvojani ja
34 36 27 ざわざわ 「あんなに欅がざわざわ してますな」センセイは 言って、バス停の横手に ある数本の欅を眺め上げ た。 Verb 26 havisevat
"Kylläpä selkovat havisevat", Sensei sanoi ja kohotti katseensa bussipysäkin vieressä kohoaviin
idänselkoviin. Translation using verb Yes
37 29 ぱらぱら（と）
道沿いにぱらぱらと露店
があらわれはじめた。 Adverb 28 siellä täällä
Siellä täällä tien molemmin puolin kohosi myyntikojuja.
Translation using combination of words/set phrase No 38 29 ぎっしり そのうちに、道の両側を 露店がぎっしり埋めるよ うになっていた。 Adverb 28 -
Eteenpäin kulkiessamme tien
kumpikin puoli täyttyi kojuista. Omission -
39 29 すっかり 「ここいらはね、四十年 前の台風の大水のとき に、すっかり水にやられ てね」 Adverb 29 kokonaan (veden valtaan)
"Neljäkymmentä vuotta sitten nämä tienoot joutuivat kokonaan veden valtaan ison taifuun iskiessä." Translation using adverb No 40 29 しん（と） 表の道には人があふれて いるのに、一歩入ったこ こはしんと静まりかえっ ている。 Adverb 29 -
Editse kulkevalla tiellä oli väkeä tungokseksi asti, mutta muutaman askelen päässä
puistossa oli aivan hiljaista. Omission -
41 30 じっくり（と）
二人で頭を並べ、二つの 弁当をじっくりと眺め
た。 Adverb 29 Tarkastelimme
Tarkastelimme
eväslaatikoitamme päät yhdessä. Translation using verb No
42 30 ゆっくり（と）
玄米茶をゆっくりと飲ん
だ。 Adverb 29 hitaasti Join hitaasti genmaichaa.
Translation using
adverb No
43 31 どんどん
露店はどんどん密になっ
てくる。 Adverb 31 -
Niitä nökötti tien varrella yhä
tiuhemmin. Omission -
44 31 ぎっしり（と）
軒をぎっしりとつらね、 飛び込みの口上を競いあ
っている。 Adverb 31 tiukasti
Katosten reunat olivat tiukasti kiinni toisissaan, myyjät kilpailivat kutsuhuudoillaan. Translation using adverb No 45 33 じっ（と） センセイは曲が終わるま で、じっと聞いていた。 Adverb 32 tarkkaavaisesti
Sensei kuunteli tarkkaavaisesti kappaleen loppuun saakka.
Translation using
