Polysemic Onomatopoetic Words in the Japanese Language

Abstract

The paper discusses polysemic onomatopoetic words in Japanese. Several models of semantic development are identified among 371 words from the Japanese-Russian Dictionary of Onomatopoetic Words, including both giseigo and gitaigo (sound and image mimetic words). The meaning of a polysemic onomatopoetic word generally develops from the concrete to the figurative and abstract: for example, from the description of a sound to a movement associated with it, or from an image or state associated with movement to human feelings and emotions likened to that state. The paper confirms some universal patterns in the semantic development of polysemic words, including metaphorical and metonymic transfers of meaning.