Onomatopoeia

Because /p, b/ are both bilabial stops, they can refer to explosive, crisp, strong, or sudden changes in states. Examples include pa (quickly), pishari (slap a surface or say something highhandedly), pin to kuru (know right away), perapera (speak fluently), pinpin (be very healthy and energetic), pui (be annoyed), putsu (a thin thread or line is cut off with a snap), pokkari (wide open and hollowed out suddenly). The glide consonant /y/ imparts a sense that something is carried out weakly, softly, or slowly. Examples in this group include yoiyoi (old and mentally weak), yoboyobo (old people's wobbly manner of walking), yoreyore (crumpled, said of clothes), yurayura (steam rising, gently wafting up, swaying gently right and left), yukkuri (slowly), yanwari (gently), yochiyochi (describes an infant walking not fully in control).

The Cy sequence (a consonant followed by /y/) appear to give a sense which combines the connotation of the C and the glide /y/. Thus kashakasha describes a machine, for instance, that produces the repetitious, highly punctuated, and light sound (the voiceless velar consonant) caused by quick, smooth movement of the machine (the sibilant). Another example of this type is guchagucha. This describes, for example, the unpleasant sound (the vowel /u/) of walking in a muddy field (the voiced velar consonant), in which heavy, wet mud is squished and squashed by the boots (the cha part). This word can also describe making something neat into a big disorderly, ugly mess, as in messing up paperwork, ending up making a gooey mess in an attempt to make cookies, or failing to reach a business agreement at the last minute when it was all but complete, etc.

Choice of Vowels

In addition to consonants, vowels are endowed with certain attributes as well. The high back vowel /u/ is related to human physiology and psychology and can impart a rather vulgar or unpleasant connotation. Examples include utouto (dozing off to asleep), ukiuki (excited), usuusu (have a faint sense of something), uzuuzu (itching to begin), utsurautsura (dozing, in light sleep), ukkari (unintended, carelessly), uttori (be in a trance-like, ecstatic state), unzari (be very weary), urouro (aimlessly wondering). The back vowel /o/ can denote something negative, of human physiology, or in slow movement, e.g., ozuozu (timidly), odoodo (nervous, upset, and timid), orooro (startled, confused, or upset), otaota (confused, frustrated), bosoboso (speaking haltingly in a low voice). The low vowel /a/ generally describes a slow movement, as in parapara (something granular, small, and light like raindrops falls), sarasara (water moving very lightly in a stream, quickly and without impedance). The mid-vowel /e/ is often seen in words that are vulgar or unsavory, e.g., hebereke (be very drunk and uncontrollable), herahera (smile contemptuously), teratera (something shines in an offensive way, like a dirty, oily face), mesomeso (cry quietly, often out of self-pity). As might be expected, the high front vowel /i/ appears most often in describing something that is small, sharp, or in quick movement. Piripiri (small, sharp pain or tingling), kirikiri (sharp pain occurring repeatedly), kīn (high-pitched, resonating, and metallic sound) are examples. Finally, a doubling of the consonant letter is used to indicate sudden stop, single occurrence, completeness, swiftness. Examples are patto (in one try), karatto (weather clears up completely and quickly), dosatto (something falls with a heavy thud), pichitto (something being joined completely without leaving any gap).