Hasada, Rie (1994). The semantic aspects of onomatopoeia: Focusing on Japanese psychomimes. MA thesis, Australian National University. PDF (open access)
This thesis aims to examine the semantic aspects of Japanese onomatopoeia, which is among the least studied language phenomena in Japanese linguistics. The focus of the thesis is on explicating the meaning of psychomimes, the onomatopoeic words that refer to emotions. Among Japanese onomatopoeia, psychomimes are the hardest for non-native speakers to acquire. This is because their meanings are more abstract and more culturally embedded than other types of onomatopoeic words. The thesis also considers some cultural aspects that are
linked to Japanese onomatopoeic words, since their explication will facilitate a deeper understanding of the use and meaning of those words.
I demonstrate that the complex Japanese-specific meanings involved in selected psychomimes can be clearly shown and made comprehensible to outsiders when they are translated into the universal or near-universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage and represented in
the framework of a “prototype scenario”. I show that the complex and unique semantic concepts of Japanese psychomimes, which are usually described as ‘untranslatable’, are nonetheless translatable on the level of semantic explication with language-independent semantic
metalanguage. The similarities and dissimilarities in labelling and the conceptualization encoded in different psychomimes become apparent with the use of the universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage.
Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners
