Japanese Onomatopoeia for Eating and Drinking
オノマトペ in Japanese refers to all onomatopoeic and mimetic words (non-onomatopoeic words). The two main groups are 擬音語 giongo which describes a sound, and 擬態語 gitaigo, which describes a condition or state, an emotion, or feeling. They are useful in expressing subtle nuances and are frequently used in conversation and story-telling (as in manga or anime).
In this video, you’ll learn Japanese onomatopoeia and mimetic words related to eating and drinking.
For practice, fill in the blank with Japanese (hiragana or katakana) of the italicized noun, and check your answers in the video!
どぼどぼ (dobo dobo)
pour excessively
– – – をドボドボかける
pour lots of sauce
もりもり (mori mori)
eat heartily
– – – をモリモリ食べる
eat rice hungrily
ぱくぱく (paku paku)
gobble up
– – – – をぱくぱく食べる
gobble up the octopus balls
ずるずる (zuru zuru)
slurping sound
– – をズルズルすする
slurp the soba
ぽりぽり (pori pori)
nibbling, munching on something that is crunchy
– – – – をぽりぽり食べる
munch on a cucumber
ぺろぺろ (pero pero)
licking motion
– – – – – をペロペロなめる
lick a candy apple
くちゃくちゃ (kucha kucha)
loud chewing sound
– – をくちゃくちゃかむ
chew on gum loudly
ちびちび (chibi chibi)
sip
– – – – – をちびちび飲む
sip on sake
とくとく (toku toku)
the sound of liquid pouring from a narrow mouth
– – – をとくとくと注ぐ
pour beer (from a bottle)
ごくごく (goku goku)
gulp
– – – – をごくごく飲む
gulp down some barley tea
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For more, learn Japanese オノマトペ (onomatope) to describe food here, and learn how to describe food and flavors here.
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