ABSTRACT
Sound is a bodily experience on two accounts. First, it is something actively produced and emitted by the body. Second, it is something passively received by the body. Japanese is rich in sound symbolism or linguistic iconicity, which compensates for this language's scarcity of adverbs. Japanese sound symbolism, unlike in English, is not regarded as children's talk. Furthermore, Japanese sound symbolism represents not only sounds, but also much non-auditory experience. Expressions of sound symbolism can be very specific and Japanese-English onomatopoeia and mimesis dictionaries can be quite extensive. Symbols often possess ideational and sensory aspects. Words that refer to non-auditory phenomena be called sound symbolism because of two reasons. First, consider repetition. Obviously, certain sounds occur once and others reoccur. But it is notable how many non-auditory experiences are framed as onomatopoeia and represented as auditory experiences in Japanese that repeat. Second, and more importantly, many onomatopoeia expressing non-auditory phenomena utilize the quotative particle "to" followed by an appropriate verb.
