ぱらぱら
See also: ハラハラ
Japanese
Etymology
Likely derived from Old Japanese ばら (bara, “scattered”). Cognate with ばらばら (barabara), バラバラ (barabara, “scattered, loose, in disarray, messy”); parapara implies something softer or lighter than barabara.
Pronunciation
- (adverb):
- (Tokyo) ぱらぱら [páꜜràpàrà] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
- IPA(key): [pa̠ɾa̠pa̠ɾa̠]
- (adjective):
- (Tokyo) ぱらぱら [pàrápárá] (Heiban – [0])[1]
- IPA(key): [pa̠ɾa̠pa̠ɾa̠]
Adverb
ぱらぱら or パラパラ • (parapara)
- (onomatopoeia): evoking the sound made by a rain or leaves falling: sprinkling, clattering
- 雨がパラパラと降っている。
- Ame ga parapara to futteiru.
- There's a bit of rain. / It is sprinkling.
- 雨がパラパラと降っている。
- (onomatopoeia): evoking the sound made by many pages turning quickly: riffling
- パラパラとページをめくりながら独り言していた。
- Parapara to pēji o mekurinagara hitorigoto shiteita.
- He muttered to himself as he flipped / riffled through the pages.
- パラパラとページをめくりながら独り言していた。
Adjective
ぱらぱら or パラパラ • (parapara) -na (adnominal ぱらぱらな (parapara na), adverbial ぱらぱらに (parapara ni))
- (onomatopoeia): evoking the image of disordered hair
Related terms
- ばらばら (barabara)
Noun
ぱらぱら or パラパラ • (parapara)
- パラパラ: parapara, a Japanese type of dance from the 1980s (derived in onomatopoeic imitation of the synthpop riffs common in contemporary club music)
Descendants
- → English: parapara
References
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN