Repeating words

Japanese people use a lot of repeating words.

We usually use “PERA PERA” which is expressed about speaking foreign language fluency. Only “PERA” doesn’t have any meaning but it has a meaning by repeating.

When I am very happy; I am “UKI UKI” or “WAKU WAKU”. When people are staring at something or someone and we want to tell them not to watch, “JIRO JIRO”.

When we are eating, we say “MOGU MOGU” “MUSYA MUSYA” or “GATSU GATSU”. “MOGU MOGU” and “MUSYA MUSYA” expresses that people eat with great relish. “GATSU GATSU” is used when people eat greedily. When we are getting full, we say our stomachs are “PAN PAN” as we’re touching our tummy.

If a person is very attractive and popular with the opposite sex; he/she is “MOTE MOTE”.

If someone is feeling shy or hesitating, we usually tell them not to be “MOJI MOJI”.

There are so many words in Japan that express the situations or feeling by using repeated words. The mode of expression that seems to be the most abstract might concretely be expressible of the situation.