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])
• IPA^(key): [pa̠ɾa̠pa̠ɾa̠]

• (adjective, noun):

• (Tokyo) ぱらぱら [pàrápárá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [pa̠ɾa̠pa̠ɾa̠]

Adverb

ぱらぱら or パラパラ • (parapara) 

1. (onomatopoeia): evoking the sound made by a rain or leaves falling: sprinkling, clattering

   雨(あめ)がパラパラと降(ふ)っている。

   Ame ga parapara to futte iru.

   There's a bit of rain. / It is sprinkling.

2. (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(ひと)り言(ごと)していた。

   Parapara to pēji o mekurinagara hitorigoto shite ita.

   He muttered to himself as he flipped / riffled through the pages.

Adjective

ぱらぱら or パラパラ • (parapara) -na (adnominal ぱらぱらな (parapara na na), adverbial ぱらぱらに (parapara ni ni))

1. (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) 

1. パラパラ: para para, a Japanese type of dance from the 1980s (derived in onomatopoeic imitation of the synthpop riffs common in contemporary club music)

Derived terms

• パラリスト (pararisuto, “para para dancer”, literally “paralist”)

Descendants

• → English: para para, parapara, para-para