What does “kaminari” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “kaminari” to mean ‘thunder’, ‘lightning’, or both in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word well as it is often used in Japanese movies, video games, manga, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression and pronunciation. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “kaminari” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “kaminari”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “kaminari”.
- kaminari – 雷 (かみなり) : a noun meaning ‘thunder’, ‘lightning’, or ‘thunder and lightning’ in Japanese.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to the noise of lightning or lightning itself. So, this noun can cover the meanings of both English words, “thunder” and “lightning”.
The definition and meanings of “kaminari” are not so difficult, I think. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji character and pronunciation in detail.
Kaminari in kanji
The kanji character of “kaminari” consists of the following two parts:
- 雨 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘rain’ in Japanese.
- 田 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘rice field’ in Japanese.
So, the upper part of “kaminari” means ‘rain’; the lower part means ‘rice field’. The kanji concept of “kaminari” doesn’t seem to be in line with the meanings. The kanji character, however, expresses well the path of lightning. It comes out of rain clouds and reaches to the ground. “Rain clouds” are expressed by the upper part; “the ground” is expressed by the lower part. Apparently, people in the past were very good at expressing new concepts by connecting existing kanji characters.
Origin of the pronunciation
Before the kanji character was applied, however, the pronunciation was already used. Next, let me explain where it originally came from. The pronunciation of “kaminari” consists of the following two parts:
- kami – 神 (かみ) : a noun meaning ‘god’ in Japanese.
- nari – 鳴り (なり) : the noun form of the verb, “naru”, which means ‘to sound’, ‘to ring’, ‘to rumble’, ‘to roar’, or such.
From these two parts, we can understand that “kaminari” means ‘the sound from the gods’. So, people in the past considered thunder as the sound from the gods or perhaps the sound from the place where the gods live. This original concept of the pronunciation is very interesting, I think. At least, it is a good metaphor for thunder.
Then, let me explain how to use “kaminari” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “lightning flash” in Japanese
watashi tachi wa kaminari wo mi ta – 私達は雷を見た (わたしたちはかみなりをみた)
We saw a lightning flash.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- tachi – 達 (たち) : a suffix used after a noun or pronoun to make its plural form. In the example, this is used after “watashi” to make its plural form, “watashi tachi”, which means ‘we’ in Japanese. Learn more about Japanese plural.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “watashi tachi” to make the subject in the sentence.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “kaminari” to make the object in the sentence.
- mi – 見 (み) : one conjugation of the verb, “miru”, which means ‘to see’, ‘to watch’, ‘to look’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. In the example, this is used after “mi” to make its past tense form, “mi ta”.
This is a typical usage of “kaminari”. In this example, it works as the object in the sentence and means a lightning flash.
Example #2: another usage of “kaminari”
kaminari no oto mo kiki mashi ta – 雷の音も聞きました (かみなりのおともききました)
And we heard the thunder.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this is used to join “kaminari” and “oto”. The formed phrase literally means ‘the sound of thunder’ in Japanese. It has been translated as just “the thunder”, though.
- oto – 音 (おと) : a noun meaning ‘sound’ in Japanese.
- mo – も : a binding particle working to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence with adding the meaning of ‘also’, ‘as well’, ‘too’, or such in Japanese. In the example, this works after “kaminari no oto” to make the object in the sentence with adding the meaning of ‘and’.
- kiki – 聞き (きき) : one conjugation of the verb, “kiku”, which means ‘to hear’ or ‘to listen’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- mashi – まし : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb used after a verb to make it polite. In the example, this is used after “kiki” to make it sound polite.
This is another typical usage of “kaminari”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “kaminari no oto”, to literally mean ‘the sound of thunder’ in Japanese. When we want to say “thunder” or “lightning” in Japanese, anyway, this noun is always a good option.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “kaminari” in detail based on its kanji expression and pronunciation. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- kaminari – 雷 (かみなり) : a noun meaning ‘thunder’, ‘lightning’, or ‘thunder and lightning’ in Japanese. The parts of this kanji character literally mean ‘rain’ and ‘rice field’. So, this kanji expresses well the path of lightning. It comes out of rain clouds and reaches the ground. This pronunciation originally came from “kami” and “nari” which mean ‘god’ and ‘sound’ respectively. So, it means ‘the sound from the gods’ or perhaps ‘the sound from the place where the god live’. The pronunciation is a good metaphor for thunder.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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