ばらばら

See also: はらはら and ぱらぱら

Japanese

Etymology

Ultimate derivation unclear. Appears from the late 1500s.[1]

Probably originally an onomatopoeia, imitative of the sound of rain or other small things falling in a scattered manner.

Related to root verb ばる (baru), from which ばれる (bareru) derives as the regular mediopassive / intransitive, and ばらす (barasu) derives as the regular causative / transitive. Compare similar verb paradigms with root verb 明く (aku), causative / transitive 明かす (akasu), mediopassive / intransitive 明ける (akeru), Old Japanese 出づ (idu) and modern causative / transitive 出す (dasu), mediopassive / intransitive 出る (deru), Old Japanese 生ゆ (hayu) and modern 生やす (hayasu) and 生える (haeru).

The term ばらばら (barabara) actually appears earliest in texts, starting from the late 1500s, followed by ばれる (bareru) in the late 1600s and ばらす (barasu) in the early 1700s.[1] This suggests the possibility that the adjective / adverb came first, with the verbs then deriving from that.

Possibly related to adjective あばら (abara).

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) ばらばら [báꜜràbàrà] (Atamadaka – [1])[2] (adverb)
  • (Tokyo) ばらばら [bàrábárá] (Heiban – [0])[2] (adjective)
  • IPA(key): [ba̠ɾa̠ba̠ɾa̠]

Adjective

ばらばら or バラバラ • (barabara) -na (adnominal ばらばらな (barabara na), adverbial ばらばらに (barabara ni))

  1. (onomatopoeia) scattered (into separate parts), in disarray, messy, messed up

Inflection

Inflection of ばらばら
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) ばらばらだろ バラバラだろ barabara daro
Continuative (連用形) ばらばらで バラバラで barabara de
Terminal (終止形) ばらばらだ バラバラだ barabara da
Attributive (連体形) ばらばらな バラバラな barabara na
Hypothetical (仮定形) ばらばらなら バラバラなら barabara nara
Imperative (命令形) ばらばらであれ バラバラであれ barabara de are
Key constructions
Informal negative ばらばらではない
ばらばらじゃない 		バラバラではない
バラバラじゃない 		barabara de wa nai
barabara ja nai
Informal past ばらばらだった バラバラだった barabara datta
Informal negative past ばらばらではなかった
ばらばらじゃなかった 		バラバラではなかった
バラバラじゃなかった 		barabara de wa nakatta
barabara ja nakatta
Formal ばらばらです バラバラです barabara desu
Formal negative ばらばらではありません
ばらばらじゃありません 		バラバラではありません
バラバラじゃありません 		barabara de wa arimasen
barabara ja arimasen
Formal past ばらばらでした バラバラでした barabara deshita
Formal negative past ばらばらではありませんでした
ばらばらじゃありませんでした 		バラバラではありませんでした
バラバラじゃありませんでした 		barabara de wa arimasen deshita
barabara ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive ばらばらで バラバラで barabara de
Conditional ばらばらなら（ば） バラバラなら（ば） barabara nara (ba)
Provisional ばらばらだったら バラバラだったら barabara dattara
Volitional ばらばらだろう バラバラだろう barabara darō
Adverbial ばらばらに バラバラに barabara ni
Degree ばらばらさ バラバラさ barabarasa

Adverb

ばらばら or バラバラ • (barabara) 

  1. (onomatopoeia) continuously
  2. all over, messily, in a messed up manner
  3. evocative of many things moving about at once

Usage notes

  • Can be used with adverbial particle と (to), or bare without a particle.
    雨(あめ)がばらばらと屋(や)根(ね)を打(う)つ
    ame ga barabara to yane o utsu
    the rain hits the roof continuously / with a "badabada"
    雨(あめ)がバラバラ降(ふ)る
    ame ga barabara furu
    the rain falls all over / continuously
  • May also be spelled optionally in katakana to avoid ambiguity in parsing the start and end of the word in running text.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988), 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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