ちゃらちゃら

Japanese

Etymology

Onomatopoeia. Found in texts from at least the late 1600s.[1] Compare English jingle jingle, chatter chatter.

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) ちゃ​らちゃら [cháꜜràchàrà] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
  • IPA(key): [t͡ɕa̠ɾa̠t͡ɕa̠ɾa̠]

Adverb

ちゃらちゃら or チャラチャラ • (charachara) 

  1. (onomatopoeia) jinglingly, janglingly
    小(こ)銭(ぜに)がちゃらちゃら落(お)ちた
    kozeni ga charachara ochita
    coins dropped with a jingling sound
  2. (onomatopoeia) chatteringly, talkatively
    Synonyms: ぺらぺら (perapera), ぺちゃくちゃ (pechakucha)
  3. (onomatopoeia, by extension from the idea of jingling coins) showily, frivolously, shallowly, superficially
    いつもちゃらちゃらしてますけどね！
    Itsumo charachara shitemasu kedo ne!
    But (you are, he is, she is, etc.) always showing off!

Derived terms

Verb

ちゃらちゃらする or チャラチャラする • (charachara suru) suru (stem ちゃらちゃらし (charachara suru shi), past ちゃらちゃらした (charachara suru shita))

  1. to jingle, make a metallic sound
  2. to chatter, to talk ceaselessly
    Synonyms: ぺらぺら (perapera), ぺちゃくちゃ (pechakucha)
  3. to show off, to be frivolous or superficial

Usage notes

Sometimes encountered with the adverbial particle と (to) before either する (suru, “to do”) or another verb.

Conjugation
Conjugation of "ちゃらちゃらする" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective") ちゃらちゃらし charachara shi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") ちゃらちゃらし charachara shi
Shūshikei ("terminal") ちゃらちゃらする charachara suru
Rentaikei ("attributive") ちゃらちゃらする charachara suru
Kateikei ("hypothetical") ちゃらちゃらすれ charachara sure
Meireikei ("imperative") ちゃらちゃらせよ¹
ちゃらちゃらしろ²		 charachara seyo¹
charachara shiro²
Key constructions
Passive ちゃらちゃらされる charachara sareru
Causative ちゃらちゃらさせる
ちゃらちゃらさす		 charachara saseru
charachara sasu
Potential ちゃらちゃらできる charachara dekiru
Volitional ちゃらちゃらしよう charachara shiyō
Negative ちゃらちゃらしない charachara shinai
Negative continuative ちゃらちゃらせず charachara sezu
Formal ちゃらちゃらします charachara shimasu
Perfective ちゃらちゃらした charachara shita
Conjunctive ちゃらちゃらして charachara shite
Hypothetical conditional ちゃらちゃらすれば charachara sureba
¹ Written imperative

² Spoken imperative

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