When you feel uneasy, where do you sense it in your body? Perhaps you feel “butterflies” deep in your belly. Maybe you become lightheaded. You could even get cold feet!

Two Japanese expressions about uneasiness make use of a kanji we’ve seen for two weeks running:

騒 (SŌ, sawa(gu): clamor, noise, disturbance; to make a fuss)

Both expressions locate uneasiness in the chest:

心騒ぎ (kokoro sawagi: uneasiness)     heart + disturbance

One could see this expression as referring to a disturbance in the heart. Or given the many meanings of 騒, one could interpret 心騒ぎ as noise in the heart! Not an ear-splitting noise, of course. Rather, it might be like the irritating static when a radio station isn’t coming in clearly.

胸騒ぎ (munasawagi: uneasiness)     chest + disturbance

The chest and the heart go hand in hand, you might say. So 胸騒ぎ essentially has the same meaning and breakdown as 心騒ぎ. In fact, the two breakdowns might be identical, in that 胸 can mean “heart” or “feelings,” just as 心 can.

A Guide to the Mind and Body …

Sample Sentence with 胸騒ぎ …

The Thing About Noise

For more unsettled feelings, we can look to the following compound:

物騒 (bussō: unsettled, troubled, dangerous)
     thing + disturbance

Sample Sentence with 物騒 …

In some words, 騒 seems to mean both “disturbance” and “noise.” Take 物騒 and add okurigana:

物騒がしい (monosawagashii: noisy, boisterous; turbulent)
     thing + noise

Now the yomi has completely changed (from on-on to kun-kun), and there’s more of an emphasis on noise. Still, the last meaning, “turbulent,” indicates a feeling of inquietude.

Thoughts on Inquietude …

These two kanji, 物 and 騒, combine in two more words:

物議騒然 (butsugisōzen: tumultuous public discussion; noisy public criticism)     thing + to argue + noise + state of being

Here, the net effect is noise.

物情騒然 (butsujōsōzen: prevailing unrest)
     thing + real conditions + disturbance + state of being

And here, the kanji add up to create a sense of disturbance.

Both words contain a two-kanji compound that can stand on its own:

騒然 (sōzen: noisy, tumultuous)
     noise, disturbance + state of being

And here we see both noise and tumult in full bloom.

The 然 of 騒然 …

Pure Noise

If you want to experience 騒 purely as noise (and I know you do!), here’s just the word for you:

騒々しい (sōzōshii: noisy; boisterous)

Sample Sentences with 騒々しい …

After chopping off the okurigana, you can also read 騒々 as zawazawa:

騒々 (zawazawa: noisy; sound of people talking)

This is onomatopoeia. The compound uses kun-yomi, but for some reason the first z has undergone voicing. Another strange thing: 騒々しい (sōzōshii) combines two on-yomi but has okurigana trailing after it. By contrast, the kun-kun combination zawazawa has no okurigana. This breaks most of the assumptions one might have about on- and kun-yomi.

Well, enough of all my noise! Time for your Verbal Logic Quiz. Enjoy!

Verbal Logic Quiz …