# ばらばら
## Japanese
### Etymology

Ultimate derivation unclear. Appears from the late 1500s.
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. 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]) (adverb)
* (Tokyo) ばらばら [bàrábárá] (Heiban – [0]) (adjective)
* IPA: [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))
* (onomatopoeia) scattered (into separate parts), in disarray, messy, messed up

#### Inflection

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)
* (onomatopoeia) continuously
* all over, messily, in a messed up manner
* 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 2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN