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じ(ーーーー...) seems to be a phenomime, a word which evokes the idea of the state 'staring'.

じっ‐と is an adverb meaning something along the lines of being still, quiet, focused at somebody or something, something like 'stare', in some sense.

Then, it's not far fetched to suspect that these both words could be related, is one a contraction of the other, or, maybe has an adverbial と been added to じ in some way. Is there any connection?

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  • Do you mean jirojiro meaning staring?
    – Ragaroni
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 17:29
  • No, I mean it as I wrote it
    – SevenOclock
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 17:35
  • Hum, well I checked two dictonaries and I don't see ji meaning staring... can you add more context?
    – Ragaroni
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 17:53
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    I have only ever seen it in media, it is basically what I wrote, one character stares at another, often they say "じーーーー" themselves, but this is not necessary. I know that じろじろ means basically the same.
    – SevenOclock
    Commented Sep 10, 2022 at 19:53
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    @Ragaroni Do japanese people actually make jiiii sound when staring like in anime?
    – naruto
    Commented Sep 11, 2022 at 0:31

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Yes I believe they are cognates. It wouldn't be too much to say they are the same word. This (っ)と is a suffix that follows an onomatopoeia and forms an adverb. This と is often optional, but for some short words, と is mandatory when the word is used adverbially.

You can find the same pattern between しんと and しーん, さっと and さっ, がつんと and がつん, しれっと and しれーっ, and so on.

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