A fluorescent light was dying. The light was flickering and making noise, so I said
電気が光っています
The person I was talking to echoed back
〜チカチカしている？
What's the difference?
2 Answers
電気が光っています (literally "the light is shining") would mean the light is turned on and is working normally.
If you want to say the light is flickering, you can say チカチカしている, チカチカと点滅している, 点滅している, 光ったり消えたりしている, 点いたり消えたりを繰り返している, etc.
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I thought I remembered hearing 光っている used for things sparkling, or reflecting light, like water. My Japanese-English dictionary includes "to glitter" as a definition, and one of the translated example sentences contains "flashing": 上部前方で何かが光っている。"Something is flashing up ahead." Is there some additional nuance to 光っている besides just constantly shining?– 完全ハチCommented May 2, 2018 at 13:15
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2@完全ハチ In this case, you've got to contrast 'flickering' with normally emitting light. Things that sparkle or reflect or flash likely don't normally emit light continuously under normal conditions, and so using 光ってる isn't an issue. When you're talking about a light going from constant light to variable light, 光ってる doesn't draw that contrast - it just means 'emitting light' in general, in contrast to no light at all.– SjiveruCommented May 2, 2018 at 16:46
光っています for shining
チカチカ for flickering
光っています is used when light source is shining as normal
チカチカ is used when light source is flickering
Examples:
[電気]{でんき}が[光]{ひか}る : light is shining
[頭]{あたま}が[光]{ひか}る : head is shining
[光]{ひか}る[頭]{あたま} : Shining Head
[目]{め}がチカチカする : my eye are flickering
