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I understand that 擬音語 (ぎおんご) imitate sounds, like どきどき imitates a heartbeat.
So, if these onomatopoeia don't have roots I wouldn't be at all surprised.

But where do 擬態語 (ぎたいご) come from? Do いらいら (to be irritated), きらきら (to
glitter), すっきり (to be refreshed/relieved) have root words?

It was said on [this Japanese.SE
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1206/is-arara-a-word-
or-just-a-vocal-noise) that ぴかぴか came from 光 (ぴかり), is this generally the case
or an exception?
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etymology onomatopoeia
Do 擬態語 (いらいら, きらきら, すっきり, etc.) generally have root words?
I didn't exactly say that ぴかぴか comes from ひかり (originally pronounced
`pikari`), but rather that ひかり itself seems to be 擬態語. That is, `pikari` may
come from `pika` which may have been used to mean 'shining' back in the old
days just as it is today.

I don't have time now to search for the etymology of the specific words you
gave me here, but as far as I can tell, it is hard to find a root word for
most 擬態語, and it seems like many of them are, in fact, sound impressions that
have been subjectively attached to non-auditory phenomena (such as light or
feelings).

### Update:

Curiously enough, it turns out that いらいら might be one of these 擬態語 that
actually originate in a word: いら (written 刺 or 苛) appears in Classical
Japanese in the meaning of a thorn (the same as とげ in modern language,
apparently), and it probably also includes small toxic hairs as those on the
Japanese Nettle (イラクサ). So いらいら obviously comes from the irritated (See the
similarity? That's a nice one too :)) skin you get after being stung by a
thorn or a nettle.

As for きらきら, we'll probably never know. This ideophone is almost as old as you
can get with Japanese: it already appears in 宇津保物語 (Utsubo Monogatari) as part
of the verb きらめく, which maintained the same meaning to this very day.
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