What role does と play in this sentence?


What role does と play in the following sentence?

> みなさんは、アフリカの平原で、ライオンがのんびり **と** 寝そべっている姿をテレビや映画などで、見たことがあるでしょう。

In my understanding, のんびり is a noun and 寝そべっている is a verb. So interconnecting
a noun with a verb with と does not make sense here.




> 「ライオンがのんびり+ **と** + [寝]{ね}そべっている」
>
> "the lion is lying sprawled in a carefree manner"

_**「のんびり」 is an adverb, not a noun**_. It means "in a carefree manner",
"leisurely", etc.

The 「と」 here is an _**optional**_ particle. You can say 「のんびり寝そべっている」 without
using a 「と」.

See definition #5 in
[デジタル大辞泉](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%A8-579147#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88).

What does the optional 「と」 do, then? It gives a little more emphasis to the
meaning of the adverb 「のんびり」 and the state of the lion at the moment. The
difference the 「と」 brings about is quite subtle, but subtlety is a big part of
Language and the native speakers' brains will surely pick up the difference.

Other examples:

「しっかり（と）[聞]{き}く」 (to listen carefully)

「ほんのり（と）[甘]{あま}い」 (slightly sweet)

「ピカピカ（と）[輝]{かがや}く」 (to shine brightly)




> 「ライオンがのんびり+ **と** + [寝]{ね}そべっている」
>
> "the lion is lying sprawled in a carefree manner"

_**「のんびり」 is an adverb, not a noun**_. It means "in a carefree manner",
"leisurely", etc.

The 「と」 here is an _**optional**_ particle. You can say 「のんびり寝そべっている」 without
using a 「と」.

See definition #5 in
[デジタル大辞泉](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E3%81%A8-579147#E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.9E.97.20.E7.AC.AC.E4.B8.89.E7.89.88).

What does the optional 「と」 do, then? It gives a little more emphasis to the
meaning of the adverb 「のんびり」 and the state of the lion at the moment. The
difference the 「と」 brings about is quite subtle, but subtlety is a big part of
Language and the native speakers' brains will surely pick up the difference.

Other examples:

「しっかり（と）[聞]{き}く」 (to listen carefully)

「ほんのり（と）[甘]{あま}い」 (slightly sweet)

「ピカピカ（と）[輝]{かがや}く」 (to shine brightly)

