Kakekotoba
Encyclopedia
A or pivot word is a rhetorical device
used in the Japanese poetic
form waka
. This trope uses the phonetic
reading of a grouping of kanji
(Chinese characters) to suggest several interpretations: first on the literal level (e.g. 松, matsu, meaning "pine tree"), then on subsidiary homophonic
levels (e.g. 待つ, matsu, meaning "to wait"). Thus it is that many waka have pine trees waiting around for something. The presentation of multiple meanings inherent in a single word allows the poet a fuller range of artistic expression with an economical syllable-count. Such brevity is highly valued in Japanese aesthetics, where maximal meaning and reference are sought in a minimal number of syllables. Kakekotoba are generally written in the Japanese phonetic syllabary
, hiragana
, so that the ambiguous senses of the word are more immediately apparent.
. It is a technique devised to enrich the way of conveying a poem in a limited space. By finding the real meaning the poet inserted in the poem was the highest pleasure one can get from poetry at the time. The general pattern it follows is
This poem from the Kokin Wakashū makes a pun
that is translated explicitly in the English version. Kara, here used as an auxiliary particle of causation, can also mean "empty shell" or "corpse" (since the implied narrator's soul has left his body). Spelling this out in translation is the only way to express the pun to an English reader, but doing so destroys the subtlety that makes the original so poignant
Kokin Wakashū 639 {From a poetry contest/utaawase
}kaeru michi ni wa
kokitarete
ame mo namida mo
furisohochitsutsu
Although the mix-up of tears and rain is a bit trite in Japanese poetry, Toshiyuki creates a new beauty from old fragments through the unusual verb "kokitarete" (drenched) and the kakekotoba on "furisohochi" (meaning both "to fall" and "to soak through"). The kakekotoba is just one way through which poets are able to make unique and beautiful works of art despite working with a rather limited set of acceptable forms, styles, and references
Chikuba Kyoginshu 227-228 Miscellaneous
Though from a much later period (15th century), this poem utilizes a multi-layered play on the literary term utamakura
("poem-pillow"). An utamakura is a place-name that is described with set words and associated constantly with the same scenery, season, time of day, etc...; poets often kept notes of their favorite tropes of this sort. Two of the Six Poetic Immortals of the Kokin Wakashū era were the Priest Henjou and Ono no Komachi
, who were reputed to be romantically involved despite their competition. The literary term utamakura is here being used for one of its literal constitutive words, "pillow," to imply that Henjou and Komachi were sleeping together. The poem is also referencing similar scenes in the Gosenshu and Yamato Monogatari
. Kakekotoba, as this poem shows, are often humorous displays of the writer's wit.
Rhetorical device
In rhetoric, a rhetorical device or resource of language is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective. While rhetorical devices may be used to evoke an...
used in the Japanese poetic
Japanese poetry
Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...
form waka
Waka (poetry)
Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...
. This trope uses the phonetic
Phonetics
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory...
reading of a grouping of kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
(Chinese characters) to suggest several interpretations: first on the literal level (e.g. 松, matsu, meaning "pine tree"), then on subsidiary homophonic
Homophone
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose and rose , or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two, and too. Homophones that are spelled the same are also both homographs and homonyms...
levels (e.g. 待つ, matsu, meaning "to wait"). Thus it is that many waka have pine trees waiting around for something. The presentation of multiple meanings inherent in a single word allows the poet a fuller range of artistic expression with an economical syllable-count. Such brevity is highly valued in Japanese aesthetics, where maximal meaning and reference are sought in a minimal number of syllables. Kakekotoba are generally written in the Japanese phonetic syllabary
Syllabary
A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent syllables, which make up words. In a syllabary, there is no systematic similarity between the symbols which represent syllables with the same consonant or vowel...
, hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
, so that the ambiguous senses of the word are more immediately apparent.
History
Pivot words are first used in waka poetry from the Heian periodHeian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
. It is a technique devised to enrich the way of conveying a poem in a limited space. By finding the real meaning the poet inserted in the poem was the highest pleasure one can get from poetry at the time. The general pattern it follows is
- Using the context of the sentence before the kakekotoba and after it to create a new meaning.
- The kakekotoba is translated to two different meanings by itself. Sometimes it is also written in (懸詞) but (掛詞) is more common seen. Due to reason that it can be translated to different meaning, the kakekotoba translation can sometimes be meaningless by itself, and needs a context to bring out the meaning, which was not considered a problem in the Heian period.
Examples
Kokin Wakashū 571 Love 2- Koishiki ni
- wabite tamashii
- madoinaba
- munashiki kara no
- na ni ya nokoramu
- If in despair of love
- my soul should wander,
- am I to be remembered
- as one who left in vain?
- -Anonymous
This poem from the Kokin Wakashū makes a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
that is translated explicitly in the English version. Kara, here used as an auxiliary particle of causation, can also mean "empty shell" or "corpse" (since the implied narrator's soul has left his body). Spelling this out in translation is the only way to express the pun to an English reader, but doing so destroys the subtlety that makes the original so poignant
Kokin Wakashū 639 {From a poetry contest/utaawase
Utaawase
, poetry contests or waka matches, are a distinctive feature of the Japanese literary landscape from the Heian period. Significant to the development of Japanese poetics, the origin of group composition such as renga, and a stimulus to approaching waka as a unified sequence and not only as...
}
- Dawn has come-
- on the path home from love
- I am drenched:
- rainfall swelling
- my falling tears
- -Fujiwara no ToshiyukiFujiwara no ToshiyukiFujiwara no Toshiyuki was a middle Heian waka poet and Japanese nobleman...
Although the mix-up of tears and rain is a bit trite in Japanese poetry, Toshiyuki creates a new beauty from old fragments through the unusual verb "kokitarete" (drenched) and the kakekotoba on "furisohochi" (meaning both "to fall" and "to soak through"). The kakekotoba is just one way through which poets are able to make unique and beautiful works of art despite working with a rather limited set of acceptable forms, styles, and references
Chikuba Kyoginshu 227-228 Miscellaneous
- Shukke no soba ni
- netaru nyoubou
- Henjou ni
- kakusu Komachi ga
- utamakura
- Beside the monk
- lies a lady
- Hidden from Henjou
- is Komachi's
- poem-pillow.
- -Unknown
Though from a much later period (15th century), this poem utilizes a multi-layered play on the literary term utamakura
Utamakura
is a rhetorical concept in Japanese poetry.-Definition:Utamakura is a category of poetic words, often involving place names, that allow for greater allusions and intertextuality across Japanese poems....
("poem-pillow"). An utamakura is a place-name that is described with set words and associated constantly with the same scenery, season, time of day, etc...; poets often kept notes of their favorite tropes of this sort. Two of the Six Poetic Immortals of the Kokin Wakashū era were the Priest Henjou and Ono no Komachi
Ono no Komachi
was a famous Japanese waka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the Six best Waka poets of the early Heian period. She was noted as a rare beauty; Komachi is a symbol of a beautiful woman in Japan. She also figures among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
, who were reputed to be romantically involved despite their competition. The literary term utamakura is here being used for one of its literal constitutive words, "pillow," to imply that Henjou and Komachi were sleeping together. The poem is also referencing similar scenes in the Gosenshu and Yamato Monogatari
Yamato Monogatari
is a collection of tales and waka poetry from the Heian period of Japan. The exact date of the completion of the text is unknown, but it majority of the text was completed in the year 951 by an unknown author...
. Kakekotoba, as this poem shows, are often humorous displays of the writer's wit.