Jokotoba
Encyclopedia
, literally meaning "preface word", is a figure of speech found in Japanese waka (poetry)
. Jokotoba expressions are set before certain words, and makes use of wordplay through similes, kakekotoba
and homonyms.
is closely related to the jokotoba as a figure of speech in Japanese waka poetry. The main differences are that jokotoba are not restricted by the number of syllables, and so have greater freedom in terms of length, and they do not have fixed objects which they modify, and so are more bountiful in terms of creativity. For these reasons, in comparison to makurakotoba, jokotoba can be seen to be more complex expressions in terms of content.
There are two types of jokotoba: ushin-no-jo (有心の序) and mushin-no-jo (無心の序). Ushin-no-jo connect or associate through semantic meaning, while mushin-no-jo connect or associate through phonetic pronunciation.
aki zukeba / wobana ga uhe ni / oku tsu no / kenubeku mo waha / omohoyuru kamo
Translation: When it becomes spring the dew on the silver grass disappears, just so I might pine away in longing for you.
kaze fukeba / okitsu shiranami / tatsuta yama / yonaka ni ya kimi ga hitori koyuramu
Translation: When the wind blows the high surf mounts the shore, as you must be crossing over Mount Tatsuta alone this night.
(Note that the English wordplay is not the same as the Japanese wordplay, since Tatsuta means "dragon-field").
Waka (poetry)
Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...
. Jokotoba expressions are set before certain words, and makes use of wordplay through similes, kakekotoba
Kakekotoba
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 to suggest several interpretations: first on the literal level , then on subsidiary homophonic levels...
and homonyms.
History and usage
The makurakotobaMakurakotoba
, literally "pillow word", are figures of speech used in Japanese waka poetry, where epithets are used in association with certain words. Their usage is akin to “grey-eyed Athena” of in the Ancient Greek epics of Homer...
is closely related to the jokotoba as a figure of speech in Japanese waka poetry. The main differences are that jokotoba are not restricted by the number of syllables, and so have greater freedom in terms of length, and they do not have fixed objects which they modify, and so are more bountiful in terms of creativity. For these reasons, in comparison to makurakotoba, jokotoba can be seen to be more complex expressions in terms of content.
There are two types of jokotoba: ushin-no-jo (有心の序) and mushin-no-jo (無心の序). Ushin-no-jo connect or associate through semantic meaning, while mushin-no-jo connect or associate through phonetic pronunciation.
An example of a ushin-no-jo
- 秋づけば尾花が上に置く露の 消ぬべくも吾は思ほゆるかも (Man%27y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB (MYS) Vol.8,1564)
aki zukeba / wobana ga uhe ni / oku tsu no / kenubeku mo waha / omohoyuru kamo
- This poem plays on the central position of the verb to disappear (消) as functioning both for the disappearing dew (露が消える) with the disappearing self (私も消える).
Translation: When it becomes spring the dew on the silver grass disappears, just so I might pine away in longing for you.
An example of a mushin-no-jo
- 風吹けば沖つ白波 たつた山夜半にや君がひとり越ゆらむ (from the Ise Monogatari, Episode 23)
kaze fukeba / okitsu shiranami / tatsuta yama / yonaka ni ya kimi ga hitori koyuramu
- This poem plays on the verb to rise, "tatsu" (立つ), describing the rising surf (白波), with the imagined significant other's geographical location, the Mount Tatsuta (竜田山).
Translation: When the wind blows the high surf mounts the shore, as you must be crossing over Mount Tatsuta alone this night.
(Note that the English wordplay is not the same as the Japanese wordplay, since Tatsuta means "dragon-field").