Kakekotoba
PMJS Editor (M. Stavros)
Dear Colleagues,
The following is an entry I wrote on kakekotoba for the glossary of my upcoming translation of the Tales of Ise (Penguin, September 2016). I could not find any really accurate or comprehensive accounts of kakekotoba in English and there appears to be quite a few differences in the interpretation of the word in English and the Japanese. In Japanese for example the pivoting function is not much mentioned and punning seems to be the main function. Could any members of the group help me to clarify a little more or correct errors in my description.
Many thanks,
Peter MacMillan
———————————
kakekotoba (pivot words): This term first and foremost means ‘pun’, but whereas as a pun in English is often seen as being light-hearted and comical and a rather low-grade form of verbal play, in classical Japanese poetry the kakekotoba was used to display the highest level of verbal and poetic artistry. Though sometimes the pun might be conveyed by a single word, in many cases it could apply to several lines, so that a whole string of words or phrases could all be punned. Thus several lines of a waka poem could allow for the possibility of two completely different readings, one that conveyed the basic message of the poet and the other a highly refined verbal decoration often depicting a visual image, which was sometimes related to the main message but sometimes just a sophisticated or witty pun. The intention was to create a multi-layered effect of great verbal complexity in order to convey the depth and refinement of the poet’s emotion. The Japanese language has many homophones and similar-sounding words, which made such complicated punning possible —such punning would be impossible in English—and Heian poets deployed puns to full effect in their verse. For a striking example, see the commentary on the first poem in Episode 9.
As the term can also refer to a word whose meaning may vary depending on whether it is read as the continuation of what precedes it or as the beginning of what follows, this is where the translation ‘pivot word’ comes from; however, kakekotoba do not always function as ‘pivot’ words, so the standard translation is somewhat misleading.
Ivan Rumánek
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Yekaterina Levchenko
Makura-kotoba (MK) act in various and complex forms. It is a common practice to define them as constant epithets, but this does not encapsulate all of the characteristics of this stylistic device. Moreover, not all constant epithets constitute MK; some exist outside the bounds of the term. There are indeed some constant epithets among MK, such as 阿之比奇能
KJK 77
Original
1) 阿志比紀能 2) 夜麻陀袁豆久理 3) 夜麻陀加美 4) 斯多備袁和志勢 5) 志多杼比爾 6) 和賀登布伊毛袁 7) 斯多那岐爾 8) 和賀那久都麻袁 9) 許存許曾波 10) 夜須久波陀布禮
Romanization
1) asipyikiy-nö 2) yama-Nta tukur-i 3) yama-N-takamyi 4) sita-Npiy-wo wasise 5) sita-Ntwop-yi-ni 6) wa-Nka twop-u imwo-wo 7) sita-nak-yi-ni 8) wa-Nka nak-u tuma-wo 9) köNsö kösö pa 10) yasu-ku paNta pur-e
Glossing with morphemic analyses
1) broad.low-GEN 2) mountain-field do-INF 3) mountain-COMP-высота 4) bottom-pipe-ACC cover 5) bottom-visit-NML-DV-INF 6) I-POSS visit-FIN beloved-ABS 7) bottom-cry-NML-DV-INF 8) I-POSS cry-FIN spouse-ABS 9) today.night PT TOP 10) gentle-INF skin touch-EV
Translation
(Near) the mountain (with) the broad roots (I shall) make a field. Like a high mountain, and (there is) a pipe under it. Secretly I shall came to my beloved. Secretly cried, cried about my wife, and today's night will gently touch (her) skin.
and there are also phrases that play the role of a constant beginning, such as, for example神風乃.
With the best wishes,
Ekaterina Levchenko
https://independentresearcher.academia.edu/EkaterinaLevchenko
Richard Bowring
Pinnington, Noel J - (noelp)
Sent from my iPad
Pinnington, Noel J - (noelp)
Sent from my iPad
MacMillan Office
Gian-Piero Persiani
What an interesting discussion. A keyword that is so entrenched in the English discourse on waka that we do not see its (rather obvious now) limitations.
I just want to add that I wouldn't rule out the use of punning as a translation for kakekotoba on account of its English-language connotations. Japanese discussions of rhetoric and technique tend to be informed by a post-medieval to modern understanding of waka as a genre of "high” (ga 雅) literature. But certainly at the time of the Ise and for most of the Heian period (roughly until ōchō nostalgia truly kicks in in the 12th century), humor and word play were essential elements of courtly waka, at least in everyday "ke" (褻) contexts. So Donne’s puns are no more lighthearted and playful than Narihira’s and Komachi’s. The Greek word paronomasia seems to be used in Western poetics as an umbrella term for punning in its various forms (both serious and non-serious), but I don’t know how fitting it would be in a discussion of Heian literary practice.
Gian-Piero Persiani
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Robert F. Wittkamp
robin d. gill
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Miika Pölkki
I would like to add a further twist to discussion about kakekotoba.
The phenomenon of omitted characters (datsuji), which is quite common
in texts written by the brush, can be seen to function as kakeji,
because they functions as a graph-pivot in similar manner to that of
kakekotoba. Moreover, when the brush line of the preceding graph
continues in a doubled manner (renmen or tsuzukekaki) to the following
graph, it can be called kakehitsu or pivot-brush. Thus, we have a
continuum from kakehitsu to kakeji to kakekotoba, and perhaps all the
way to something like a pivoted style (kake-tai).
I think that it is crucial to address these various "levels" of
pivoting (kake) since they are not only interconnected in kana
writing, but also because they show us that the phenomenon of pivoting
cannot be treated as a mere rhetorical device. Isn't the "kake" a
style of thinking-writing with profound implications, as
calligrapher-thinker Ishikawa Kyuyo has repeatedly argued.
Best, Miika
Miika Pölkki
Researcher
East Asian Studies
Department of World Cultures
Unioninkatu 38 (room F206)
University of Helsinki
Finland
Tel. +358-(0)50-4482452 (mobile)
Email. miika....@helsinki.fi
Richard Bowring
The ‘kake’ of ‘kakeji’ means ‘missing’; the ‘kake’ of ‘kakekotoba’ is surely a different verb, the one it is suggested means ‘overlap'. I have a feeling we are talking about two unrelated phenomena. Or are they related? Sasha?
Richard Bowring
Chris Kern
robin d. gill
Alexander Vovin
Alexander Vovin
Membre d'Academia Europaea
Directeur d'études, linguistique historique du Japon et de l'Asie du Nord-Est
Matt Treyvaud
I would like to second Chris's request for more information about the history of the technical vocabulary involed here, if anyone has the time to chime in (or suggest a good book on the topic). The NKD doesn't have any dated citations for "kakekotoba." I happened to know that "iikake" was used to describe roughly similar poetic techniques at least as far back as the early Edo period, and checking the NKD I see that their first citation supports this:
＊わらんべ草〔１６６０〕二「同じくうたひは、〈略〉いひかけ、秀句、枕ことば、上略、中略、下略、字なまりども多し」
It is interesting to see "shuku" in that list as well, since that is the other one I wanted to mention. Obviously this has the literal meaning "superior line [of poetry]," but it was also used in a semi-technical sense from quite an early stage to refer to artful use of wordplay (not necessarily restricted to kakekotoba). For example, in Fujiwara no Toshinari's "Korai futaisho" 古来風体抄 it seems to be used in that sense. Here is one example (on p114 of the good old Iwanami Bunko 中世歌論集 collection):
===
さ月やみくらはし山のほとゝぎすおぼつかなくもなきわたるかな（藤原實方朝臣）
此歌まことにありがたくよめるうたなり。よりていまの世の人詩の本体とする也。されどあまりに秀句にまつはれり。これはいみじけれどひとへにまなばむ事いかゞ。
===
This is perhaps a bit ambiguous since "matsuwaru" is in there too, but the book's next example with comment is:
===
あやしくも鹿の立どのみえぬかなをぐらの山にわれや来ぬらん
これほどの秀句はこひねがふべし。
===
... which seems to me a fairly clear demonstration of "shuku" to refer to skilful wordplay in particular.
Incidentally, Shiki's "Utayomi in atauru sho" uses "kakeawase" in what seems to be basically the same context:
===
縁語を多く用うるは和歌の弊なり、縁語も場合によりては善けれど、普通には縁語、かけ合せなどあれば、それがために歌の趣を損ずる者に候。
===
Perhaps this represents cross-pollination from the hokku/haikai/haiku/renku/etc. side of things?
Regards,
--Matt
On June 14, 2016 at 23:24:27 , Chris Kern (chris...@gmail.com) wrote:
Perhaps the classic example of a true "pivot" in English is the children's rhyme:
Miss Suzy had a steamboat,
The steamboat had a bell,
Miss Suzy went to heaven,
The steamboat went to Hello operator, please give me number 9
There are several more in the rhyme, the last one "Miss Suzy told me all of this the day before she died/dyed her hair all purple, she dyed her hair all pink"
It's much easier in Japanese because (at least for 4D verbs) you can end a sentence with a verb that also modifies the following noun, thus creating two separate structures in one place.
In a more serious note, I was intrigued by the idea that these terms for the poetic devices are fairly new. Are they Edo-period, or modern period? I know that the idea of using かける to denote a wordplay is quite old, but not necessarily the compound word 掛詞. How did older poetic criticism and commentary talk about these things, or is this a modern concern? I flipped briefly through 俊頼髄脳 but I didn't see anything helpful in there, although it's a hard work to skim. I did see 縁 and 縁語 used in the Kogetsusho so at least by the late 17th century those words were in use.
-Chris Kern
Kenyon College
Before everyone tires of the subject I cannot resist drawing attention to an English verse containing a kakekotoba, which is due to the American publisher and humorist Bennett Cerf (1898-1971):
Schubert had a horse named Sarah.
He drove her to the big parade.
And all the time the band was playing
Schubert's Sarah neighed.
I liked to quote this to students in my classical Japanese classes at the University of Toronto.
David Waterhouse
Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies,
University of Toronto
On 13 Jun 2016, at 10:33, MacMillan Office wrote:
Dear Richard,
Thanks so much for your informative and insightful reply. When I first composed the entry I also avoided the word ‘pun’ which has so many light- weight connotations but when we consider the actual function of the words in the poems, they are functioning as puns, though obviously of more weight than the puns in English.
The kakekotoba function more in an overlapping context than as a pivot so it would be preferable. But it is not just overlapping either. Also the pivot function is not mentioned at all in many of the Japanese dictionaries such as the Kogodaijiten, which actually stresses the ‘punning,’ mentioning clearly that the pun is not as light as the pun in English. I thought it might be wise to compose an entry based on the Japanese entries rather than following current English explanations, which seem to be incorrect.
Peter MacMillan
MacMillan Office
Chris Kern
I would like to second Chris's request for more information about the history of the technical vocabulary here if anyone has the time to chime in (or suggest a good book on the topic). The NKD does have any dated citations for "kakekotoba." I happened to know that "iikake" was used to describe roughly similar poetic techniques at least as far back as the early Edo period, and checking the NKD I see that their first citation supports this:
＊わらんべ草〔１６６０〕二「同じくうたひは、〈略〉いひかけ、秀句、枕ことば、上略、中略、下略、字なまりども多し」It is interesting to see "shuku" in that list as well, since that is the other one I wanted to mention. Obviously this has the literal meaning "superior line [of poetry]," but it was also used in a semi-technical sense from quite an early stage to refer to artful use of wordplay (not necessarily restricted to kakekotoba). For example, in Fujiwara no Toshinari's "Korai futaisho" 古来風体抄 it seems to be used in that sense. Here is one example (on p114 of the good old Iwanami Bunko 中世歌論集 collection):===さ月やみくらはし山のほとゝぎすおぼつかなくもなきわたるかな（藤原實方朝臣）此歌まことにありがたくよめるうたなり。よりていまの世の人詩の本体とする也。されどあまりに秀句にまつはれり。これはいみじけれどひとへにまなばむ事いかゞ。===This is perhaps a bit ambiguous since "matsuwaru" is in there too, but the book's next example with comment is:===あやしくも鹿の立どのみえぬかなをぐらの山にわれや来ぬらんこれほどの秀句はこひねがふべし。===... which seems to me a fairly clear demonstration of "shuku" to refer to skilful wordplay in particular.
Incidentally, Shiki's "Utayomi in atauru sho" uses "kakeawase" in what seems to be the same sort of context:
===縁語を多く用うるは和歌の弊なり、縁語も場合によりては善けれど、普通には縁語、かけ合せなどあれば、それがために歌の趣を損ずる者に候。===
Regards,--Matt
On June 14, 2016 at 23:24:27 , Chris Kern (chris...@gmail.com) wrote:
Chris Kern
robin d. gill
robin d. gill
『古今和歌集』における掛詞の研究（谷澤 亜純） - niigata-u.info
MacMillan Office
Dear All,
Please kindly make further comments. I have a strong feeling that the translation of kakekotoba as ‘pivot word’ is misleading, if not incorrect.
kakekotoba (pivot words): There are quite a variety of definitions of kakekotoba in the standard Japanese reference dictionaries. This term is most commonly used to refer to punning, but whereas a pun in English is often seen as being light-hearted and comical and a rather low-grade form of verbal play, in classical Japanese poetry the kakekotoba was used to display the highest level of verbal and poetic artistry. Similarly although the modern Japanese word for pun ‘dajare’ employs the same technique of punning, it is considered a completely different device because the goals are completely different, a rich complicated tapesty of meaning in the case of the kakekotoba, and a humorous or witty pun in the case of dajare.
Though sometimes the pun might be conveyed by a single word, in many cases it could apply to several lines, so that a whole string of words or phrases could all be punned. Thus several lines of a waka poem could allow for the possibility of two completely different readings, one that conveyed the basic message of the poet and the other a highly refined verbal decoration often depicting a visual image, which was sometimes related to the main message but sometimes just a sophisticated or witty pun or series of puns. The intention was to create a multi-layered effect of great verbal and visual complexity in order to convey the depth and refinement of the poet’s emotion. The Japanese language has many homophones and similar-sounding words, which made such complicated punning possible —such punning would be impossible in English—and Heian poets deployed puns to full effect in their verse. For a striking example, see the commentary on the first poem in Episode 9.
As the term can also refer to a word whose meaning may vary depending on whether it is read as the continuation of what precedes it or as the beginning of what follows, this is where the translation ‘pivot word’ comes from; however, kakekotoba do not always function as ‘pivot’ words, so the standard translation is somewhat misleading. Most scholars of classical Japanese studiously avoid the translation of the word as ‘pun,’ so I have given the standard translation here. It is important to be aware, however, that the kakekotoba are mostly defined in Japanese classical dictionaries by their punning function, which often do not mention the pivot word function, and thus the current standard translation of kakekotoba as pivot word deserves rectification. Episode 57 provides an analysis of the double meanings possible when the kakekotoba is functioning as pivot word(s). Many of the literary terms used to describe rhetorical devices were only invented in the Meiji period and involve scholars of a much later age trying to make ancient verse fit within these definitions.
When Japanese dictionaries define the pivot word function of kakekotoba they usually seen as arising in tandem with jokotoba, which adds a further complication, as this connection is not necessarily included in English definitions of the kakekotoba.
------------------------------------
出典 ジャパンナレッジ（データベース）JAPAN Knowledge
『国史大辞典』（吉川弘文館1979年）
懸詞
かけことば
和歌などに用いられる修辞法の一種で、同音異義語の存在を利用し、一語に二通りの意義をになわせるもの。
たとえば、「花の色は移りにけりないたづらに我が身世にふるながめせし間に」（『古今和歌集』春下）で、「ふる」が「経る」「降る」、「ながめ」が「眺め」「長雨」の両義を表わしているのなどがそれである。
音調美をねらい、また複雑な意味内容を盛りこむ方法として、謡曲の詞章や道行文（みちゆきぶん）などにも用いられた。
［参考文献］
時枝誠記『国語学原論』
（山口 佳紀）
©Yoshikawa kobunkan Inc.
『日本国語大辞典』第二版 小学館 2000年～2002年
かけ‐ことば 【掛詞・懸詞】
修辞法の一つ。同じ音で意味の異なる語を用いて、それを上と下とに掛けて、二様の意味を含ませるもの。「立ち別れいなばの山の峯に生ふるまつとし聞かば今帰り来ん」の「往（い）なば」に「因幡（いなば）」をかけ、「松」に「待つ」をかける類。和歌、謡曲、うたい物、浄瑠璃等に多く用いられる。かかりことば。
©Shogakukan Inc.
『日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)』（小学館1994年）
懸詞
かけことば
和歌の修辞法の一つ。「掛詞」とも書く。同音異義を利用して、一つの語を二つの意味に働かせる技法。
たとえば「立ち別れいなばの山の峰に生（お）ふるまつとし聞かば今帰り来（こ）む」の場合は、「いなば」が「立ち別れ往なば」と「因幡の山」、「まつ」が「峰に生ふる松」と「待つとし聞かば」のそれぞれ両義に働いていて、一義は上文に、一義は下文に連関し、そこで意味の転換を図って、しかも上文と下文とを有機的につなぐ役割を果たしている。
また「梓弓（あずさゆみ）はる（張る、春）の山辺を」、あるいは「風吹けば沖つ白波たつた山（立つ、立田山）」などの場合は、枕詞（まくらことば）や序詞（じょことば）によって導き出される語の初めの部分が両義に働き、「唐衣（からころも）着つつなれ（慣れ、褻れ）にしつま（妻、褄）しあればはるばる（遙々、張る）来（き）ぬる旅をしぞ思ふ」の場合は、一方が「唐衣」と縁語の関係になっている。もともと短詩型文学特有の技法であるが、謡曲、浄瑠璃（じょうるり）などにも、飾りの技法として多用されている。
[久保木哲夫]
©Shogakukan Inc.
『Encyclopedia of Japan』Japan : An Illustrated Encyclopedia カラーペディア 英文日本大事典・講談社1993年
kakekotoba
懸詞 ／ “pivot word”
In waka poetry, a type of wordplay or pun through which a word or series of syllables takes on two meanings. One meaning is evoked by the association of the pivot word with the phrase that precedes it, and a completely different meaning is evoked by its association with the words that follow.
For example, in the following poem from the Heichū monogatari (mid-10th century, The Tale of Heichū), the syllables tatsu, when read with the preceding phrase uki na nomi, complete the meaning “one's love life gives rise to rumor”; when read with the following phrase, as Tatsuta no kawa, they give the meaning “river Tatsuta.”
Uki na nomi
Tatsuta no kawa no
Momijiba wa
Mono omou aki no
Sode ni zo arikeru
This autumn as
I brood upon the shame
That stains my name
The river Tatsuta's colored leaves
Rage red upon my tear-soaked sleeves.
Kakekotoba reached their fullest development in the 9th century with the decline of the chōka, or long poem, and predominance of the brief 31-syllable tanka, or short poem. The kakekotoba later came to be exploited as a technique for heightening language in prose fiction and drama as well as in other poetic forms such as linked verse (renga).
©Kodansha
日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ) （小学館1994年）
序詞
歌文における修辞法の一つ。「じょことば」ともいう。
主想を導き出すための修飾句だが、属目（しょくもく）あるいは想像上の素材を即興的に表現するもので、掛け合い、問答などに由来する発想形式。
機能は枕詞（まくらことば）に近く、枕詞が1句以内であるのに対し、これは2句以上にわたる。
序詞と主想とのつながりは文法的な正接の法によらず、(1)形容・比喩（ひゆ）、(2)懸詞（かけことば）、(3)同音・類音の反復、の三つに分類される。
(1)「たらちねの母が養（か）ふ蚕（こ）の繭（まよ）ごもり／いぶせくもあるか妹（いも）に逢（あ）はずて」（『万葉集』）、上3句、蚕が繭にこもって、いぶせき意から比喩的に下句を導く。
(2)「ますらをのさつ矢手挿（たばさ）み立ち向ひ射る／円方（まとかた）は見るにさやけし」（『万葉集』）、射る的と続き、地名の円方に懸詞でかかる。
(3)「河上（かはのへ）のいつ藻（も）の花の／いつもいつも来ませわが背子（せこ）時じけめやも」（『万葉集』）、いつ藻が同音のいつもを導く。
(1)～(3)いずれも、／までが序詞で以下が主想である。序詞をもつ歌を序歌という。
[橋本達雄]
©Shogakukan Inc.
『Encyclopedia of Japan』Japan : An Illustrated Encyclopedia カラーペディア 英文日本大事典・講談社1993年
jokotoba
序詞 ／ preface
Also called joshi. Phrase of variable length preceding the main statement of a waka poem and joined to it by a metaphorical relationship or by a pun (kakekotoba) or other wordplay.
In the following poem by Taira no Sadabumi (also called Taira no Sadafun; d 923) from the Kokinshū, the first three lines are a preface linked to the statement of the poem by a pun on the word uramite (“to feel bitter” or “to see the underside”):
Akikaze no
Fukiuragaesu
Kuzu no ha no
Uramite mo nao
Urameshiki kana
But a glance is all,
White underleaves of arrowroot
Tossed by autumn winds−
Bitter though my thoughts have been,
Yet, still bitter do I feel.
The preface resembles the makura kotoba (“pillow word” or conventional epithet) in that it modifies the main theme of the poem. The makura kotoba, however, is a set phrase of five syllables that modifies a set word, while the jokotoba is a freely composed image that may extend over two or more lines and modifies the remaining lines of a poem.
©Kodansha
Anthony Chambers
Lewis Cook
emm...@gol.com
Shakespeare's "kakekotoba" would have been better served if he had
used the word "lute" instead of "pipe"? Or am I committing a sin by
even suggesting that?
Rick
On 6/17/2016, "Anthony Chambers" <acha...@asu.edu> wrote:
>I came across this elegant use of what might be called English kakekotoba,
> "do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what
>instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me."
>
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I would like to add a further twist to discussion about kakekotoba. The
>> phenomenon of omitted characters (datsuji), which is quite common in texts
>> written by the brush, can be seen to function as kakeji, because they
>> functions as a graph-pivot in similar manner to that of kakekotoba.
>> Moreover, when the brush line of the preceding graph continues in a doubled
>> manner (renmen or tsuzukekaki) to the following graph, it can be called
>> kakehitsu or pivot-brush. Thus, we have a continuum from kakehitsu to
>> kakeji to kakekotoba, and perhaps all the way to something like a pivoted
>> style (kake-tai).
>> I think that it is crucial to address these various "levels" of pivoting
>> (kake) since they are not only interconnected in kana writing, but also
>> because they show us that the phenomenon of pivoting cannot be treated as a
>> mere rhetorical device. Isn't the "kake" a style of thinking-writing with
>> profound implications, as calligrapher-thinker Ishikawa Kyuyo has
>> repeatedly argued.
>>
>> Best, Miika
MacMillan Office
MacMillan Office
MacMillan Office
Lewis Cook
Chris Kern
あしひきの山鳥の尾のしだり尾の長々し夜をひとりかも寝む
Although the pivot is 長々し, it means "long" in both cases. Sometimes the jokotoba have no relation to the rest of the poem,
other times it does.
John Oglevee
“HAMLET: I do not well understand that. Will you play upon this pipe?
GUILDENSTERN: My lord, I cannot.
HAMLET: I pray you.
GUILDENSTERN: Believe me, I cannot.
HAMLET: I do beseech you.
GUILDENSTERN: I know no touch of it, my lord.
HAMLET: It is as easy as lying. Govern these ventages with our fingers and thumb, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music. Look you, these are the stops.
GUILDENSTERN: But these cannot I command to any utterance of harmony. I have not the skill.
HAMLET: Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass, and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me.”
MacMillan Office
kakekotoba (pivot word(s)): Variously defined in dictionaries of classical Japanese poetry, this term is most commonly taken to mean a form of punning, but whereas a straightforward pun – equivalent to the word dajare in modern Japanese – might be viewed as light-hearted and comical and a rather low-grade form of verbal play, the kakekotoba in classical Japanese poetry was used to display the highest level of verbal and poetic artistry. Having said that there are cases where the punning can be quite humorous, light, or even mildly bawdy.
The device does function primarily as a pun, but one that may operate on many levels. Though sometimes the pun can be conveyed by a single word, in many cases it can apply to several lines, so that a string of words or phrases may be punned together. Thus it is possible for several lines of a waka poem to give two completely different readings, one that provides the basic message of the poet and the other a form of highly refined verbal decoration often depicting a visual image. This second reading might be related to the main message or it might be a separate pun or series of puns serving a decorative role. The intention was to create a multi-layered effect of great complexity in order to convey the depth and refinement of the poet’s emotion. The Japanese language has many homophones and similar-sounding words, which makes such complicated punning possible – wordplay of a kind that would be extremely difficult in English – and Heian poets deployed the kakekotoba to full effect in their verse. For a striking example, see the commentary on the first poem in Episode 9.
The English translation of the term ‘pivot word(s)’ refers a pivoting function of the word when it can be read with two entirely differing meanings depending on whether it is read as the continuation of what precedes it or as the beginning of what follows. However, the kakekotoba is much more likely to be a pun and only functions as a ‘pivot’ word on select occasions, so the standard translation is misleading, if not incorrect. Translated literally, kakekotoba gives ‘overlapping of words’ – effectively punning – but as most non-Japanese scholars of classical Japanese studiously avoid using ‘pun’ as a translation, I have opted for the standard translation here. It is important to be aware, however, that kakekotoba is mostly defined in Japanese dictionaries as a form of pun, with little or no reference to its function as a pivot word, and thus the current standard translation of kakekotoba as a pivot word/words deserves rectification.
On the other hand, Japanese scholars recognize that the ‘pivot’ words are kakekotoba because the words also function simultaneously as puns, but tend to see the pivoting function as more related to jokotoba and engo etc. The commentary to episode 57 provides an analysis of the double meanings possible when the kakekotoba functions as a pivot word, showing how it often arises in tandem with the jokotoba and engo (see above), adding a further dimension to the verbal play at work in a waka poem.
Because of the divide in understanding between the Japanese academic community—where there is no definitive consensus either— and the understanding of the concept in English, it is difficult to define with precision. One option would be ‘punning’ rather than ‘pun’, but in the end I believe it may be best not to translate the word at all, as in the case, for example, of waka, haiku etc. It is an extremely complex term with a wide variety of variations in usage over a long period of time. It should be noted, too, that many of the terms used to describe rhetorical devices were not coined until the Meiji period (1868–1912) and then applied to ancient verse, which do not always fit neatly within these definitions.
Susan Klein
Oshio no
kamiyo no koseki
wakō no kage ni
Narihira no hana ni eijite
shujōsaido no sugata
arawashi tamafu zo to
Narihira, incarnate,
remains from
the Age of the Gods
here at Oshio,
his heavenly light
reflected in these flowers
for the salvation of all living beings,
his form appears to us, it is said--
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Associate Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture
HIB 479
East Asian Languages and Literatures
University of California
Makoto Tokumori
I enjoyed the vigorous discussion about Kakekotoba and learned much from
it. Thank you so much. Now I just like to let you know a paper about
Kakekotoba for reference.
KAWAMOTO Kōji,“Pun and Metaphor: To Reinstate the Auditory Imagination”
(Otemae University, 2005)
http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110006178394
I think that it gives a close and clear analysis of the poetic function
of Kakekotoba from the viewpoint of comparative poetics.
Best Regards,
Makoto Tokumori
Lecturer, Department of Comparative Literature and Culture
University of Tokyo