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Ric Flinn
28th October 2000, 02:45
Hello,

I am just kind of curious about how Haiku is written in Japanese. Now that I know a little about how Japanese is written (kana representing syllables and kanji), I am wondering if or how this style of writing influenced the origin of haiku. Was it written primarily in kana, so it visibly had a nice balanced appearance? Or did appearance have nothing to do with it and I'm just making things up.

Also, in eigo we have a tendance to "smash syllables together" into one sound, like (in romaji) "ei" and "ai." Would each of these syllables be separated in a haiku poem?

Am I insane for thinking up these questions? :)

Thanks,
Ric

Mark Brecht
28th October 2000, 10:46
... thought you might enjoy this...

<center>http://images.honesty.com/imagedata/6/7/3/17114673.jpg</center>

The left Tanzaku has the 4 seasons written on it.

The three on the right are Haiku by the famous poet Masoka Shiki (written by Mieko Kakizawa).

Copyright Japanese Treasures 2000. All Rights Reserved.

kabutoki
7th November 2000, 13:11
I donīt know if this is your question but...
Haiku are written in 5:7:5 syllables. To write them in kana or kanji has no influence on the spelling that dictates the form. The outward appereance I think is not that important. Authors may use kanji or kana in order to stress or underline some words, i.e. keywords for the season etc..
A situation where it might count maybe the "haiga", the haiku included into a painting. There might be some definitions of writing in order to unite the poem and the painting.
Just some thaughts...
Karsten

Richard A Tolson
8th November 2000, 07:07
Ric,
Karsten has described one form of Haiku that was popular in the Edo period and is most commonly known today. However, there are a few others also. Your local library probably has a book dealing with this subject.

Eric Spinelli
15th August 2004, 10:41
Eh, I figured I'd revive a dead thread since it seemed in line with my question.

Assuming one were to write out a haiku only in kana and were adhering to strict syllable guidelines, what is one to make of the 'combo-kana'. I am unfamiliar with the technical term, but I am referring to 'kya', 'kyu', 'kyo' and the other '-i' + 'y-' combos.

Along similar lines, what is one to make of the mini-'tsu' that indicates a slight break or pause in pronunciation, and is often translated to romanji as a double consonant? The Japanese 'n' counts as a syllable from what I understand, despite it not being so in English nor appearing so in romanji, so I'm curious as to how all this plays out.

I've only been offered one guess by a Japanese person and that is that all characters count towards syllable requirements. However, it was exactly that: a guess. Anybody know for sure or have evidence of it being one way or the other (or both)? I don't plan on writing haiku's in either Japanese or English, but it came up in another discussion and now its a matter of curiousity.

Thanks,
-Eric

EldritchKnight
17th August 2004, 01:46
I would venture to guess that any mini-letters, such as ya, yo, or the ubiquitous tsu, would be considered part of the syllable that they are modifying. Thus, the word "kekkon" would be 3 syllables (ke, kko, n). I'm basing this guess on the traditional writing system (vertical) that groups letters together in this format.

leoboiko
17th August 2004, 14:20
I always thought they're counted as one syllable per vowel (a-i-u-e-o), plus one for the "n" character. Karsten, I disagree about the outward appearance. Maybe I'm wrong here, but to me the visual appeal of kanji in Chinese poetry, and the mixing of kanji and kana in Japanese is as important as the sound of the verse.

It's interesting how syllabic units are completely different in English, in Japanese and in my own language (Portuguese).