枕詞

Chinese

		pillow	word; phrase; classical Chinese poem
trad. (枕詞)		枕	詞
simp. (枕词)		枕	词

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 枕詞(まくらことば) (makura kotoba).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhěncí

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄣˇ ㄘˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhěncí
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄣˇ ㄘˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhěncíh
    • Wade–Giles: chên³-tzʻŭ²
    • Yale: jěn-tsź
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jeentsyr
    • Palladius: чжэньцы (čžɛnʹcy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂən²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʰz̩³⁵/

Noun

枕詞

1. pillow word

Japanese

Examples (epithet)
茜さす (akane sasu) 千早振る (chihayaburu) 真澄鏡 (masokagami) 武士の (mononofu no) 八雲立つ (ya kumo tatsu)

Kanji in this term
枕	詞
まくら Grade: S	ことば Grade: 6
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
枕言葉

Etymology

Compound of 枕 (makura, “pillow”) +‎ 詞 (kotoba, “word”). The pillow meaning is in reference to the way that makura kotoba in poetry are used as introductions to something else.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) まくらこ​とば [màkúrá kóꜜtòbà] (Nakadaka – [4])
• IPA^(key): [ma̠kɯ̟ᵝɾa̠ ko̞to̞ba̠]

Noun

枕(まくら)詞(ことば) • (makura kotoba) 

1. (poetry) a pillow word, an epithet, specifically a poetic device where a certain introductory phrase is commonly used to allude to something else, traditionally used in 和歌 (waka, “traditional Japanese poetry”)

   Over time, certain makura kotoba may become full metonyms to replace the term they originally only alluded to, such as the Old Japanese phrase 庭つ鳥 (niwa tsu tori) or "garden bird" replacing the older term 鶏 (kake) to mean "chicken", as in the modern Japanese term 鶏 (niwatori). An example of such a makura kotoba:

   711–712, Kojiki, (poem 2):

   [...]　爾波都登理(にはつとり)　迦祁波那久(かけはなく)　[...] [Man'yōgana]

   [...]　庭(には)つ鳥(とり)　鶏(かけ)は鳴(な)く　[...] [Modern spelling]

   ...niwa tsu tori, kake wa naku...

   ...the garden bird, the chicken clucks...

2. (by extension) introductory words
3. (literal) a pillow talk

   Synonyms: 寝物語 (nemonogatari), 枕物語 (makura monogatari)

Related terms

• 歌(うた)枕(まくら) (uta makura): a poem pillow
• 掛(かけ)詞(ことば) (kake kotoba): a pun or play on words

Descendants

• → English: pillow word (calque)
• → English: makurakotoba

See also

• Category:Japanese makurakotoba