Kokinshu #155

[lnhammer]

(from the same contest)

    Even the blooms of
the orange tree where you lodged
    haven't withered yet --
so why is it, O cuckoo,
your voice has faded away?

—4 October 2011

Original by Ôe no Chisato. A competent execution of an utterly typical conceit. Compare to #141, from the other shoulder season. So is this the end of cuckoo season at last ... ?


yadori seshi
hanatachibana mo
karenaku ni
nado hototogisu
koe taenuramu

---L.

Comments

[mme_hardy]

I'm halfway through your book and enjoying it; thank you.

Is there a good online (or book) explanation of how to pronounce transliterated Japanese that you're aware of?

[lnhammer]

Aww, thankee.

The phonetics are relatively simple: vowels are to a pretty good approximation those of Spanish (or to close enough approximation, Italian), while the consonants are largely as in English with two main exceptions: H is more breathy, while R is a flap (of the tongue against the pallet), similar to a Spanish R only with no trill whatsoever (in the ideal pronunciation, it can be heard as either an R, an L, or a D). Try not to stress any one syllable, but if you have to, give the first one a light stress.

This ignores pitch, because there is no simple explanation for that: it has to be memorized for each word.

---L.

[lnhammer]

I didn't actually answer the question as asked, did I. I plead extenuating circumstances of having just driven 7 hours from San Diego.

Er, yes, there are many guides to pronouncing Japanese -- google "learning Japanese" and just about every resource that comes up has an introductory section on it.

---L.