直喩

• 読み: ちょくゆ
• ローマ字: chokuyu
• 漢字の分解: 直 (choku/nao) — direct, straight; 喩 (yu/tatoe) — comparison, metaphor
• 発音: /tɕo.kɯ.jɯ/

意味

Simile; explicit comparison using a comparative word. A figure of speech that directly states a resemblance between two unlike things.

In Japanese rhetoric, 直喩 uses explicit markers of comparison such as ような (yō na — like, as if), ごとき (gotoki — like), or まるで～ように (marude ~ yō ni — just as if). Contrasts with 隠喩 (inyu — metaphor), which asserts identity without a comparative word. Both are subcategories of 比喩 (hiyu — figurative language). Taught as a core concept in Japanese literary education.

例文

1. この詩は彼女の悲しみを秋の枯れ野のようだと直喩で表現している。
2. 直喩はような・ごとくなどの比喩語を明示するため、読者が理解しやすい。
3. 教師は直喩と暗喩の違いを例を挙げながら生徒に説明した。

使い方ガイド

場面: literature, rhetoric, education, linguistics

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Compound of 直 (direct, straight) and 喩 (comparison, metaphor). The 直 distinguishes it from more oblique forms of figurative language; the comparison is made openly rather than implied.

文化的背景

時代: Classical–Modern

世代: Students and scholars

社会的背景: Educated