枕詞

• 読み: まくらことば
• ローマ字: makurakotoba
• 漢字の分解: 枕 (makura/chin) — pillow; 詞 (shi/kotoba) — word, speech, part of speech
• 発音: /ma.kɯ.ɾa.ko.to.ba/

意味

Pillow word; a conventional fixed epithet in classical Japanese poetry (waka) that precedes and modifies a specific word, typically adding an emotional or aesthetic resonance.

A makurakotoba is usually five syllables long and precedes a particular noun or verb with which it has a fixed association, often opaque in its literal meaning. For example, ひさかたの (hisakatano) conventionally precedes 光 (hikari, light) or 天 (ame, sky). Unlike a simile or metaphor, a makurakotoba functions as a formulaic ornament whose beauty lies in the recognition of its established pairing. The technique is especially prominent in the Man'yōshū and Kokinshū poetry collections.

例文

1. ひさかたの光のどけき春の日に…と続く一首で、ひさかたのは枕詞の典型的な例だ。
2. 枕詞を理解することは、万葉集や古今和歌集を深く読むうえで欠かせない。
3. 古典の授業で枕詞を暗記したが、その真の味わいがわかるのはずっと後のことだった。

使い方ガイド

場面: classical poetry, waka, literary analysis, education, Japanese literature

トーン: scholarly

起源と歴史

Compound of 枕 (makura, pillow) and 詞 (kotoba, word/language). The metaphor of a 'pillow' suggests a word that lies alongside (props up or nestles against) a following word, supporting it decoratively — much as a pillow supports the head.

文化的背景

時代: Nara–Heian

世代: Students and scholars

社会的背景: Educated