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Japanese wordplay relies on the nuances of theJapanese language andJapanese script forhumorous effect, functioning somewhat like a cross between apun and aspoonerism.Double entendres have a rich history in Japanese entertainment (such as inkakekotoba)[1] due to the language's large number ofhomographs (different meanings for a given spelling) andhomophones (different meanings for a given pronunciation).
Kakekotoba (掛詞) or "pivot words" are an early form of Japanese wordplay used inwaka poetry, wherein some words represent two homonyms. The presence of multiple meanings within these words allowed poets to impart more meaning into fewer words.[1]
Goroawase (語呂合わせ; "phonetic matching") is an especially common form of Japanese wordplay, whereinhomophonous words are associated with a given series of letters, numbers or symbols, in order to associate a new meaning with that series. The new words can be used to express asuperstition about certain letters or numbers. More commonly, however,goroawase is used as amnemonic technique, especially in the memorization of numbers such as dates in history, scientificconstants andphone numbers.[2]
In Japanese, each digit/number has at least one native Japanese (kun'yomi), Sino-Japanese (on'yomi), and English-origin reading. Furthermore, variants of readings may be produced through abbreviation (i.e. renderingichi asi),consonant voicing and devoicing (i.esa asza orgo asko; seeDakuten and handakuten),gemination (i.e.roku asrokku; seesokuon),vowel lengthening (i.e.ni asnii; seechōonpu), reading multiple digits (most commonly 10) as a single number, or the insertion or deletion of the nasalmoran (ん).
| # | Kun'yomi | On'yomi | English | Derivative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ma, maru, wa | re, rei | o, ze, zero | u, e, ō, mu, no, nashi, ra, wo |
| 1 | hi, hito, hitotsu | i, ichi, itsu | wa, wan | a, hi, bi, fi, kazu |
| 2 | fu, futa, futatsu | ni, ji | tsū, tū | bu, pu, tsu, zu, nu, ne, ju, nyu |
| 3 | mi, mittsu | sa, san | surī | su, zu, ta, da, so, zo, za, zan, myu |
| 4 | yo, yon, yottsu | shi | fō | ho, bo, ji, fa |
| 5 | itsu, itsutsu | ko, go | faibu, faivu | ka, ke, ga, ge |
| 6 | mu, mutsu | ro, roku | shikkusu | me, mo, ra, ri, ru,[3] ryu, ryū |
| 7 | na, nana, nanatsu | chi, shichi | se, ze, sebun, sevun | te, de, yu |
| 8 | ya, yatsu | ha, hachi, ba, pa | e, ei, eito | he, be |
| 9 | ko, kokonotsu | ku, gu, kyu, kyū | nain | ki, gi, chu, chū |
| 10 | to, do, tō, dō, ta | ji, jū | te, ten[a] | de, den |
Numeric substitutions may contain multiple types of readings and variations; for example,0348, read as "o-su-shi-ya" (お寿司屋,sushi restaurant)[2] uses abbreviated English readings for zero and three, an on'yomi reading for four, and ends with a kun'yomi reading for eight.
In Japanese,puns are referred to asdajare (駄洒落,'bad jokes'). Like puns in English,dajare may be considereddad jokes (親父ギャグ,oyaji gyagu).Dajare commonly involve the usage of two homophonous phrases alongside each other in a sentence, thoughdouble entendres are used as well.
Example one:
Example two:
Somedajare rely onginatayomi (ぎなた読み,'phrasal misparsing';lit. 'ginata-reading') for effect, similar togarden-path sentences in English. Many are commonly told by children.
Example one:
Example two:
The idea is that you can basically use any of these sounds associated with any of these letters to create mnemonics to help someone to remember a phone number.
The reading ri is referred to as the number "six".