An Examination of the ‘Katari’ Accent in Gidayu

Abstract

Generally speaking, the essence of ‘katari’ (story-telling) lies in ‘kotoba’ (dialogue). However, by examining the accent of each word, one realizes that the ‘ji’ (description part) is as important as ‘kotoba’ in “katari”.

The accent tends to be changed when the ‘tayu’ (narrator) tries to make the meaning of the story or the characters clear, according to his own understanding of them. It is true that the accent of “kotoba” has been much changed as time passes. But the accent of “ji” has also changed, even if slightly in comparison to “kotoba”. We find that each “tayu” makes his own alteration of not only “kotoba” but “ji” also. Thus “ji”, too, plays an important part in “katari”.