A Program for Linguistic Expression Analysis on Ancient Waka Poems

Abstract

This study reveals that it is necessary to take into account at least three sorts of concepts, rentai-ka, jyo-ka, and touchi-ka, when analyzing expressions in ancient waka poems. This is because these three concepts turned out to be correlated through my research. First, rentai-ka which enables an event to jump to another related event both spatially and temporally, is discussed. Concerning Man'yoshu, while such a jump can't be seen in many of rentai-ka, some show it, a jump. As to jumping cases, “Asada conjecture” proved to be accurate in some respects, jumping patterns vary and have an obvious tendency in Man'yoshu. Second, some observations about three types of jyo-ka, type A, B, and C, are given. Type A has been regarded as a typical jyo-ka, and type B and C are new ones founded through this research. This study proved that these types must be clearly distinguished. Third, certain features of the predicate in touchi-ka are presented. In conclusion, the association of the three concepts is mentioned: rentai-ka is very similar to jyo-ka type A and this type is closely related to touchi-ka. All these inquiries may be explained from the fact that waka poems were performed in linear order.