Jiamari and Jitarazu

Jiamari (字余り, extra syllables) and jitarazu (字足らず, missing syllables) occur in haiku, other 5-7-5 poems, and tanka. It's actually quite common for Japanese poems to not meet the syllable structure and the missing / extra syllables can be used to artistic effect.

Examples

• In the Iroha Uta, the second line wakayo tareso tune naramu (6 + 5 syllables) is missing a syllable (all others are lines of 7 + 5)
  • The line is about searching for someone who does not have to experience death (they, like the 7th syllable, do not exist)
• I would argue that the third line of Kimigayo is NOT an example of jiamari even though it has 6 syllables where 5 are expected
  • Likely, due to elision, the re and i in sazare-ishi are read as one syllable
• In the description of sm35406093, this instance of the Zen Whiskey meme has a tanka (?) with double the amount of syllables: 膳膳膳膳膳 膳膳膳膳膳膳膳 膳膳膳膳膳 膳膳膳膳膳膳膳 膳膳膳膳膳膳膳
  • It is a stupid tanka and I love it

onaji desu anatato watashino daisetsusa

You and I are equally valuable

This poem by the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau has 5-8-5 syllable structure. It uses the most neutral pronouns for you (anata) and I (watashi), which uses up one too many syllables. If you really had to, you could use kimi for you and boku or even ore for I to get 5-7-5. However, all those options must be worse than the extra syllable. Since the sign is made with the poem as-is, this was decided on as the best option. Kimi, boku, and ore are non-neutral pronouns which express humility or lack thereof, undermining the poem's message of equality.

Created 2024-04-27.

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