文学・言語

シェイクスピアの戯曲ぎきょくは、今日こんにちも世界中せかいじゅうで上演じょうえんされている。

Shakespeare's plays are still staged around the world today.

Usage 戯曲家 for a playwright, 戯曲を書く. The written text, as against 演劇, the performed art, and 脚本, a screenplay for film or television.

Remember it 戯 (play, drama) + 曲 (a composed work) → a work composed to be played.

清少納言せいしょうなごんの「枕草子まくらのそうし」は日本にほんを代表だいひょうする随筆ずいひつの一ひとつだ。

Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book is one of Japan's representative works of the essay form.

Usage 随筆家 for an essayist, 随筆集 for a collection. The classical triad 枕草子, 方丈記 and 徒然草 are the 三大随筆 every Japanese student learns. エッセイ is the modern katakana word.

Remember it 随 (following along) + 筆 (brush) → writing that follows wherever the brush goes.

この作品さくひんには「水みず」のモチーフが繰くり返かえし登場とうじょうし、無常むじょうを象徴しょうちょうしている。

The motif of water recurs through this work, symbolising impermanence.

Usage モチーフを用いる. Distinguish 主題, the theme: a モチーフ is a recurring element — an image, a phrase, a musical figure — that carries the theme.

Remember it モチーフ comes from French motif, the thing that keeps moving through the work.

イソップの寓話ぐうわ「ウサギとカメ」は、努力どりょくの大切たいせつさを動物どうぶつを通とおして教おしえる。

Aesop's fable of the hare and the tortoise teaches the value of persistence through animals.

Usage イソップ寓話, 寓話的. The story itself, where 寓意 is the meaning hidden in it. Distinguish 童話, a children's tale, which need carry no moral.

Remember it 寓 (lodge inside) + 話 (story) → a story with something else lodged in it.

トマス・モアが描えがいたユートピアは、理想的りそうてきな社会しゃかいのあり方かたを問といかけた。

The utopia Thomas More described posed the question of what an ideal society would be.

Usage ユートピア的, ユートピア思想. The native term 理想郷 says the same. Its opposite, ディストピア, is far more common in contemporary fiction.

Remember it ユートピア from Greek ou (not) + topos (place) — More's joke: the perfect society is the one that is nowhere.

オーウェルの「1984年ねん」は監視かんし社会しゃかいを描えがいたディストピア小説しょうせつの傑作けっさくだ。

Orwell's 1984 is a masterpiece of dystopian fiction depicting a surveillance society.

Usage ディストピア小説, ディストピア的. Set against ユートピア. The recurring Japanese examples are 1984年, すばらしい新世界 and 侍女の物語.

Remember it ディストピア from Greek dys (bad) + topos (place) → the bad place, coined against utopia.

「矛盾むじゅん」の語源ごげんを知しることで、その言葉ことばの意味いみがより深ふかく理解りかいできる。

Knowing the etymology of 矛盾 lets you understand the word far more deeply.

Usage 語源を調べる, 語源辞典, 語源学. Especially rewarding in Japanese, where a great many N1 words are 四字熟語 or Chinese classical allusions with a story behind them.

Remember it 語 (word) + 源 (source) → where the word came from.

「美しいうつくしい」と「綺麗きれい」は同義語どうぎごだが、微妙びみょうなニュアンスの差さがある。

美しい and 綺麗 are synonyms, but with a subtle difference in nuance.

Usage 同義語辞典 is a thesaurus. In practice 類義語, near-synonym, is the more honest label: true synonyms are rare, and N1 questions turn precisely on the差.

Remember it 同 (same) + 義 (meaning) + 語 (word) → words of the same meaning.

「明あかるい」の反意語はんいごは「暗くらい」であり、対たいになる概念がいねんを示しめす。

The antonym of 明るい is 暗い, marking a paired concept.

Usage 対義語 is an equally common word for the same thing. Learning N1 vocabulary in opposed pairs — 有限 and 無限, 具体 and 抽象 — is the standard study technique.

Remember it 反 (opposite) + 意 (meaning) + 語 (word) → the word that means the opposite.

「引くひく」は「辞書じしょを引くひく」「注意ちゅういを引くひく」など多義語たいぎごの典型てんけいだ。

引く is a classic polysemous word: 辞書を引く, 注意を引く, and more.

Usage Do not confuse it with 同音異義語, homophones such as 貴社 and 帰社 — those are different words that sound alike, while a 多義語 is one word carrying several senses.

Remember it 多 (many) + 義 (meaning) + 語 (word) → one word holding many meanings.

詩しや文学ぶんがくでは修辞法しゅうじほうを駆使くしして、言葉ことばに深ふかみと美うつくしさを与あたえる。

Poetry and literature deploy rhetoric to give words depth and beauty.

Usage An umbrella for the devices that follow in this lesson: 直喩, 隠喩, 擬人法, 誇張法, 対句, 倒置法. 修辞学 is rhetoric as a discipline; レトリック is the katakana form.

Remember it 修 (polish) + 辞 (words) + 法 (method) → methods for polishing words.

「彼女かのじょの笑顔えがおは太陽たいようのようだ」は直喩ちょくゆの典型的てんけいてきな例れいだ。

'Her smile is like the sun' is a textbook example of simile.

Usage Marked by ようだ, みたいだ or ごとし. Its partner 隠喩 leaves the comparison unstated — 人生は旅だ. Both fall under 比喩.

Remember it 直 (direct) + 喩 (compare) → the comparison made out in the open.

「風かぜがため息ためいきをついている」という表現ひょうげんは擬人法ぎじんほうの一ひとつだ。

Saying 'the wind is sighing' is an instance of personification.

Usage 擬人化する is to personify, widely used of characters in advertising and anime. The 擬 prefix also gives 擬音語 and 擬態語, the onomatopoeia and mimetic words Japanese is full of.

Remember it 擬 (imitate) + 人 (person) + 法 (method) → making a thing act the person.

「待まちに待まった」「泣なくほど嬉うれしい」などは日常にちじょうで使つかわれる誇張法こちょうほうだ。

Phrases like 待ちに待った and 泣くほど嬉しい are everyday hyperbole.

Usage 誇張表現, 誇張する. Keep apart 誇大広告, misleading advertising, where exaggeration is a fault rather than a device. English calls the device hyperbole.

Remember it 誇 (boast) + 張 (stretch) + 法 (method) → stretching the claim for effect.

「春はるは花はな、秋あきは月つき、夏なつは夕暮ゆうぐれ」は対句ついく的てきな美うつくしさをもつ表現ひょうげんだ。

'Spring, its blossoms; autumn, its moon; summer, its dusk' has the beauty of antithesis.

Usage 対句法 as the device. Built on parallel structure, and central to Chinese poetry and to classical Japanese prose rhythm. Related: 対比 for contrast.

Remember it 対 (paired) + 句 (phrase) → two phrases set to mirror each other.

「美しいうつくしい、この夕焼けゆうやけは」という倒置法とうちほうは強調きょうちょうの効果こうかをもたらす。

Inverting the order — 'beautiful, this sunset' — produces emphasis.

Usage 倒置法を用いる. Putting the element you want stressed first, against normal Japanese order. Common in poetry, song lyrics and emotional speech.

Remember it 倒 (upend) + 置 (place) + 法 (method) → placing the words the other way up.

日本人にほんじん作家さっかがノーベル文学賞ぶんがくしょうを受賞じゅしょうしたニュースは世界せかいを驚おどろかせた。

News that a Japanese writer had won the Nobel Prize in Literature astonished the world.

Usage Two to know for Japan: 芥川賞 for literary fiction by newer writers, 直木賞 for popular fiction by established ones. 受賞する is to win a prize, 候補 to be shortlisted.

Remember it 文学 (literature) + 賞 (prize) → the prize given for literature.

その小説しょうせつは出版しゅっぱんから1ヶ月げつで百万部ひゃくまんぶを突破とっぱし、ベストセラーとなった。

The novel passed a million copies within a month of publication and became a bestseller.

Usage ベストセラーになる, ベストセラーランキング. Its counterpart ロングセラー is a Japanese-made English compound for a book that sells steadily for years.

Remember it ベスト (best) + セラー (seller) → the best-selling one.