Kaibun

Kaibun (回文; lit. circle sentence) is a Japanese equivalent of palindrome, or in other words, a sentence that read the same from the beginning to the end or from the end to the beginning. The unit of kaibun is mora since the Japanese language uses syllabaries, hiragana and katakana. Single word palidromes are not uncommon in Japanese. For example, Ku-ku (九九 9x9 matrix), Shi-n-bu-n-shi (新聞紙 newspaper), etc. So kaibun usually refers to a palindromic sentence, but a passage can be a kaibun too. The topic marker "wa" (は) can be treated as "ha" and small kana ゃ,ゅ and ょ are usually allowed to be interpreted as big kana や, ゆ and よ. In classics, diacritic marks are often ignored. Famous Kaibun
  • Ta-ke-ya-bu ya-ke-ta (竹薮焼けた) - A bamboo grove has been burned.
  • Wa-ta-shi ma-ke-ma-shi-ta-wa (私負けましたわ) - I have lost.
*Na-ga-ki yo-no to-ho-no ne-bu-ri-no mi-na me-za-me na-mi-no-ri-bu-ne-no o-to-no-yo-ki-ka-na (長き世の 遠の眠りの 皆目覚め 波乗り船の 音の良きかな) Tanka

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
aspectj
license plate
list of lord high treasurers
zonophone
portable stove
medical ethics
feijoa
albert bandura
emile berliner
jennifer garner
xia
thriller
lantern
bruce almighty
abel's theorem
peter yarrow
noel paul stookey
mary travers
lumbrical muscle
black patti records
te deum
national colours
adelina patti
national symbols
tol eressa
designer jeans
romeo records
sundering of the elves
silvertone records
heart sounds
herwin records
aortic valve
mitral valve
mill creek (ohio)
gloria foster
flexor digitorum profundus muscle
joe dassin
mill creek township, hamilton county, ohio
gigi fernndez
ransom everglades
thenar eminence
conventional wisdom
paymaster general
phaseolus