「受験生川柳」に見る語彙表現と意味的特徴の一断面

Abstract

The public has favored Senryu as one of the most popular forms of historical written arts in which the public can participate. Even now in the present day, Senryu contests such as “Office Workers’ Senryu” are thoroughly enjoyed by participants and spectators alike. Recently, the field of Japanese education has been spotlighting Senryu. For instance, cases where instructors introduced Senryu during their classes have been reported. Previous researches show that Senryu, as a target of appreciation, is shorter than essays and novels while being plainer than Haikus, which are composed in a 5󰠏7󰠏5 syllabic format like Senryu. Also, researchers claim using Senryu could increase motivation through its unique humor and cultural aspects that can hint at contemporary Japan. Meanwhile, additional researches indicate that writing Senryu by oneself can be utilized as an effective way for the learners of the Japanese language to become accustomed to its rhythm. The current research focuses explicitly on the lexical expressions of Senryu. That is, as most of the Senryu contests such as “Office Workers’ Senryu”, “Women’s Senryu”, and “Elderly Peoples’ Senryu” have clear targets and subjects, it is not only possible to collect lexical expressions particular in the specific field, but also it demonstrates real󰠏life semantic properties the lexical interpretation alone cannot exhibit. The research method is as follows. First, researchers extracted frequently󰠏used words to study the tendencies of those words. Next, researchers attempted to analyze the semantic properties of the words in the works by categorizing the works from the point of the topic. As a result, researchers could see a lexical selection tendency unique to the “Examination Students Senryu”. As for the topics, it appeared that Senryu encompassed a wide range of topics from social events and trends to religion and culture.