UNDER TVÅ MÅNAR En semantisk kartläggning av måne som ett kigo

Abstract

This essay will examine the seasonal word known as kigo 季語 which mainly appears in the japanese haiku. The purpose is to offer a suggestion of how a systematic explanation of the semantic peculiarities of kigo could be conducted. The object of this semantic analysis is the kigo tsuki 月 (moon). The main focus of this essay is to examine this kigo on the premises of being part of a particular sort of semantic domain that is constituted by the Japanese haiku tradition and the existence of a lexicon of seasonal words called saijiki 歳時記. Furthermore certain semantic relations which can be observed within the framework of this semantic domain will be pinpointed. In terms of these semantic relations, the essay intends to clarify differences in the meaning of the word moon in its broader sense and the word perceived as a kigo. The analysis is based on a distinction between semantic knowledge and cultural knowledge, which in this essay will take the form of what will be called a ‘semantic category’ and a ‘kigo-category’. In order to provide a clear explanation of the semantic qualities of the kigo, illustrations of semantic fields are also presented.