15 April 2016

momomo?

Japanese has a relatively small number of sounds, which leads to a large number of homophones.

にわにわにわにわとりがいる
That's four 'niwa's all in a row.

Written in kanji, the sentence is immediately understandable:
庭には二羽鶏がいる。
In the garden there are two chickens.

Not quite as long, but, crossing off the first ni and the watoriga gives:
わにわにわにいる
鰐は庭にいる。
The crocodile is in the garden.

In a similar vein, but with a single kana repeated:
すもももももももものうち
李も桃も桃のうち
Plums and peaches are both types of peach
Which unfortunately isn't actually true.

Taking things a bit further:
もももももももももまたもももももももももももともももいろいろ

桃もモモ 腿もモモまた 百もモモ 桃腿百と モモも色々
A peach is 'momo', thighs are also 'momo', and a hundred is also 'momo'; peaches, thighs and hundreds: various 'momo's

Try saying that with a mouth full of marbles. At least it's true, but perhaps a bit contrived!

Reading 百 as 'momo' is from the old Japanese number system, which will be the subject of a future post.

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