Monday, April 11, 2011

More on "kana" (哉).

I while back I was wondering whether the 切れ字 "kana" (哉) used in haiku is related to the ”かな(ぁ)" used now to indicate wondering. I'd read that as a kireji (cutting-word, 切れ字) it could end the verse and separate it from further verses in the same stream. Now I see in the (so reliable!) Wikipedia entry on kireji that it can also suggest "wonder"—though per the examples it seems to mean wonderment rather than wondering.

This I don't understand:
A kireji is typically positioned at the end of one of these three phrases. When it is placed at the end of the final phrase (i.e. the end of the verse), the kireji draws the reader back to the beginning, initiating a circular pattern.
How exactly does it do that? どうしてかな。面白い哉!

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