New Four-Character Idioms (Free Trial Version)
[...] The trees of heaven-skin that sickened the woodcutter beetles, the youthful lakes, the stern-eyed goats, the miracle of the centipede-face, the virgin eagle wearing sorrow-wings instead of wings and love instead of bare feet, the boy who spat out the world one by one from a straw and laughed heartily, and the riverbed of infant stones were also there. [...]
-- V. Khlebnikov, 'The Temptation of the Sinner'
V. Khlebnikov's "Neologisms"
This passage is from the debut work of the founder of 20th-century Russian poetry, Velimir Khlebnikov, titled 'The Temptation of the Sinner' (1908). This work uses a "vast number of neologisms" (ibid., p. 73), and the author, Professor Ikuo Kameyama, writes about them as follows--
[...] A series of neologisms such as "truth-flower-blooming," "centipede-faced," "infant-stoned," "doubt-winged," "thorn-gazed," "wet-voiced," "silent-tailed," and "thought-earthed" break through the rigid one-sidedness of existing adjectives, both semantically and phonologically, and one cannot deny the strength of the influence they brought to their few readers.
Of these, only "centipede-faced" and "infant-stoned" are included in the opening quote, but in 'The Temptation of the Sinner', other neologisms such as "truth-flower-blooming," "doubt-winged," "thorn-gazed," "wet-voiced," "silent-tailed," and "thought-earthed" are used, and it is said that they had a considerable influence on the "few readers."
Incidentally, this work was written in 1908, and since Surrealism, a literature close to this, was born in 1924 (or 1919), it preceded it. It is also a unique and fascinating text that can rival a piece from A. Breton's 'Melting Fish', the New Testament of "Laughing Art."
The Creation of "Neologisms"
In 'A Slap in the Face of Public Taste', the anthology of the Russian Futurists, of which Khlebnikov was a central figure, it says--
1. Increase the vocabulary of the dictionary with free words and derivatives. (Creation of neologisms)
2. Thoroughly hate the language that has existed until now.
The phrasing of the second point, "thoroughly hate the language that has existed until now," is quite harsh, but I also think that existing language is boring. It has been used so many times that I am tired of hearing it. (I will stop myself from quoting Satin from Gorky's 'The Lower Depths' here.) And, "1. Increase the vocabulary of the dictionary with free words and derivatives. (Creation of neologisms)" If you are tired of existing words, you must create new ones. Thus, in my 'If You Hand Over Your Brain's Charge to God, What About You?', I created a large number of neologisms. It is said that Khlebnikov created tens of thousands (!) of neologisms in his lifetime, and as an homage to him, there is a chapter titled "No. 15 -- Or, To V. Khlebnikov --." This is 2-3 pages long, but every word is a neologism. I created everything anew.
"Zaum" (Trans-sense)
While I am at it, I will introduce "Zaum," an important concept of Russian Futurism. According to Russian literature researcher Professor Hiroyuki Ozawa--
"Zaum" (заумь) is a neologism based on the phrase "za um" (beyond reason), and is a signifier for "zaumny yazyk" (language beyond reason), that is, incomprehensible neologisms in general (for this reason, it is sometimes loosely translated as "trans-sense language").
As stated, Zaum is "language beyond reason," but I will not touch upon "beyond reason" here. What I want now is "incomprehensible neologisms in general." Incidentally, the book cites "duil bul shishuil" (p. 56) as an example, which can be called an abstract word composed only of sounds. In my previous post, 'New Proverbs' (Free Trial Version), there is one called <36. Uchinuwakeenyoobyo>, which is also Zaum. (From there to 40, they are all Zaum.) This is in hiragana, but there are also neologisms in kanji, and I would like to show them in this 'New Four-Character Idioms' (Free Trial Version).
About 'New Four-Character Idioms'
The neologisms in kanji were initially two or three characters long, but as I made them, they naturally became "four characters." The reason is simple: that is the culture of the Japanese language. Or rather, I use the four-character idiom as a "form" for neologisms.
I previously introduced Zaum as "incomprehensible neologisms in general," but there are many in New Four-Character Idioms that seem (or are) understandable. However, when coining words in kanji, I use kanji whose readings or meanings I do not know. I use them solely for the atmosphere they possess. Therefore, even if you ask me about the meaning or usage of the New Four-Character Idioms, I do not know (!). Please think about their interpretations yourself (and enjoy them). You are also welcome to write them in the comments section or on your own articles.
Since this is a free trial version, I will include 30 simple New Four-Character Idioms in Japanese. After that, I will include 10 New Four-Character Idioms in Chinese, and then 5 New Four-Character Idioms in unknown "kanji." Most of these were used (in prose/flow) in 'If You...', but I use about 200 New Four-Character Idioms in that work (including those with more than four characters). This time, I am showing you just a small portion of them.
In the completed version of 'New Four-Character Idioms' (the work for sale), I plan to create another 100 to 200, for a total of about 300 to 400. The selling price is planned to be around 300 to 400 yen. (So, it is 1 yen per idiom! This work is also like a "side job.") However, literarily and artistically, I hope to make it a "classic" of neologisms.
Well, the introduction has become long, but please enjoy 'New Four-Character Idioms'--
New Four-Character Idioms
Brain-Butt-Chaos-Happiness
Tree-Meat-Snow-Blood
Legend-Fish-Water-Answer
Dream-Water-Dream-Ice
Five-Deep-Seven-Shadows
Earth-Axis-Powder-Snow
Sinking-Insect-Blind-Star
Generation-Generation-Excluding-Mourning
Wailing-Drool-Barbarian-Convulsion
Void-Blue-Strike-Stench
Filthy-Truth-Filthy-Flower
Absolute-Beauty-Apology-Milk
Beauty-Death-Electricity-Sleep
Estranged-Fish-Severed-Anguish
Oil-Search-Tooth-Underworld
Claw-Night-Fog-Nail
Deeply Indulgent, Suddenly Holy
Glamorous, Wicked, Celebrating, Demon
Crimson, Not, Apple, Zero
Body, Filthy, Offense, Glass
Hidden, Quiet, Concubine, Cold
Lofty, Lofty, Crab, Crab
Moth, Erupt, Explode, Remove
Wisdom, Fart, Wisdom, Feces
Absolute, Sudden, Death, Laughter
Face, Flute, Spirit, Spirit
Ten, Helmet, Art, Eyebrow
Man, Spin, Side, Change
Stand, Game, Flute, Sign
Net, Black, Wine, Lottery
New Four-Character Idioms in Chinese
New four-character idioms using unknown "kanji"
This concludes the "New Four-Character Idioms" (Free Trial Version). How was it?
There were about 40 in total this time, but the complete version (the product for sale) will contain 300 to 400. The overall composition is planned to be about half Japanese, one-quarter Chinese, and one-quarter unknown "kanji." If you liked it, please consider purchasing the full version.
I started creating neologisms under the influence of the Russian Futurist Khlebnikov, but gradually I began creating them in Chinese as well. Chinese characters often have absurdly high stroke counts, are intense, charming, or even unsettling, making them perfect for creating neologisms. "Literature of laughter" aims to write about funny things, but that gradually became"using funny characters."(Coincidentally, the Russian Futurists were also obsessed with "the characters themselves.") And, I think, perhaps he who masters kanji masters the "literature of laughter."
Regarding what I have been calling "unknown 'kanji'" up to this point, I will not be touching upon it here. However, if you are still interested in knowing more, please be sure to take a look at the following article—
I had been reading this article by Uka Yamamoto even before I started on note, and I referred to it quite a bit when writing "If for You...". One of the pieces in this work is actually written using only the characters found in this article. If this article hadn't existed, "If for You..." might have turned out to be something else entirely. It remains one of my top favorite articles even now. (The articles by the people known as "Omocoro" mentioned within it are also highly recommended.) Thank you very much, Uka Yamamoto!
Lastly. While I use text as the essence (medium) of "literature of laughter," at present, it is printed text. However, Japan has the ultimate form of character art known as "shodo" (calligraphy). The Russian Futurists also valued handwritten poetry (Russian Futurism is an ancestor of "shoge" or comedy performance), but calligraphy is truly amazing—
いいなと思ったら応援しよう！
僕はチップなんて要りません！