Saturday, June 29, 2013

Goroawase (語呂合わせ)


Goroawase is an especially common form of Japanese wordplay whereby homophonous words (a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning) are associated with a given series of letters, numbers or symbols, in order to associate a new meaning with that series.
Many businesses use goroawase techniques to create some interesting telephone numbers –such as combinations that describe the services they provide- to help potential customers to remember the number.

Pronunciation (In addition to these pronunciations, similar sounds can be used in exceptional cases.)

0  (zero, rei, maru, o, wa)
1  (ichi, i, hitotsu, hi )
2  (ni, futatsu, fu)
3  (san, sa, mittsu, mi)
4  (shi, yottsu, yon, yo)
5  (go, ko, itsutsu, itsu)
6  (roku, ro, muttsu, mu)
7  (shichi, nana, nanatsu, na)
8  (hachi, ha, yattsu, ya)
9  (kyuu, ku, gu, kokonotsu, ko)
10  (juu, ju, tou, to)

Examples:
4-6-4-9
Yo-ro-shi-ku (Nice to meet you)
0-1-4-1
o-i-shi-i (delicious)
1-5
Ichi-go (strawberry)
3-9
San-kyu (thank you)

The phone number of a steak house can be: 5501-0290
Ko-ko-wa-ichi(ban) o-ni-ku-o(ishii)
(Lit. The best and most delicious meat is served here.)

The phone number of a  flower shop can be: 2525-8703
Ni-ko-ni-ko ha-na-wa-sa(kura)

(Lit. A smiling flower is a cherry blossom.)

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