Aspects of Phonetic Tendencies in Era Names

Abstract

The new era Reiwa started on the first of May, 2019 in Japan. The system of era-naming in Japan began in A.D. 645, and there have been a total of 248 era names. There are some rules that must be followed when deciding era names such as referring to classical literature and spelling it using two kanji characters. Though the rules vary from ancient times to modern periods, it seems universal that era-naming is an important ceremony for the vision of a glorious future. Era names tend to require positive and holy meanings in the choice of kanji characters as well as the pronunciation. This paper investigates all era names in Japan by typing them in phonetic symbols and categorizing them to analyze rhythm patterns and phonemes. Some tendencies of era-naming are discussed by comparing previous studies of sound symbolism which is often found in onomatopoeia.