Vowel Sequences in Poetry : Occurrence in Japanese

This paper gives a brief analysis of the frequency of occurrence of vowel sequences (Ws) in a selectionof written Japanese poems. Vance (1987) hints at a tendency forjiamari [extra-unit] lines to contain longsyllables more frequently than standard-length lines. This depends, of course, on the definition ofsyllable. The present study finds a tendency for jiamari lines to contain Ws, but these tend (withnotable exceptions) to straddle morphological boundaries and are thus not typical syllables or diphthongsin the conventional sense. There are further questions, but these must await future acoustical analyses of Ws and timing in spoken poems