Neko ‘Cat’ in Japanese Idioms (Meaning and Figure of Speech Analysis)

Abstract

Generally, idioms are formed with words related to the sense of taste, human body, color, numbers, growth, natural objects and animals. In this study, a Japanese idiom that is formed from neko ‘cat’ is discussed. This study is a qualitative research that aims to find out the lexical and idiomatical meaning of the idiom containing word neko and the figure of speech. The data are idioms with the word neko in 101 Japanese Idioms by Michael L. Maynard, and website (https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp). The results are that 13 idioms that use neko. Some idioms have a difference between lexical and idiomatic meaning. However, there is a link between the lexical and idiomatical meaning with the cultural and historical approach of the lexical used. Data contained in the 8 figure of speech Metaphor, namely neko mo shakushi mo (猫 も 杓 子 も), neko ni koban (猫に小判), neko no hitai (猫の額), neko ni matatabi (猫にまたたび), neko in katsuobushi (猫に鰹節), neko no kubi ni suzu o tsukeru (猫の首に鈴を付ける), neko no ko ippiki inai (猫の子一匹いない), neko o koroseba shichidai tataru (猫を殺せば七代祟る. Then 5 figure of speech are included in metonymy, namely neko no te mo karitai (猫の手も借りたい), neko o kaburu (猫 を か ぶ る), karite kita neko (借りてきた猫), neko o ou yori sakana o noke yo (猫を追うより魚をのけよ), and neko o ou yori sara o hike (猫を追うより皿を引け).