Chapter 151Sakehe, Refrains, and Verse Structure

151.1 Refrain and manner of singing

Sakehe names the recurring refrain of a divine epic, but can also include its melody, rhythm, and overall manner of singing. Tamura's Saru dictionary records both senses. It describes refrains inserted at roughly established points, while spoken passages within or at the end of the performance lack them Tamura (1996: s.vv. sáke, sákehe).

Placement varies. Nakagawa distinguishes refrains at the beginning of a line, at its end, on an independent line, and in combinations of these positions. Repetition may follow every line or occur less regularly; some performances alternate two refrains Nakagawa (2024: 579–581, §§24.5.1–24.5.2).

151.2 A refrain within the rhythmic line

A short refrain can belong to the same intonational unit as the words of the story. Nakagawa's fox-song excerpt has final CICI on each of these three lines Nakagawa (2024: 579, example 1246).

Nakagawa counts five, five, and seven syllables respectively, including the refrain. This treatment differs from analyses that exclude a refrain from the counted text. The boundaries of a printed line, a rhythmic unit, and an intonational unit must therefore be identified for each performance Nakagawa (2024: 574, 579–581).

151.3 Meaning, alternation, and narrator changes

Chiri's classification, quoted by Nakagawa, includes refrains associated with voices, characteristic actions or properties, situations in a story, and cries or calls. Some suggest who is speaking; many have become opaque Nakagawa (2024: 582–584, citing Chiri 1954a:166–168).

A refrain need not remain constant throughout a story. Nakagawa reports a tale in which it changes as the narrator changes from one bird to another. He also gives Chitose lines alternating HUNNAO and NOWAO. Across traditions, the same story can have different refrains, and the same refrain can accompany different stories Nakagawa (2024: 581, example 1249; 583–584, citing Kindaichi 1931a:149–155).

Nakagawa also identifies “secondary refrains”: recurring phrases embedded in the story's text that may depart from its usual grammar. His analysis of the fox song in Chiri Yukie's collection preserves those departures as part of the particular expression Nakagawa (2024: 584, §24.5.5).

151.4 Syllable counting and accent

Ainu metrical descriptions count syllables. Okuda distinguishes organization centered on syllable count from organization centered on the placement of accent within the opening part of a line. In his latter analysis, initial accent in a four-syllable line corresponds to accent on either of the first two syllables in a five-syllable line. His review describes five-syllable tendencies and several techniques for adjusting the wording, including added particles, expanded forms, and ki constructions Okuda (2022: §§2.1, 3.2–3.4).

The published samples contain variation. In Hatozawa Wateke's Amamecikappo, Okuda counts 90 lines apart from refrains: 14 with four syllables, 49 with five, 23 with six, and four with seven. Twelve of the fourteen four-syllable lines have initial accent. Other samples include lines of eight or nine syllables Okuda (2022: §3.3).

Wateke's heroic epic Tumi suykere wenpe suykere uses both organizations within one performance, differentiated by musical rhythm. Okuda leaves their wider geographical distribution open Okuda (2022: §5.2). For grammatical expansions in verse, see Chapter 153 (Poetic and Elevated Language); for recurrent paired phrases, see Chapter 152 (Parallelism, Couplets, and Paired Expressions).

Okuda distinguishes recurrent sounds from a metrical requirement. He reports no obligatory rhyme or alliteration scheme, while quoting Philippi's observation that some alliteration may be consciously cultivated Okuda (2022: §2.2, citing Philippi 1979).