Make Your Point > Archived Issues > MONO NO AWARE
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connect this word to others:
I love how English swipes freely from other languages. It's like we're reaching our forks over our friends' plates, stealing bites of everything we didn't think to order and having a great time.
What's that on your plate, Japanese? You ordered the mono no aware? The sad beauty of impermanence? Looks good; I'll just take some for myself, thanks. And what did you order, German? Fre_____am? Secondhand embarrassment? I'll have some of that, too.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"MONO NO AWARE"
This term is Japanese for "being deeply moved by things," or more literally, "the sorrow of things."
If you write it in Japanese, it looks like this: 物の哀れ.
(The "mono" part, 物, means "things." The "no" part, の, means "of." And the "aware" part, 哀れ, means "sorrow or pathos," or more literally, "the 'ah' or 'oh' of surprise." It seems to be just a coincidence that this Japanese "aware" is identical in spelling, and close in meaning, to the English "aware.")
You can also translate "mono no aware" as "an empathy toward things," or "a sensitivity to ephemera (to things that quickly disappear)," or, somewhat less helpfully, "the 'ah-ness' of things."
We took this term into English around 1899, since it's a feeling we didn't yet have a name for. The feeling is that, when you're aware of how quickly things die or disappear, their beauty touches you more deeply.
In other words, mono no aware is the bittersweet feeling of enjoying or appreciating things while knowing that they won't last.
Pronunciation:
The Oxford English Dictionary currently recommends saying "MO no no uh WARR ee."
(To say the "WARR" part, rhyme it with "ARE" and "FAR.")
But, after I published this issue, I heard from a Japanese speaker who explained it is actually supposed to be "MO no no uh warr ay," with no emphasis on that second-to-last syllable, and with an "ay" sound as the last syllable, not an "ee" sound.
Now, if you're like me, you look at this term and you want to say it like it's English, "MON oh no uh WARE," as if it were related to words like "monochrome," and as if it had the English words "no" and "aware" in it. In the future, in fact, people might start accepting this phonetic English pronunciation. Until then, let's avoid it.
Part of speech:
Noun, the uncountable kind: "they were overwhelmed by mono no aware."
Other forms:
none
How to use it:
This rare term has an artistic, literary flavor.
For now, keep it in italics to show that it's foreign.
And since it's likely to be unfamiliar to your readers, you might want to gloss it for them: that is, include its meaning as a little aside. Let's see two examples of glossing. Here's J. T. Rimer: "the classic concept of mono no aware, that self-consciousness of the sad transience of all earthly things." And here's the New York Review of Books: "that other key element of Japanese aesthetics: mono no aware, the sadness of things."
You might ask, though, what's the use in a phrase that you have to define for your audience? You might even say, "Hey, Liesl, you told us to avoid defining terms as you use them. You said it's like grabbing people by the collar to shout 'I'M SMART' at them."
Touché. But let's make an exception in the name of sharing this incredibly beautiful term with others. Eventually, as it becomes more common, we won't need to gloss it.
examples:
"The Tale of Genji:... Hard to characterize, but full of poetry and mono no aware."
— Wintersweet, contributor to Everything2.com, 11 February 2000
"It happened to be the season of autumn when, in the Orient, the deer cries for its mate in the flaming maple glades of the forest, and a young man's heart is filled with what the Japanese call mono no aware wo shiru ('the Ah-ness of things')."
— Yei Theodora Ozaki, Romances of Old Japan, 1920
has this page helped you understand "mono no aware"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "mono no aware" without saying "sad appreciation" or "mixed joy."
try it out:
A band called Great Grandpa wrote a beautiful song called "Mono No Aware," which you can enjoy here.
Notice how the verses recall certain bittersweet images and memories. And then the chorus asks, "Do you feel this same thing that I do? Mono no aware."
If you were to add a few verses of your own to the song, what images or memories would they recall?
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing "What's the Word?"
On Reddit, r/whatstheword is a community of about 55,000 members: folks who gather to help each other out when they can't think of a particular word. "It's on the tip of my tongue," they say. Or, "This word might not even exist. Help!"
In each issue this month, check out a post from the community, and see if you can come up with the word or phrase in question. We'll work our way from relatively easy to extremely hard questions as the month goes on.
From the previous issue: "What's the word for a physical anagram? 'Lasagna' and 'ravioli' use the same ingredients, arranged differently, to form two different foods. Is there a word for this? For example, ravioli is just a _____ of lasagna, so let's not order both."
Answer: The best was "permutation." Other helpful responses included "variation," "reformulation," "rearrangement," "reconstitution," and "recombination."
Try this today: A community member asked, "Is there a word for 'visualize,' but for sounds?"
I'll share the answer in the upcoming issue, but if you can't wait, you can view the whole original thread here.
review this word:
1. A near opposite of MONO NO AWARE is
A. DERISION.
B. OBLIVION.
C. TREPIDATION.
2. The music in the old animated Charlotte's Web expresses a touch of mono no aware: _____
A. "A fair is a veritable smorgasbord."
B. "Chin up! Chin up!
Put a little laughter in your eyes.
Brave it! Save it!
Even though you're feeling otherwise."
C. "How very special are we
For just a moment to be
Part of life's eternal rhyme."
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
I love how English swipes freely from other languages. It's like we're reaching our forks over our friends' plates, stealing bites of everything we didn't think to order and having a great time.
"MONO NO AWARE" This term is Japanese for "being deeply moved by things," or more literally, "the sorrow of things."
"The Tale of Genji:... Hard to characterize, but full of poetry and mono no aware."
Explain the meaning of "mono no aware" without saying "sad appreciation" or "mixed joy."
A band called Great Grandpa wrote a beautiful song called "Mono No Aware," which you can enjoy here.
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of MONO NO AWARE is
|