Kaeru ga Naku kara Kaero (蛙が鳴くから帰ろ)

Sep 7, 2019 15:19
Kaeru ga Naku kara Kaero

One of the most famous traditional children's songs in Japan is 'kaeru ga naku kara kaero' (蛙が鳴くから帰ろ).

'Kaeru' (蛙) means "frog," 'naku' (鳴く) means "call/sing/croak," 'kara' (から) is a causal conjunction, and 'kaero' (帰ろ) means "(let's) go home."

That is to say, the literal meaning of this song is "let's go home because frogs are croaking."

Frogs are a nocturnal animal that begins to croak in the evening, so the sound can be a sign for the time that childrens go home.

In addition, this song is also a pun -- both 'kaeru' (蛙 - "frog") and 'kaeru' (帰る - "to go home") have the same sound.
蛙が鳴くから帰ろ

有名なわらべうたに、「蛙が鳴くから帰ろ」があります。

「蛙」は "frog"、「鳴く」は "call/sing/croak"、「から」は原因・理由を表す接続助詞、「帰ろ」は "(let's) go home" を意味します。

すなわち、この歌の文字どおりの意味は "let's go home because frogs are croaking" となります。

蛙は夜行性動物で、夜になると活発に鳴き始めるため、子どもが家に帰る時間の合図になり得るというわけです。

また、"frog" を意味する「蛙」と "to go home" を意味する「帰る」は同音であり、ダジャレにもなっています。
No. 1 シャル❇️'s correction
  • Frogs are a nocturnal animal that begins to croak in the evening, so the sound can be a sign for the time that childrens go home.
  • Frogs are nocturnal animals that begin to croak in the evening, so the sound can be a signal for the children to go home.
     Amphibian, rather than 'animal' would be better.
Toru
Thank you for the correction! :)

My pleasure
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