Editing Haiku (section)

===''On''===
{{Main|On (Japanese prosody)}}
In comparison with English verse typically characterized by syllabic [[Meter (poetry)#English|meter]], Japanese verse counts sound units known as ''on'' or [[Mora (linguistics)|mora]]e. Traditional haiku is usually [[fixed verse]] that consists of 17 ''on'', in three phrases of five, seven, and five ''on'', respectively. Among modern poems, traditionalist haiku continue to use the 5-7-5 pattern while free form haiku do not.<ref name="literary encyclopedia">{{cite book |last1=Jonsson |first1=Herbert |title=The Literary Encyclopedia |date=September 2019 |publisher=The Literary Dictionary Company Limited |url=https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19528 |access-date=11 July 2024 |chapter=Modern Haiku}}</ref> However, one of the [[#Examples|examples below]] illustrates that traditional haiku masters were not always constrained by the 5-7-5 pattern either. The free form haiku was advocated for by [[Ogiwara Seisensui]] and his disciples.<!-- This information is summarized from Keene's "Dawn to the West" and various encyclopedia articles found at https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%BF%B3%E5%8F%A5-112775 Proper citations to be added later. -->

Although the word ''on'' is sometimes translated as "syllable", the true meaning is more nuanced. One ''on'' in Japanese is counted for a short syllable, two for an [[Vowel length|elongated vowel]] or [[Gemination|doubled consonant]], and one for an "n" at the end of a syllable. Thus, the word "haibun", though counted as two syllables in English, is counted as four ''on'' in Japanese (ha-i-bu-n); and the word "''on''" itself, which English-speakers would view as a single syllable, comprises two ''on'': the short vowel '''o''' and the [[b:Japanese/Pronunciation#Moraic nasal|moraic nasal]] '''[[Japanese phonology#Moraic nasal|n]]'''. This is illustrated by the Issa haiku below, which contains 17 ''on'' but only 15 syllables. Conversely, some [[Yōon|sounds]], such as "kyo" ({{nihongo2|きょ}}) may look like two syllables to English speakers but are in fact a single ''on'' (as well as a single syllable) in Japanese.

In 1973, the [[Haiku Society of America]] noted that the norm for writers of [[haiku in English]] was to use 17 syllables, but they also noted a trend toward shorter haiku.<ref name="HSA defs">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414105733/http://www.hsa-haiku.org/archives/HSA_Definitions_2004.html|archive-date=14 April 2021|title=Official Definitions of Haiku and Related Terms|publisher=[[Haiku Society of America]]}}</ref> According to the society, about 12 syllables in English approximates the duration of 17 Japanese ''on''.<ref name="HSA defs"/>