Senaka-ga kayui! Chotto kaite-kurenai? (My back's itchy! Could you give it a bit of a scratch?)

Situation 1: Mr. and Mrs. Shiba are at home.

夫：背中がかゆい！ちょっと掻いてくれない？

妻：うん。...あ、さっき「孫の手」で掻いたでしょ！こんなに掻きむしっちゃだめよ 。

Otto: Senaka-ga kayui! Chotto kaite-kurenai?

Tsuma: Un. ... A, sakki "mago-no te"-de kaita-desho! Konna-ni kaki-mushitcha dame-yo.

Husband: My back itches! Will you scratch here?

Wife: OK. ... Oh, you must have scratched it earlier with a backscratcher! You shouldn't go at it as hard as that.

Today, we will introduce some homonyms of かく. 書(か)くis a transitive verb that means to write letters or create anything written with letters, e.g., 詩(し, poems), 小説(しょうせつ, novels) or 台本 (だいほん, script). When drawing a picture, the same verb, かく, is used, but the kanji is different and is written as 描く, e.g., 趣味 (しゅみ)は油絵(あぶらえ)を描(か)くことです (My hobby is painting in oils). Another かく— 掻く in kanji — means "to scratch" a part of the body, as in Situation 1. The wife's 掻きむしる means "to scratch too much." 掻くand 掻きむしる are usually used when a part of the body is itchy, but they have other uses. For example, when a person feels shy or embarrassed, they can use: 彼(かれ)はあまりほめられたので、てれて、しきりに頭(あたま)を掻いていた (As so many people kept praising him, he felt shy and kept scratching his head). When a person is in deep agony, it is expressed as follows: 彼は答(こた)えることができず、頭を掻きむしるばかりだった (He couldn't answer and did nothing but scratch his head). 孫(まご)の手(て), which the wife uses in Situation 1, literally a "grandchild's hand," means a backscratcher. The pitch accent of all the かく above is high-low.

Situation 2: In class, the teacher gives a speech to his class of third-grade high school students.

教師：このクラスは、受験を終えた者がほとんどですが、卒業式まで緊張を欠くことのないよう、毎日をきちんと 過ごしてほしいと思います。

Kyooshi: Kono kurasu-wa, juken-o oeta mono-ga hotondo-desu-ga, sotsugyōshiki-made kinchō-o kaku koto-no nai-yō, mainichi-o kichin-to sugoshite-hoshii-to omoimasu.

Teacher: Most of you have finished the entrance exams, but I want you to stay alert and carry on acting responsibly right up until the day of the graduation ceremony.

かく in Situation 2 is the transitive verb 欠く(to lack), whose pitch accent is low-high, the opposite of those in Situation 1. Xを欠くis a formal expression used in written language or conversations with serious themes, as in Situation 2. Its intransitive version is Xに欠ける, as in 緊張感(きんちょうかん)に欠ける (lacks a tense atmosphere).

Bonus Dialogue: At home, Takako is writing something. Her brother, Mitsuo, talks to her.

光男：たか子(こ)、さっきから、よく勉強(べんきょう)しているなあ。

たか子：勉強しているんじゃなくて、小説(しょうせつ)書(か)いているのよ。私(わたし)将来(しょうらい)、小説家(か)に なるんだ。

光男：この前(まえ)、「画家(がか)になる」って言(い)わなかった っけ？

たか子：うん。画家にもなりたい。絵(え)を描(か)くの、好(す)きだから。

光男：どんな分野(ぶんや)でも、芸術家(げいじゅつか)になるのは、大変(たいへん)なんだぞ。ベートーベンなんか、 いつも頭(あたま)を掻(か)きむしっていたらしい。 たか子、わかってるのかなあ？

たか子：お兄(にい)ちゃんは、何(なに)になりたいの？

光男：もちろん、ゲームクリエーターだよ。

たか子：じゃあ、私がお兄ちゃんのゲームの原作(げんさく)の ストーリーを書いてあげる。一緒(いっしょ)に名作 (めいさく)を出(だ)そうね。

光男：よーし、十年後(じゅうねんご)が楽(たの)しみだな。

Mitsuo: Takako, you've been studying so hard.

Takako: I've not been studying but writing a novel. I'm going to be a novelist in the future.

Mitsuo: Didn't you say the other day that you were going to be a painter?

Takako: Sure, I want to be a painter, too. I like drawing pictures.

Mitsuo: Becoming an artist is quite difficult, whatever the field. Beethoven is said to have always been tearing his hair out. I wonder if you realize that, Takako.

Takako: What do you want to be, (big brother) Mitsuo?

Mitsuo: A game creator, of course.

Takako: Well then, I'll write an original story for your game. Let's produce a masterpiece together.

Mitsuo: OK! I'm looking forward to that in 10 years' time!