Transcriber’s Note: Some of the kanji characters in this book appear
to have no modern equivalent and a close but not identical character--a
“best guess”--has been substituted. These are shown e.g. {蹄}.
Illustrations of the characters are included in the HTML version.
The author’s list of emendations has not been addressed: it seems more
useful to the reader left as it is.
PRIMITIVE & MEDIAEVAL
JAPANESE TEXTS
TRANSLITERATED INTO ROMAN WITH INTRODUCTIONS
NOTES AND GLOSSARIES
BY
FREDERICK VICTOR DICKINS, C.B.
SOMETIME REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
WITH A COMPANION VOLUME OF TRANSLATIONS
反以將之說詳而學博
MENCIUS 也約說
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1906
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH
NEW YORK AND TORONTO
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
SIR ERNEST SATOW, G.C.M.G.
MINISTER TO CHINA
SOMETIME MINISTER TO JAPAN
HI NI MUKAHI
HI NO DE NO HIKARI
HI NO IRI NO
HINA NI I-WATASHITE
HIZHIRI SHIRUSERI
KASANE-GOHI [五ひ] KA MO
PREFACE
The following texts are exact transliterations of the _Kana yomi_ of
the Manyôshiu, and of the _yomi_ of the mixed Japanese script of the
Taketori Monogatari, the Preface to the Kokinwakashiu, and Takasago,
according to the system devised by Sir Ernest Satow and adopted by
Professor Chamberlain.
The translations of the texts are given in a companion volume, where
full explanatory introductions and notes will be found.
The following abbreviations are employed: (K.) Professor Chamberlain’s
translation of the Kojiki; (N.) Dr. Aston’s translation of the Nihongi;
(Fl.) Professor Florenz’s part translation of the Nihongi; (Br.)
Captain Brinkley’s Japanese-English Dictionary; (I.) Kotoba no Izumi;
(T.A.S.J.) Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.
The texts contained in the present volume are:--
1. The _nagauta_ or _chôka_ (long lays) of the Manyôshiu, the earliest
of the Japanese Anthologies, compiled about 760 A.D., with their
_kaheshi uta_ or _hanka_ (envoys). The text used is that of Kamochi
Masazumi in his magnificent edition, Manyôshiu Kogi, the Ancient
Meaning of the Manyôshiu, written during the first half of the
nineteenth century but published in 1879.
2. The Taketori Monogatari, Story of the Old Wicker-worker. The text
used is that of Tanaka Daishiu, published about 1838.
3. The Preface of Ki no Tsurayuki to his famous Anthology--the second
of the old anthologies--known as Kokinwakashiu--Anthology of Japanese
Verse Old and New--written about 922 A.D. The text is that of Kaneko
Genshin in his edition of 1903.
4. The _utahi_ of Takasago, perhaps the earliest of the medieval
miracle-plays (Nô), composed in the fifteenth century. The text used is
that of the Yôkyoku Tsûge, edited by Ohowada Kenjiu, and published by
the Hakubunkwan in 22 Meiji (1889).
Appended to 1. are some _tanka_ from the Kokinshiu and the Hyakunin
Isshiu (1214 A.D.), and in the volume of translations examples of
_hokku_ or the half-stanza, the so-called Japanese epigram, are given
with their translations.
A careful perusal, twice or thrice repeated, of the short grammar
and the following section on the Language of the Manyôshiu comprised
in the Introduction, with the aid of the List of Makura Kotoba, the
Glossary, and the companion volume of translations, will meet nearly
all the difficulties of the _romanized_ texts, and enable the reader to
appreciate sufficiently the charm of these ancient lays, of which the
more unique elements escape translation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
EMENDATIONS viii
INTRODUCTION (Short Grammar, Language, Script) ix
SPECIMEN OF SCRIPT xxxv
MAP OF THE WORLD, AS KNOWN TO THE JAPANESE OF THE MYTHICAL ERA xxxvi
(By kind permission of Professor Chamberlain, from his
translation of the Kozhiki, being the Supplement to vol.
x of the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.)
MOTTO OF THE AUTHOR OF THE KOGI PREFIXED TO THAT WORK _to face page_ 1
MANYÔSHIU 1
KOZHIKI UTA 194
NIHONGI UTA 194
KOKINSHIU UTA 195
HIYAKUNIN UTA 196
INTRODUCTION TO TAKETORI 198
TAKETORI 200
KOKINSHIU ZHIYO 240
TAKASAGO 246
MAKURA KOTOBA 257
GLOSSARY 279
APPENDIX I. 333
” II. ADDENDA TO MAKURA KOTOBA 334
” III. ADDENDA TO GLOSSARY 337
EMENDATIONS
For the necessity of these emendations I am wholly responsible.
In a few of the earlier lays the lines are not properly indented.
In one or two cases the category is wrongly printed as part of the
_dai_--as under Lay 1.
In a very few instances a capital letter is mistakenly used--thus
_Tsuma_ for _tsuma_.
In the following instances it is better to print place-names with
initial capital--Kashihara, Ohotsu, Shirokane, Chitose, Kagu, Katsu,
Tagi, Kamu, Yuki.
Where _eta_ is found it should be read _eba_.
Some few cases of _u_ for _a_, _u_ for _n_, _u_ for _i_, _a_ for
_o_, _e_ for _i_, or the reverse, occur--they are quite obvious.
Occasionally words are joined which on the whole are better separated,
as _Kata nashi_, or the reverse.
MANYÔSHIU.
Lay 20, 4, _omi_, dele _o_.
24, 62 n., for _yum ino_ read _yumi no_.
26, 65, for _wo_ read _mo_.
27, 52, for _imo gara_ read _imo ga na_.
28, 56, for _no_ read _ni_.
29, n. 3, dele (hauka I).
36, 6, for _Fugi_ read _Fuji_.
69, 20, for _kaha_ read _kuha_.
100 (_dai_), read _i tsu tose_.
104, 29, read _taharete_.
105, 41, read _haha_.
107 (_dai_), read _Naniha_.
113, 8, read _kagahi_.
123, 16, for _momo_ read _onomo_.
124, 11, for _hitase_ read _hitasa_.
124, 20, for _skikame_ read _shikame_.
126, 12, for _aho_ read _ahi_.
165, 7, for _afuteshi_, read _afubeshi_.
166, 10, for _kimi_ read _kuni_.
195, 4, for _mi_ read _nu_.
196, 33, } for _nakazu_ read _nakayu_.
180, 8, }
Page 147 above 212 insert--MAKI XVII, KAMI. Same heading to pp. 149, 151.
Lay 221, 28, for _no_ read _mo_.
223, 51, for _yoki_ read _yohi_.
230, 17, for _hashike_ read _hashiki_.
263, 53 n., for ‘lightly’ read ‘gravely, seriously’.
Page 194, l. 5, for _no_ read _ni_.
200, l. 7, for _to_ read _wo_.
201, last line, for oha read oho.
205, l. 13, read _notamahamu_.
206, l. 5, read _nagareki_.
207, l. 9, for _mi_ read _no_.
224, n. 3, for ‘right’ read ‘night’.
237, bottom line, read _Hitori_.
238, l. 8, _mono hito goto_ is better.
239, l. 8 (from bottom), read _gushite_.
245, l. 6, for _niho_ read _nihohi_.
INTRODUCTION
SHORT GRAMMAR OF OLD JAPANESE
The pronunciation of Old Japanese follows a very simple scheme. There
are the five vowels, _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_, and no diphthongs, and
the following consonants and digraphs _b_, _ch_, _d_, _dz_, _f_, _g_,
_h_, _j_, _k_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _s_, _sh_, _t_, _ts_, _w_, _y_, _z_,
_zh_. The syllables are all open, and consist of
(1) The five vowels.
(2) _b_, _k_, _m_, _n_, _r_, followed by all the vowels.
(3) _s_, _y_, _z_, followed by _a_, _e_, _o_, _u_.
(4) _h_, _w_, followed by _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_.
(5) _d_, _t_, followed by _a_, _e_, _o_.
(6) _f_, followed by _i_, _u_.
(7) _ch_, _j_, _sh_, _zh_, followed by _i_.
(8) _ts_, _dz_, followed by _u_.
Sixty-four open syllables in all, out of 105 possible ones, of which
and their various agglutinations the whole language is made up.
The vowels are pronounced as in Italian, _a_ being the accented _a_,
_e_ and _o_ the open sounds. The vowel _u_ is English _u_ in _put_,
never as in _rut_ or _lute_. The vowels _a_, _e_, _o_ are half-long,
_i_ and _u_ are shorter, and _u_ shortest of all. Value is given
to each syllable, subject as above, with scarcely any ictus (as in
French), but the last syllable of a word, especially in _u_, is always
weakest, and the penultimate rather the strongest.
The consonants are pronounced as in English, _h_ well aspirated, but
rather forward, even between vowels, _z_ as in _zany_, _zh_ as the _s_
in _pleasure_, _f_ may have descended from an original _p_, with _h_
and _w_.
The scheme, according to that of the _Oxford Dictionary_, would be--
a a
e e
i i
o o
u u
b b
ch tʃ
d d
dz dz
f f
g g
h h
j dʒ
k k
m m
n n
r r
s s
sh ʃ
t t
ts ts
w w
y y
z z
zh ʒ
The Chinese and Japanese languages differ from Aryan and Semitic forms
of speech in the total absence of all concords dependent upon number,
person, case, and gender, in the like default of relative words, and
(from Aryan speech) in the absence of _narratio obliqua_. They further
differ in the almost complete absence of any morphological moods or
tenses. Chinese has, broadly speaking, no accidence at all; the grammar
is a syntax teaching the right order and use of vocables (used as
words), double vocables (constituting words), and the few form-words
(empty words the Chinese call them) which serve as variously connective
particles. In Japanese there is a very scanty accidence of the few
adjectives the language possesses, and a more complete one of the verb;
but the verbal forms are all (with an exception or two) resolvable
into locutions, more or less agglutinated, scarcely constituting true
inflexions. Hence, morphologically, even in Japanese there is neither
mood nor tense, but there is an approach to both of the highest value
to the language, giving it, in conjunction with a goodly number of
particles, an articulation and plasticity wanting to Chinese. From the
above considerations it will be readily understood that the power of
expression even in Japanese is far inferior to that of Western speech.
The imagery is, of necessity, extremely limited in range and flat in
tone. It seems to me, however, of greater range and higher quality than
in Chinese. But neither Chinese nor Japanese possesses a tithe of the
capacity of Aryan and Semitic languages to express human thought and
feeling, and describe the works of man or the appearances of nature.
Ὦ δῖος αἰθήρ, &c., thought and words, are absolutely unintelligible to
the whole Far East.
Nevertheless the poetry of the two great Far Eastern languages has its
charm, especially the early poetry of Japan, but that charm, depending
as it does largely upon suggestiveness rather than definite statement,
and upon characteristic form and decoration rather than content, can
only be felt by those who are able to read the texts. The Japanese
texts, apart from the labour of decipherment, in themselves present no
difficulty, once their simple grammar and construction understood, and
in their romanized dress, with the brief grammar that is now subjoined,
and the other aids offered in the present volume and its accompanying
volume of translations are, it is hoped, made accessible to the
English reader who cannot give several years to the acquisition of
the complicated scripts which Dai Nippon has taken over, by necessity
rather than choice, from the Middle Kingdom.
The following sketch of the grammar of Old Japanese is intended merely
to elucidate the texts, principally those of the Manyôshiu and the
Taketori.[1] By Old Japanese is meant the unsinicized language of the
Kojiki and Nihongi (as read _japonicé_) and particularly of the _uta_
quoted in those works, of the _norito_ or rituals, and of the texts
above mentioned. There are no texts illustrating earlier stages of the
language, and all etymologies are doubtful, both on that account and
because the elements of Old Japanese are mere agglutinations (more or
less contracted) of only sixty-four open syllables.
Japanese (by which expression Old Japanese is here always intended)
has no affinity with Chinese, a language consisting of disconnected
elements (simple or compound), for in it agglutination has to some
extent contracted into inflexion or quasi-inflexion, and it possesses
in addition a large number of particles which give it a plasticity
not found in Chinese. In my opinion, had the development of Japanese
not been arrested by Chinese influences about the middle of the first
millennium, it might have won a far higher place than it occupies in
the hierarchy of human speech.
This agglutinative inflexion is practically confined to the verb,
and--to a slight extent--to nouns adjective, simple or verbalized. What
may be called the stem of the verb shows a pure vocalic inflexion in
_a_, _e_, _i_, _o_ or _u_. The stem in _u_ is the form usually found in
native and foreign dictionaries--in Lemaréchal’s it is the stem in _e_
or _i_. To the stem the various locutions are suffixed to construct the
forms representing, logically, moods and tenses as well as negative,
causative, and potential-passive ‘voices’.
The stems in _e_, _i_ and _o_ are used as imperatives; _koge_, row!,
_mi_, look!, _ko_ come!, often with addition of the vocative particle
_yo_ (or _ro_)--_miyo_, _koyo_. They are also used as ‘indefinite’
(Chamberlain) forms, mood and tense being determined by that of the
principal verb in the sentence. Before proceeding further it is well
to state that in the regular Japanese sentence the principal verb is
always at the end, the object (if expressed) in the middle, and the
subject (if expressed) at the beginning of the sentence, while words
of qualification precede the words qualified. In poetry however,
especially in the Manyôshiu, inversions are common.
All syllables in Japanese are open, and the terminal syllables of the
stems are the consonants _b_, _f_, _g_, _k_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _s_, the
digraph _ts_, _w_, _y_, and _z_ followed by the vowels _a_, _e_, _i_,
_o_, _u_ (also _u_ without consonant as in _suu_, _e_ stem _suwe_,
to place). Before _i_ _ts_ becomes _ch_, and before _e_ and _a_ _t_,
before _i_ _s_ becomes _sh_ and _z_ _zh_; before every vowel except _u_
_f_ becomes _h_. All verbs have the stem in _u_, most verbs have also
the stem in _a_ and _i_, some have also the stem in _e_ only, some in
_i_ only. There are a very few irregular verbs. The following list of
verbs and their stems will illustrate the above remarks:--
_yerabu_, _yerabi_, _yerabe_, _yeraba_ choose
_omofu_, _omohi_, _omohe_, _omoha_ think
_kogu_, _kogi_, _koge_, _koga_ row
_sugu_, _sugi_ pass
_fuku_, _fuki_, _fuke_, _fuka_ blow
_tomu_, _tome_ stop
_tsukanu_, _tsukane_ bind
_toru_, _tori_, _tore_, _tora_ take
_watasu_, _watashi_, _watase_, _watasa_ pass over
_tatsu_, _tachi_, _tate_, _tata_ stand
_su[w]u_, _suwe_ place
_suyu_, _suye_ be rancid
_sufu_, _suhe_ suck
_mazu_, _mazhi_, _maze_, _maza_ mix
_miru_, _mi_ (_mire_) see
_suru_, _shi_, _se_ (_sure_) do
_kuru_, _ki_, _ko_, _kure_, _ke_, _kere_ come
[_wu_] _woru_, _wi_, _wiru_, _wore_, _wora_ be in, at
The Japanese verb has neither number nor person, the forms that follow
therefore are indefinite as to number and person. The locutions--or
more strictly the complements that with the stem make up the
locution--are given below as suffixed to the stem.
Two moods may be distinguished. One I call Independent, in which form
the verb is unconnected with any other verb, the other Dependent, in
which the verb is connected with some verb in the Independent mood.[2]
Mr. Chamberlain calls them Indicative and Oblique respectively.
There are in each mood three forms or quasi-tenses--a present,
temporally indefinite; a past denoting action or state completed at or
before the present or some indicated past time; and a future denoting
action, &c., that may or will be completed at a future (or past-future)
time. Each of these tenses in the Independent mood has a predicative
or simpler form and a relative form--as relating to some noun. It is
the simpler form, identical with the stem in _u_, which is found in the
dictionaries (in Lemaréchal’s the stem in _a_, _i_, or _e_ is found).
The relative form ends in _uru_ (modern _iru_ or _eru_). Thus _toki
sugu_, time passes; _suguru toki_, tempus quod fugit (some verbs in
_uru_ are transitive as _tatsu_, stand, _tatsuru_, make stand, set
up). Only those verbs which have _e_ or _i_ stems throughout appear to
possess this relative form;[3] in verbs with _i_ and _a_ stems this
morphological distinction does not exist.
The Past has four forms, each double (P. predicative, R. relative).
(1) P. _ki_, R. _-shi_.
(2) P. _tari_ (_te-ari_), R. _-taru_ (_te-aru_).
(3) P. _-tariki_, R. _-tarishi_ (composed of (2) and (1)).
(4) P. _-nu_, R. _-nuru_.
[_ki_ (_kuru_) = come (cp. Ital. _vien fatto_); _shi_ (_suru_) = do;
_te_ = stem of _tsu_, _tsuru_, continue; _ari_ is an irr. P. form of
_aru_, be; _nu_ is an old verb = be.] In _i a_ verbs there is a past in
P. _-eri_, R. _-eru_ (see below).
The Future is formed by suffixing _mu_ (or _namu_) to stem or _naramu_
(_ni [nu] aramu [aru]_) to R. form if any.
SCHEMATIC EXAMPLES.
_kogu_, row (with oars or sculls).
Stems. Present. Past. Future.
_kogu_ _kogu_, P. & R. _kogiki_, P. _kogamu_, P.
_kogi_ _kogishi_, R. (_koginamu_)
_koga_ _kogitari_, P. _kogu naramu_
_kogitaru_, R. [_tomuru naramu_, R.]
_kogitariki_, P.
_kogitarishi_, R.
_koginu_, P.
_koginuru_, R.
_kogeri_, P.
_kogeru_, R.
_tomu_, stop, and _sugu_, pass, are conjugated like _kogu_, except that
_tomu_ replaces _i_ and _a_ of _kogu_ forms by _e_, and _sugu_ by _i_.
In the Dependent mood the forms are constructed with the help of _-ba_
(the particle _ha_, voiced). _Shikaba_ (etym. of _shika_?), _tareba_,
_taraba_ (_te areba_, _-araba_), _naba_ (_nu_) and _naraba_ (_ni
araba_).
SCHEMATIC EXAMPLES.
_kogeba_, as, since, when, &c., row.
_kogaba_, _koginaba_, _koginaraba_, if row.
_kogishikaba_, _kogitareba_, as, since, when &c., rowed.
_kogitaraba_, _kogishi naraba_, if rowed.
Of _tomu_, _sugu_, the Dependent Mood is similarly conjugated
preserving the _e_ and _i_ vowels, and for _tomeba_ using _tomureba_
for _tomaba_ _tomeba_, for _sugiba_ _sugureba_, for _sugaba_ _sugiba_.
The negative voice (there are no negative words = not, no, none). The
Present Independent is formed by changing the _-mu_ of future into
_-zu_ or _-zaru_ (_zu aru_), P. and _-nu_, R. Thus _kogu_ (_kogamu_),
_kogazu_, _kogazaru_, _koganu_; _sugu_, _sugimu_, _sugizu_, &c.
In the past _-zu_ becomes _zariki_, P., and _-zarishi_, R.; in the
future _-zaramu_ or _-zhi_, P. and R. (_kogazaramu_, _kogazhi_).
There is a second future with sense of obligation exemplified as
follows:--_kogu_ (not _koga_) _-mazhiku_ (indefinite), _-mazhi_, P.,
_-mazhiki_, R., _-mazhikariki_, P., past fut. _-mazhikarishi_, R.,
past fut. _-mazhikereba_, conditional, when as, &c., and _-mazhikuba_,
hypothetical, if, &c.
In the Dependent Mood we have:--
_koganeba_, _kogazareba_, as, when, &c., not-row.
_kogazuba_, if not-row.
_kogazarishikaba_, as, when, &c., not-rowed.
_kogazariseba_, _kogazarishi naraba_, if not-rowed.
The Imperatives are:--
_Kogazare_ (_kogazu are_); _kogu nakare_ (_naku are_); _koguna_, _kogu
koto nakare_ (row-thing do-not), _na kogi so_, _yume kogu na_ (emphatic
imperative). But _na_ with _i_ or _e_ stem is an affirmative imperative
_kogi na_, do row!
There is another past in _tsu_[4], _tsuru_ as _kogitsu_, _kogitsuru_,
and a continuative form in _tsutsu_, _kogitsutsu_, while rowing.
Also a form in _-keri_, P. and _-keru_, R. with a dependent _-kereba_
as _kogikeru_, _kogikereba_. This _keri_ form seems equivalent to a
perfect definite, have rowed. Its etymology must be _ki -ari_; of _tsu_
the stem would be _te_, which added to stem in _i_ or _e_ makes forms
such as _kogite_, _tomete_, which are continuative indefinites almost
equal to ‘whilst’, _kogite_, _yuku_, whilst-row-go, i.e. row to (a
place).
The negative form of _-te_ is _-de_, _kogade_, or _-zu_, _-zu ni_, _-zu
shite_, as _kogazu_, not-row, _kogazu ni_, in, or by not-row, _kogazu
shite_, not-row-do, all meaning essentially whilst-not-row.
The particles _mo_, too, _to mo_, that too (with variant _domo_)
_keredomo_ (_ki-ari-to-mo_), following or suffixed to verb-forms, give
a concessive force, although, even though, &c., _beku_, with sense of
must, can, will, ought, is suffixed to the _u_ stem, thus _kogubeku_ is
must, or ought to row, or will row--the forms of _beku_ are _beshi_,
P.; _beki_, R.; _bemi_, _bekariki_, P.; _-shi_, R.; _bekereba_,
_bekuba_, _bekarazu_, &c.; _beku mazhiku_ almost = _bekarazu_.
Causative verbs (often used as transitives or as honour-forms) are
easily recognized. Thus _nageku_, sigh, lament, _nagekasu_; or forms
derived from _su_ (_suru_), do, are added--_shimuru_, _seshimuru_,
_sasuru_. Thus _yaku_, burn, _yakasu_, _yakashimuru_; _suru_ (_se_),
do, _sesasuru_, make-do.
_Nu_ (_ni_) is an old verb ‘be’. _Ni_ + _aru_ = _naru_, become, be
at, of, in. The future _namu_ is a common auxiliary suffix. _Namu_
may become _namashi_, by composition with _mashi_, more, a suffixed
optative particle. Another optative is formed by adding the slight
interrogative particle _ya_ to the form in _-aba_ as _yukabaya_, should
like to go; sometimes the future form is in _-ramu_ (_aramu_?) added
to the _u_-stem, as _aruramu_ for _aramu_, _kofuramu_ for _kohamu_
(_kohimu_), will love. _Aru_, be, is peculiar in that its P.-form is
_ari_ not _aru_.
The verb _miru_, see, keeps the _mi_ throughout, _miru_, _miki_,
_mishi_, _mimu_, _miba_, _mitsu_ (past), _mizu_, _minu_, _mizhi_,
_mide_, &c.; but _mireba_, _miredomo_, _miru_ or _miheku_, &c. So
_hi(ru)_, dry, _i(ru)_, shoot, _(w)i(ru)_, be in or at, _ki(ru)_, wear
_ni(ru)_, be like, _ni(ru)_, boil. See Chamberlain, p. 66. By adding
_u_, _uru_ (get) with or without _aru_ (be) verbs passive and potential
are obtained. Thus _yaku_ (burn) + _ari_ + _uru_ = _yakaruru_, so
we have _homeraruru_ (_homu_, praise), _sugiraruru_ (_sugu_, pass),
_miraruru_ (_miru_, see). Or we have _miyuru_, see-get = seem, so
_omoyuru_, _omoheru_ (from _omofu_, think), or _omoharuru_ (see
Glossary, _omofu_, &c.), _iheru_ (_ihi-uru_), is said, &c. From _aru_
(be) lengthened to _arafu_, we get _araharu_, _araharuru_, _arahaseru_,
be manifest or make manifest.
Other passive-like forms are _iyu_ (_i_), shot, _oyu_ (_oi_), grown
old, _omohoyu_ (_omofu_), thought. There is a form in _-aku_, thus
_ifu_, say, _ihaku_--even the future has it, _kakemu_, will utter,
_kakemaku_, and the past _omoheraku_, the morphological origin of which
is unknown. It seems to give a substantival character to the verb;
_ihaku_, the saying (is); _omoheraku_, what was thought (is): also a
frequentative (rare) in _mi_, _wemi-mi, wemazu mo_, smiling and not
smiling.
Under _koso_ will be found the verbal forms used with that particle.
Of the verb _su_ _suru_, do, the principal forms are:--
Independent Mood.
_shi_, _su_, _suru_, (_koso_) _sure_.
_seri_, _seru_ (_koso_), _sere_.
_shiki_, _seshi_ (_koso_), _seshika_.
_shitari_, &c., _shitariki_, &c.
_shitsu_, _shitsuru_ (_koso_), _shitsure_.
_semu_, _suramu_ (_koso_), _-e_, _-e_.
_shitaramu_, _shitsuramu_, &c.
Dependent Mood.
_sureba_, _seshikaba_, _shitareba_.
_seba_, _senaba_, _shitaraba_.
_suredo_ (_mo_).
_suru mo_, _shite mo_.
_seshikado_, _shitaredo_, _seshi_ (_mo_).
_sebaya_.
_shitsutsu_, &c.
Negative Voice.
_sezu_, _senu_ (_koso_) _sene_.
_sezhi_, _sezaru_, and derived forms.
_sezuba_, _senedo_.
_sezare_, _suna_, _na se so_, &c.
Of the verb _ku_ _kuru_, come, the principal forms are:--
Independent Mood.
_ki_, _ku_, _kuru_, _kure_.
_kishi_, _koshi_ (_kiki_ not found), _kishika_, _koshika_.
_kitari_, &c., _kitariki_, &c.
_kinu_, _kinuru_, &c., _kitsu_, _kitsuru_, &c.
_komu_, _kuramu_, _kinamu_, &c.
_koyo_.
_kubeku_.
Dependent Mood.
_kureba_, _kishikaba_, &c.
_koba_, _kinaba_.
_kuredo_ (_mo_), &c.
_kobaya_.
_kitsutsu_.
_kite_.
Negative Voice.
_kozu_, _konu_, &c.
_kozhi_.
_kozareba_.
_koneba_.
_kozare_.
_kuna_.
_kuruna_.
_na ko so_.
The other forms of _kuru_ are easily formed from those of _suru_,
replacing _se_ and _su_ by _ko_ and _ku_.
There are not many true adjectives. Such have a sort of positional
inflexion--a predicative form in _-shi_, _akashi_, be red, a form used
chiefly with verbs (but also indefinitely) in _-ku_, _akaku naru_,
become red, and a form in _-ki_, used mainly with nouns, _akaki mono_,
red thing. There is also a form in _-mu_, _-mi_, which has a verbal
force denoting a state or condition.
Adjectives may also be verbalized by the addition of _aru_, be, and
many of its forms with obvious contractions.
Lastly, adjectival expressions are formed by adding _naru_, be or
become, to adjectival stems _yaharaka_, _yaharaka-naru_, soft, gentle.
Nouns substantive (and pronouns) are absolutely devoid of gender or
case, and only occasionally have a plural suffix _ra_ or _tachi_ or
_nodo_ or _domo_.
Pronouns are few, and--the personal pronouns especially--are little
used, the subject of the verb being generally unexpressed and left to
be gathered from the context.
First person _a_, _wa_, _are_, _ware_, _waga_, _wago-_, _wagi-_.
Second person _na_, _namuji_, _nase_, _imashi_, _imo_.
Third person _a_, _are_, _kare_ (_is_, _ille_, Aston).
_so_, _sore_ (_iste_, Aston).
_ko_, _kore_ (_hic_, Aston).
Interrogative Pronouns.
_Ta_, _tare_, who?
_na_, _nani_, what?
_izure_, _izu_, which, what?
_ika_, what manner? ποῖος.
_iku_, what number? &c., πόσος.
Other pronouns are _shi_, _onore_, _mi_, self, _onore_ and _mi_, often
I _myself_, or I, _ono-ono_, every, _mina_, all. Other pronominal
forms, chiefly indefinite, are explained in the glossary.
Only the principal particles need here be noticed. Others are explained
in the glossary. The following are of special importance, and are found
mainly in connexion with nouns as postpositions. They are _wa_ (_ha_),
_ga_, _no_, _ni_, _he_ (_e_, _ye_) and _wo_.
_ha_ (_wa_, _ba_) isolates and emphasizes the noun rather as apart
from the verb--_chichi haha ha, uwe-samukaramu_, father and mother,
_they_ will be hungry and cold; _kono toki ha, ika ni shitsutsuka_,
this time _then_ while doing what. This emphatic force explains its
occurrence after verbs and sentences or clauses--_ihazu-ba_, not say
indeed = should we not say …; _Yamato ni ha_, it is in Yamato that …;
_yuki furu yo ha_, a night indeed on which snow falls: _a wo koso se to
ha_, it is I indeed whom (you should call) husband.
_ga_ is a possessive particle, _wa-ga (warega) ohokimi_, my great
lord; _Wazami ga hara_, plain of Wazami. It may be used before verbs,
_tori ga naku_, the bird cries; or after, _nabiku ga gotoku_, like
bending before. Sometimes it resembles _ha_ _kimi ga agari-ki-masamu_,
my lord, he will embark.
_tsu_ is possessive, _amatsu kami_, gods of heaven, _kuni tsu kami_,
gods of the land. It seems to follow names of things only.
_no_ (originally _nu_, be?) is used as a genitive particle, like ‘of’.
It is more general than _ga_, which is special; _no_ sometimes almost
equals _ha_ (_wa_). _Mi-torashi no adzusa no yumi no hazu no oto_,
sound of the notch of the bow of whitewood of his royal grasp; _Uchi
no ohonu_, the great moor of _Uchi_. This particle may connect other
words than nouns, _ari no kotogoto_, all one has, or, there is (_ari_);
_miru no goto_, like _miru_ (seaweed); _ame tsuchi no wakareshi
toki_, heaven--earth’s separated time (time of separation of heaven
and earth). This connexion by _no_ of parts of a sentence--often wide
apart--other than nouns must be carefully kept in mind. Thus read _hito
no [mono wo omofu]_, a man’s thinking of things (regretfully): not
_[hito no mono] wo omofu_, to think of a man-thing (or man’s things,
&c.)[5].
_ni_ (perhaps a stem of _nu_, be) = in, to, at, for, with, by, on,
near; _Yamato ni_, in Yamato; _toki ni_, at time = when; _miya ni
amori_, descend from heaven to the palace; _te ni tori_, take in the
hand; _ashita ni_, on the morrow; _asagari ni tatasu_, start for
morning-hunt; _tokoro ni yuku_, go to a place; also adverbially,
_yasukaranaku ni_, in a not-restful way; _aya ni_, strangely;
_kogi-yuku ni_, in or while rowing on; _tokoshihe ni_, everlastingly.
_Ni_ sometimes transfers the action of a causative or transitive verb
to the noun it follows.
_wo_, after a noun indicates it as object of action or, sometimes, as
subject of state or condition; _unasaka wo sugite_, passing beyond
bounds of ocean; _miyako wo tohomi_, _miyako_ (as to), be distant
(Aston); _mikado wo sadame_, settle on a site for a palace; _kuni wo
sadame_, terram debellare. In this sense _wo_ is often omitted, _oi
mo sezu_, old-age even not-doing = never growing old. It may follow
a verb as an emphatic particle, or even a noun as such, but in these
cases there is probably an ellipsis of _suru_ (do) _omofu_, (think) or
the like, or again it may follow a particle, _to bakari_, &c. (Aston).
Where it appears to have an adversative force there is probably
ellipsis of _omoheba_, _omohite_, &c. _Wo ba_ = _wo ha_, and singles
out the noun as specially emphasized. _Wo_ sometimes almost equals _ni_.
_he_ (lit. quarter, direction, locality, tract in space or time) =
towards (_ni_ = to). Rare in the texts in this volume, _yori_ (lit.
approach, or be close to, or stop at), shortened often to _yo_, _yu_,
means by extension ‘from’--in later language also ‘than’.
_ya_, _yo_, is a vocative or exclamative interjection.
_to_, that, is a connective particle = and, also after a phrase marks
it as quotative; _toko miya to sadame_, establish as an everlasting
shrine (or palace), _sugimu to omoheba_, thinking (intending) that it
should outlast. _Hikohoshi ha Tanabata tsu me to_, Hikohoshi and the
Weaving Woman; _se to ha norame_ (see under _ha_); _kamusabu to_, in
a divinely awful manner; _hito wo yahase to … kuni wo osame to …
makitamaheba_, as he was charged to subdue the people and pacify the
land (people subdue that … land pacify that--as he was charged with).
The different uses of _to_ can always be made out by taking it as
_that_.
Other particles are:--
_ya_, slight dubitative and interrogative, also exclamative. With
negative it gives an affirmative sense.
_ka_, stronger than _ya_.
_ya_ _ka_ with _ha_ (_yaha_ _kaha_) imply a certainty.
_ka mo_, final interjectional expression = is it not even so? i.e.
emphatically or admiringly, it is so!
_kana_ (_gana_, _mo gana_), final interjection of emotion suited to
what precedes.
_mo_, also, too, even; _mo … mo_, both … and.
_so_ (_zo_) perhaps, _sore_, this! emphasizes the preceding word.
_koso_ (_ko[re], so[re]_) this-that (Aston), more emphatic than _so_
(_zo_), commonly precedes the verb, expressed or understood. There is a
quasi-conjugation with _koso_--
_koso koge_;
_koso kogere_;
_koso kogishika_,--_kogitare_,--_kogitarishika_,--_koginure_,--
_kogitsure_,--_kogame_,--_koginame_,--_kogurame,_ &c.
_a wo koso se to ha norame_--in prose, _a wo se to ha koso norame_,
_do_ call me husband!
_namu_ (_nan_) is very like _koso_, but less emphatic.
_goto_ = _gotoku_, like also sometimes _kotogotoku_, generally, all;
_goto ni_ (after the noun), every, each.
_dani_, even, at all events; _sura_, even (unexpected); _sahe_, even
(additional).
_shi_, _nomi_, _bakari_, just, only, precisely--in ascending degree
of certainty. All of these, especially _shi_, are often not more than
slightly emphatic expletives.
_made_, up to; _gari_, direction of; _kara_, from; _kara_ (_gara_) =
_nagara_ (_naru karada_ or _naru kara_), just as (applied to preceding
noun); after verbs, whilst, although.
_kaku_, thus, _to mo kaku mo_, that way and this way, anyhow, somehow.
_kashi_, be it thus, so be it, may it be so! (Aston).
_mashi_ (_mase_, &c.), _mahoshiki_, verbal terminations expressing
desire or contingency.
_meru_, verbal termination (derived from fut. in _mu_, _mu_ or _mi
aru_?), indicates some degree of likelihood.
_ramu_, for _aramu_, _hana chiruramu_ = _hana chiru aramu_ = _hana
chiramu_, the flowers will, wilt.
_rashi_ = _ramu_, nearly; _natsu kitarurashi_, seemeth the summer to
have come (Aston). There is an adjectival ending, _rashiki_, of similar
import.
Of the syntax of Old Japanese little need be said. It is simple owing
to the absence of almost the whole apparatus of Western grammar. The
order of words has already been mentioned, and in prose is rigid--in
poetry inversions are common. In large measure it is the opposite of
English order, and this fact, together with the relegation of the verb
to the end of the sentence, and the absence of expressed subject,
constitutes the initial and principal difficulty of Japanese, apart
from that of the vocabulary, the elements of which have usually a
connotation different from that of their nearest representatives in
any Western language. The absence of relatives and paucity of pronouns
are additional difficulties, and the reader has to grow familiar by
practice with the modes in which the more definite thought of the West
is represented in the vaguer and looser language of Old Japan, where
the visual aids of later Sinico-Japanese are not present. Nevertheless
if the real meanings of the words be attained, the logical subject
kept in mind as gathered from the context, the relations of words and
phrases in apposition rather than in accidental or strict syntactical
connexion be observed, the influence of the particles in edifying the
sentence into a construction understood, and some facility gained in
keeping the mind in suspense until the principal verb--read with the
relations to it of the subordinate verbs--be reached, there is no great
difficulty, apart from the inevitable one of difference of circumstance
and allusion, in arriving at a comprehension of the texts. And these
will be found, especially the Lays, to have preserved a peculiar beauty
and charm, if not of the highest order, of their own, which no version
can hope to convey.
The opening of the first lay sufficiently exemplifies the reversed
order of the Japanese sentence:--
Ko mo yo
mi ko mochi
fukushi mo yo
fukushi mochi
kono woka ni
na tsumasu ko--
Read almost directly backwards, we get:--
_Ko_ (maid) _tsumasu_ ([who] plucks) _na_ (salads) _ni_ (on) _kono
woka_ (this knoll), _mochi_ (holding) _fukushi_ (truel), _yo mo_ (oh
the) _fukushi_ (truel), _mochi_ (holding) _mi ko_ (fair basket), _mo
yo_ (oh the) _ko_ (basket).
Maid who pluckest salads on this knoll holding a truel--oh the
truel!--holding a fair basket--oh the basket!… _a wo se to norame_, me
for thy husband name!
But even rendered almost in Japanese order, the lay is quite
intelligible, and perhaps better to be appreciated than in any
imitative version:--
Basket O! | fine basket bearing | truel O | fine truel bearing
| this knoll upon | herb-plucking maid! | your home-place tell
me | your name too tell me; | Yamato’s land | everywhere | I
hold rule over, | all where | I hold rule over, | me in sooth |
as husband call me | your homeplace too, your name too, tell me!
In dealing with the less easy texts of the Manyôshiu the following
considerations must be kept in mind:--
The honour-forms (see below) indicate a (logical) second or third
person, or something connected with such a person, directly or
indirectly.
The particle _wo_ may often be rendered as if _ni_, or as an
exclamation, or as if followed by some form of _omofu_. I do not regard
it as in itself a quasi-conjunction. The various functions of _no_ must
be kept in mind.
The frequency of inversion in order of words must not be forgotten.
The _makura kotoba_ may be ruled out, as well as prefaces, exordiums,
introductions, and the like--thus the kernel of meaning may be got at,
and the decoration then added.
It must be recollected that of the elements of the vocabulary very few
can be exactly rendered by a single English word, their connotation
for the most part is more or less different from that of any possible
English equivalent. In the Glossary an exhaustive definition of
the meaning is not attempted, enough only is given to suggest the
translation of the sentence in which the word appears. Hence since
meanings came to change in the course of time, those given being
only what are required for these texts sometimes differ from the
meanings found in the foreign dictionaries, all of which are very
imperfect--very seldom, however, from those offered by that excellent
native dictionary the _Kotoba no Izumi_.
THE LANGUAGE OF THE MANYÔSHIU
I found the following remarks upon the somewhat lengthy, and--to
me--not always very clear, observations of Masazumi concerning
the language of the Manyôshiu contained in his _sôron_ or General
Introduction.
PHONETIC CONTRACTIONS. These are not uncommon, and are principally
vocalic. Such are _wagimo_ (my sister) for _waga imo_; _ariso_ (wild
shore) for _ara iso_; _kafuchi_ (within the rivers) for _kaha uchi_;
_amori_ (descent from heaven) for _ame ori_; _kurenawi_ (a shade of
red) _kure no awi_, lit. an indigo (i.e. a dye) brought from China;
_konure_ (tree-top) _ko no ure_; _ke_ (come, pass) _ki he_--_ke nagaku
kohishi_, long time loved; _ke no kono goro ha_, a time lately gone by;
_arumi_ (wild sea) _ara umi_; _futsuma_ (stout horse) _futo uma_. The
above are substantival, others are adjectival or verbal, as:--
_naru_ (be in, at, of), _ni aru_, as in _Yamato naru_, _ihe naru_, &c.
_nari_--_ni ari_, as _oto su nari_ = _oto suru de ari_.
_naru_--_no aru_, as _hana naru toki_ = _hana no aru toki_.
_sareba_--_shi areba_, as _haru sareba_.
_chifu_--_to ifu_ (they call, ’tis called).
_ku_, _ki-yu_; _ke_, _ki-he_; _mesage_, _meshiage_; _kakage_, _kaki
age_; _motage_, _mote age_, &c.
PHONETIC EXTENSIONS. Such are:--
_nagaru_--_nagarafu_, _nagarahi_, flow, flow in quantity, &c.
_yobu_--_yobafu_, _yobahi_, call, invite, pay court to (girl).
_nageku_--_nagekafu_, _nagekahi_, draw deep breath, lament, &c.
So causative forms exist used as honour-forms, _nagekasu_ for _nageku_,
and a termination in _aku_ as _nagekaku_, _kakemaku_, _ihaku_, for
_nageku_, _kakemu_, _ifu_ used substantively. _Ihafu_, bless, is
perhaps an extension of _ifu_, speak, say.
Of _yobahi_ (_yobu_ extended) a humorous explanation is sometimes
given, _yo_ (by night) _hahi_ (creep), visit stealthily by night.
Etymology of this kind is extremely easy in Japanese.
AUXILIARY PARTICLES (_tasuke kotoba_):--
Such are _shi_ (emphatic), _kami-yo shi omohoyu_, _ihe shi shinubayu_.
_wo_ (emphatic), as in _yatsu yo ni wo_, _tanushiku wo arana(mu)_,
but in phrases like _mitsutsu yukamu wo_, _wo_ = _mono wo_.
_ya_, _ame shiru ya_, _ama tobu ya_, _kashikoki ya_, _Afumi no
ya_, _naku ya uguhisu_, &c.; but in _kimi ya komu_, _ya_ is
dubitative--interrogative. In _kakusafubeshi ya_, _sugi nikerazu ya_,
_ya_ = _ya ha_ = Lat. _num_.
_nane_, term of address and endearment, must not be confused with
_nane_ of _imonane_, _senane_, which are terms of relationship.
_i_ suffixed as in _sekimori-i_, _Unahi-wotoki-i_ may be regarded as
emphatic, or isolative (like _ha_, according to Chamberlain), or as
etymologically = the Korean postposition _i_ (Aston).
_we_, a terminal interjection as _are ha sabushi we_.
_ro ka mo_, _tafutoki ro ka mo_, here _ro ka mo_ = is it not so even!
_ro_, according to Mr. Chamberlain, is a post-position equivalent to
_te_ or _nite_.
_mo_, _mo yo_, _mo ya_, _shi mo_, _ya shi_, _yo shi_, are all
interjectional expressions, not mere fill-gaps, variously emphasizing
or calling attention to the meaning of the words, &c., they are
attached to.
HONOUR-WORDS. Such are _ohomi_ (exalted, grand), as _ohomi kami_,
_ohomi uta_, _ohomi ma_; _mi_, as _mikokoro_, _miko_, _mi-hakashi_,
_mi-keshi_, _mi-nemasu_ (His godship the God, His Majesty’s song, His
Majesty’s horse, my lord’s meaning, my lord the Son (Prince), girt by
my lord, my lord’s garments, my lord sleeps).
Other honour- (or praise-) words are:--
_oho_ (great), _futo_ (stout), _toyo_ (rich), _o_ (for _oho_) as in
_obito_, _omi_ (court officials); _mi_, _ma_, _mo_, _sa_, _oho_ also
denote excellence (εὐ), _wo_ may be antithetic to _oho_, or it may be a
term of intimacy, a sort of diminutive of endearment.
The following honour-verbs should be here noted. _Tamafu_, _tamaheru_,
_tamahari_, _oboshimesu_, _kikoshimesu_, _shiroshimesu_, _takashiru_,
_owasu_, _owashimasu_, _masu_, _mimakareru_; verbs in causative form,
_-asu_, _-saseru_, _-seshimu_; verbs in quasi-passive or potential,
_-uru_, _-ruru_, _raruru_.
Other laudatory expressions are _tama_ (precious), _uma_ (delicious,
fine), _midzu_ (brilliant, fine), _umashi_ (_uma_), _kuhashi_ (lovely).
A curious gradation of honour-forms is seen in the following: _mi
yomimaseru ohomi uta_ (where the lay is attributed to a mikado), _ohomi
uta_, _mi uta_, _yomitamaheru uta_, _yomeru uta_ (when the author is
_miko_, _ason_, or official of lower rank).
Among terms of affection may be noted:--
_waga_ (mine) or _wago ohokimi_, _waga kimi_, _waga kuni_, _waga se_,
_wagimo_, _a oto_, _ago_, _na_, _se na_, _na se nane_, _nanimo_, _imo
nane_ (my great lord, my lord, our land, my husband, my younger sister
(wife or mistress), my brother, my child, thou, thou elder brother,
elder brother thou, thou elder sister, thou younger sister, &c.).
Words of exclamation, hope, entreaty, wonder, &c.:--
_Ana_, _ana ni_ (_ni_ is not a particle), _ya_ (= _yo!_), _ka_ (= ?),
_kana_, _gana_, _mo gana_, _kamo_, _mo ga mo_, _moga_, _ga mo na_, _ya
mo_, _shika_, _sane_, _ne_, _kose_, _kosene_, _na-so na-yume_, _ari
kosenu ka mo_ (_ari-koso-ne_). These are explained in the notes to the
text or in the glossary--their meaning is obvious for the most part.
Repetitive or cumulative expressions (_kasane kotoba_) are common
in the Manyôshiu and contain, mostly, a quibble in meaning or rhyme
in sound. Such are _chichi no mi no chichi_ (father = _chichi_ =
maiden-hair tree--the quibble is on the two _chichi_, and the double
meaning of _mi_, fruit and person). _Hahasoba no haha_, mother
(_haha_), as of the oak (_hahaso_ = Quercus dentata), &c. _Shiga
no karasaki sakiku araba_ (here the rhyme is _Karasaki_ (Cape Kara
in Shiga) and _sakiku araba_ (if flourish)). Such expressions are
explained in the notes or glossary.
Other repetitive expressions are simply emphatic or poetic: _Tsudohi
tsudohi imashite_, they (the gods) assembling, _kamu hafuri hafuri_,
burying--burying him (a mikado or miko) as a god; _ake no sohobune
sohobune_, a red red-stained red-stained-ship, &c.
WORDS RELATING TO THE SOVRAN. _Sumeramikoto_ (Supreme Majesty) is
found only in the _dai_ (arguments), not in the _uta_. The commonest
term in the latter is _Ohokimi_ (great Lord, grand seigneur), but this
expression is not confined to the Sovran. Other terms are _sumeragi_
(_sumerogi_, _suberogi_) and _sumerami_; _-gi_ = prince, _mi_ =
princess (conf. Izanagi and Izanami, Inviting Male and Inviting Female
(K.)); but see Aston, _Shintô_. What _sume_ means is uncertain, it
may be connected with _sube_ (_shiru_), universally know, i.e. govern
the land. Other expressions are _kamuro kamu subera_ or _sumera_ or
_sumero_, _kamu_ adding the notion of ‘divine’. _Ohokimi_, ‘chief’, I
take to be the oldest; the other forms smack of China. As to ‘ro’, see
above remarks on the particle ‘ro’. In the Kogi etymology _ro_ = the
_re o_ of _are oya_ in _kamu are oya_ = god-born ancestry.
_Mikado_ means grand gate or palace, and by metonymy came to signify
its lord, just as at the present day _miya_ (grand mansion) denotes
an imperial prince. _Mikado_ also means ‘sovran dominion’ as in
_toho-mikado_, distant palace, that is, wide dominion, sometimes
applied specially to the Tsukushi government, to Korea, or even to
China, as on the confines of, but still within, the authority of the
_Ohokimi_ of Japan. The following phrases may be here noticed--_mikoto
kashikomi_, dread majesty, _Ohokimi no make_ (or _hiki_) _no manimani_,
in obeisance to the _Ohokimi’s_ will or appointment.
_Mi_ has several meanings which must be distinguished. They are (1) an
honour-prefix, grand, great; (2) prefix of praise, εὐ = _ma_, true,
real; (3) self; (4) body, person; (5) a stem of _miru_, see (6) root
of _midzu_; (7) fruit of tree or herb; (8) the numeral three; (9) as
a termination _se wo hayami_, swift the stream; _hiromi_, broad-like;
_fukami_, deep.
Of the intensive prefixes _i_, _ka_, and _ta_, no explanation has yet
been given. They resemble Greek ζα. Examples are _i-yuki_, _ka-guroki_,
_ta-moto-horu_.
For the purposes of the present work, Dr. Aston’s grammar of the
written language (third edition) is much the most useful.
THE SCRIPT OF THE MANYÔSHIU
The Lays are written wholly in Chinese characters. But these are
employed in several very peculiar ways, and the texts as they stand
are completely unintelligible to a Chinese, even to a Japanese,
who has not specially studied them. In all the editions, however,
except the Riyakuge, the columns of text are accompanied by a _kana_
transliteration--in the Riyakuge the _kana_ (_hira_) transliteration is
given separately from the text.
At the date of the compilation of the Anthology--the middle of the
eighth century--neither of the existing Japanese syllabaries had been
invented. Their creation is ascribed to the learned priest _Kûkai_
(_Kôbô Daishi_), the Doctor Promulgator of the Law of Buddha, who died
in 834, nearly a hundred years later than the date of the final _tanka_
of the Manyôshiu. The Chinese character had therefore, perforce, to
be employed in writing down the lays collected in the manner set
forth in the volume of translations. The ideographs were used in part
phonetically, in part lexicographically, as they had already been used
in writing the Kojiki and the poems cited in that history, and in the
almost contemporaneous but very different Nihongi.
The ideographs used phonetically were not, however, always employed in
the same way. The forty-seven sounds of the syllabary--
_a_ _i_ _u_ _e (ye)_ _o_
_ka_ _ki_ _ku_ _ke_ _ko_
_sa_ _shi_ _su_ _se_ _so_
_ta_ _chi_ _tsu_ _te_ _to_
_na_ _ni_ _nu_ _ne_ _no_
_ha_ _hi_ _f(h.w.)u_ _he_ _ho_
_ma_ _mi_ _mu_ _me_ _mo_
_ya_ _yu_ _yo_
_ra_ _ri_ _ru_ _re_ _ro_
_wa_ _wi_ _we_ _wo_
--were already recognized, and were represented by a sort of alphabet
composed of several hundreds of Chinese ideographs, each pronounced
exactly or approximately _sinice_--that is _japonico-sinice_, or
according to _on_ or Chinese sound. Thus a was represented by two
ideographs, 阿 (_a_ in Chinese) and 安 (_an_ in Chinese), _shi_ by
twenty-five characters, such as 志 (_chih_ in Chinese), 思 (_ssu_ in
Chinese), &c. The other sounds were represented by varying numbers of
characters. According to this system, _ame_ (heaven or rain) would
or might be written 安米, _tsuchi_ (soil) 都知 and so forth. A complete
list of these Chinese phonetic ideographs is given in the _Sôron_
(Introductory) volume of the Kogi.
A second method of using the ideographs was to employ them according to
their _kun_ (reading i.e. in pure Japanese), thus _utate_ (extremely)
was represented by 得田手, _chihahi_ (for _sachihafi_, bless) by 千羽日.
Sometimes two characters represented one sound, thus 嗚呼 for _a_, 五十
(_isozhi_) for _i_, 牛鳴, _ushi no naku_, ‘moo’ of cow, for _mu_. Some
sounds (_ku_, _ri_, _ru_, _ro_, _wa_) are not found thus symbolized,
that is, _japonicé_. A curious double character is 石花 for _se_, another
is 羊{蹄} (_hitsuzhi no ashi_) for _shi_. A third and very confused
script is exemplified in 還金 _kaherikomu_ (return), where _kaheri_ is
_kun_ and _komu_ (kon) is _on_, and 知三 _shirasamu_ (shall know), where
_shira_ is _kun_ modified grammatically, and _samu_ (_san_ = three) is
_on_ representing the inflexion.
Still more confusingly, an ideograph may be used with an _on_ (Chinese)
sound resembling a _kun_ (native) word, and the _kun_ word may be
employed, not in its natural sense, but as it were punningly, though
more often no quibble is intended. Thus 兼 of which the _on_ is _ken_,
may be used for the verbal termination _kemu_, as in 茢兼 (_karikemu_,
will have reaped), where 茢 is employed lexicographically as _kemu_, as
just explained. So 不有君 does not mean _kimi arazu_ (lord is not) but
_ari nakuni_, as there is not. Similar examples are _kaherikomu_ and
_shirasamu_ cited above. So 難 _nan_ (difficult) for _nani_, what?, {點}
_ten_ for _-temu_; 徳 _toku_ for _toko_, and so forth.