Man'yōgana

Man'yōgana
万葉仮名
Type Syllabary
Languages Japanese and Okinawan
Time period ca 650 CE to ?
Parent systems
Child systems Hiragana, katakana
Sister systems Contemporary kanji
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.

Man'yōgana (万葉仮名?) is an ancient writing system that employs Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. The date of the earliest usage of this type of kana is not clear, but it was in use since at least the mid seventh century. The name "man'yōgana" is from the Man'yōshū, a Japanese poetry anthology from the Nara period written in man'yōgana.

Contents


Origin

Chinese characters
Scripts
Precursors · Oracle bone script · Bronze script · Seal script (large, small) · Clerical script · Cursive script · Regular script · Semi-cursive script
Type styles
Imitation Song · Ming · Sans-serif
Properties
Strokes · Stroke order · Radicals · Classification · Section headers
Variants
Standards on character forms
Kangxi Dictionary form
Xin Zixing
Standard Form of National Characters
List of Forms of Frequently Used Characters
Standards on grapheme usage
Graphemic variants · Hanyu Tongyong Zi · Hanyu Changyong Zi · Tōyō kanji · Jōyō kanji
Reforms
Chinese (trad. · simp. · simp.2 · debate)
Japanese (old · new · Ryakuji)
Korea (Yakja) · Singapore (jiăntǐzì biǎo)
Sinoxenic usage
Kanji · Hanja · Hán tự
Homographs
Literary and colloquial readings
Derivatives
Kokuji · Korean hanja · Chữ Nôm · Zetian characters · Nü Shu · Idu · Kana (Man'yōgana) · Bopomofo · Sawndip · Khitan large script · Khitan small script · Jurchen · Tangut

A possible oldest example of Man'yōgana is the iron Inariyama Sword that was excavated at the Inariyama Kofun in 1968. In 1978, X-ray analysis revealed a gold-inlaid inscription consisting of more than 115 Chinese characters and this text, written in Chinese, included Japanese personal names which were supposedly phonetically written. This sword is thought to have been made in year of 辛亥年 (which is 471 C.E. in commonly accepted theory)[1] and it is postulated that the metal used in the sword was refined from magnetite found in the eastern region of China and imported into Japan, and the sword was forged there by the analysis of the rust of the sword[2]. There is a possibility that the inscription of Inariyama sword is written in the Chinese language that an ancient Korean used. [3][4] A scholar wrote in his article that most scholars in Japanese studies tend to accept in one form or another the ancient legend that Man'yōgana came from Baekche.[5] However this hypothesis is denied by other scholars.[6][7]

Principles

Man'yōgana usually employ kanji for their phonetic value (借音 shakuon; "borrowed sound") rather than their meaning (借訓 shakkun; "borrowed meaning"). Several kanji can represent the same sound, the choice of which to use often being decided for stylistic reasons. For example, the Man'yōshū poem 17/4025 was written as follows:

Man'yōgana 之乎路可良 多太古要久礼婆 波久比能海 安佐奈藝思多理 船梶母我毛
Katakana シヲヂカラ タダコエクレバ ハクヒノウミ アサナギシタリ フネカヂモガモ
Modern 志雄路から ただ越え来れば 羽咋の海 朝凪したり 船梶もがも
Romanized Shiojikara Tadakoekureba Hakuhinoumi Asanagishitari Funekajimogamo

The sounds mo (母, 毛) and shi (之, 思) are written with multiple characters. While all particles and most words are represented phonetically (多太 tada, 安佐 asa), the words umi (海) and funekaji (船梶) are rendered semantically.

In some cases, specific syllables in particular words are consistently represented by specific characters. This usage is known as Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai. It has led historical linguists to conclude that certain sounds in Old Japanese, represented by differing sets of man'yōgana characters, may have merged since then.

Types

In man'yōgana, kanji are mapped to sounds in a number of different ways, some of which were straightforward and others which are less so.

Shakuon kana (借音仮名) are based on Sino-Japanese on'yomi reading, in which one character represents either one mora or two morae.

Shakuon kana
Morae 1 character, complete 1 character, partial
1 以 (い), 呂 (ろ), 波 (は) 安 (あ), 楽 (ら), 天 (て)
2 信 (しな), 覧 (らむ), 相 (さが)

Shakkun kana (借訓仮名) are based on native kun'yomi reading, one to three characters represent one to three morae.

Shakkun kana
Morae 1 character, complete 1 character, partial 2 characters 3 characters
1 女 (め), 毛 (け), 蚊 (か) 石 (し), 跡 (と), 市 (ち) 嗚呼 (あ), 五十 (い), 可愛 (え), 二二 (し), 蜂音 (ぶ)
2 蟻 (あり), 巻 (まく), 鴨 (かも) 八十一 (くく), 神楽声 (ささ)
3 慍 (いかり), 下 (おろし), 炊 (かしき)
Table of man'yōgana
one character represents one mora
– K S T N F M Y R W G Z D B
a 阿安英足 可何加架香蚊迦 左佐沙作者柴紗草散 太多他丹駄田手立 那男奈南寧難七名魚菜 八方芳房半伴倍泊波婆破薄播幡羽早者速葉歯 万末馬麻摩磨満前真間鬼 也移夜楊耶野八矢屋 良浪郎楽羅等 和丸輪 我何賀 社射謝耶奢装蔵 陀太大嚢 伐婆磨魔
i1 伊怡以異已移射五 支伎岐企棄寸吉杵來 子之芝水四司詞斯志思信偲寺侍時歌詩師紫新旨指次此死事准磯為 知智陳千乳血茅 二人日仁爾迩尼耳柔丹荷似煮煎 比必卑賓日氷飯負嬪臂避臂匱 民彌美三水見視御 以 里理利梨隣入煎 位為謂井猪藍 伎祇芸岐儀蟻 自士仕司時尽慈耳餌児弐爾 遅治地恥尼泥 婢鼻弥
i2 貴紀記奇寄忌幾木城 非悲斐火肥飛樋干乾彼被秘 未味尾微身実箕 疑宜義擬 備肥飛乾眉媚
u 宇羽于有卯烏得 久九口丘苦鳩来 寸須周酒州洲珠数酢栖渚 都豆通追川津 奴努怒農濃沼宿 不否布負部敷経歴 牟武無模務謀六 由喩遊湯 留流類 宇于 具遇隅求愚虞 受授殊儒 豆頭弩 夫扶府文柔歩部
e1 衣依愛榎 祁家計係價結鶏 世西斉勢施背脊迫瀬 堤天帝底手代直 禰尼泥年根宿 平反返弁弊陛遍覇部辺重隔 売馬面女 曳延要遥叡兄江吉枝衣 礼列例烈連 廻恵面咲 下牙雅夏 是湍 代田泥庭伝殿而涅提弟 弁便別部
e2 気既毛飼消 閉倍陪拝戸経 梅米迷昧目眼海 義気宜礙削 倍毎
o1 意憶於應 古姑枯故侯孤児粉 宗祖素蘇十 努怒野 凡方抱朋倍保宝富百帆穂 毛畝蒙木問聞 用容欲夜 路漏 乎呼遠鳥怨越少小尾麻男緒雄 吾呉胡娯後籠児悟誤 俗 土度渡奴怒 煩菩番蕃
o2 己巨去居忌許虚興木 所則曾僧増憎衣背苑 止等登澄得騰十鳥常跡 乃能笑荷 方面忘母文茂記勿物望門喪裳藻 与余四世代吉 呂侶 其期碁語御馭凝 序叙賊存茹鋤 特藤騰等耐抒杼

Development

Kanji that were used as man'yōgana eventually gave rise to hiragana and katakana. Hiragana developed from man'yōgana written in the highly cursive sōsho style; katakana is based uponman'yōgana, and was developed by Buddhist monks as a form of shorthand. In some cases, one man'yōgana character for a given syllable gave rise to the current hiragana equivalent, and a different one gave rise to the current katakana equivalent. For example, the hiragana る (ru) is derived from the man'yōgana 留, the katakana ル (ru) is derived from the man'yōgana 流.

The use of multiple kanji for a single syllable also led to hentaigana (変体仮名), alternate letterforms for hiragana. Hentaigana were officially discouraged in 1900.

Man'yōgana continues to appear in some regional names of present-day Japan, especially in Kyūshū. A phenomenon similar to man'yōgana, called ateji (当て字), still occurs, where words (including loanwords) are spelled out using kanji for their phonetic value: for example, 倶楽部 (kurabu, club), or 珈琲 (kōhii, coffee).

Katakana's Man'yōgana
including archaic and proposed syllabograms
– K S T N H M Y R W
a 阿 加 散 多 奈 八 末 也 良 和
ア カ サ タ ナ ハ マ ヤ ラ ワ
i 伊 機 幾 之 千 仁 比 三 以 利 井
イ キ シ チ ニ ヒ ミ リ ヰ
u 宇 久 須 州 川 奴 不 牟 由 流 宇
ウ ク ス ツ ヌ フ ム ユ ル 于
e 江 介 世 天 祢 部 女 衣 礼 恵
エ ケ セ テ ネ ヘ メ レ ヱ
o 於 己 曽 止 乃 保 毛 與 呂 乎
オ コ ソ ト ノ ホ モ ヨ ロ ヲ
– 尓
ン
Hiragana's Man'yōgana
including archaic and proposed syllabograms
– K S T N H M Y R W
a 安 加 左 太 奈 波 末 也 良 和
あ か さ た な は ま や ら わ
i 以 機 幾 之 知 仁 比 美 利 為
い き し ち に ひ み り ゐ
u 宇 久 寸 川 奴 不 武 由 留
う く す つ ぬ ふ む ゆ る
e 衣 計 世 天 祢 部 女 礼 恵
え け せ て ね へ め れ ゑ
o 於 己 曽 止 乃 保 毛 与 呂 遠
お こ そ と の ほ も よ ろ を
– 无
ん

See also

References

  1. ^ Seeley (2000:19-23)
  2. ^ X線がいざなう古代の世界 －埼玉県・熊本県出土金銀象嵌銘刀剣が伝えた時代－
  3. ^ Sacred texts and buried treasures: issues in the historical archaeology of ancient Japan by William Wayne Farris P102 [1] "it seems likely that the Korean organization to provide tribute to the ruler would have been influential with the yamato king as well. To be sure, the Korean model may have harked back to Chinese example"
  4. ^ "Five thousand years of Korean martial arts: the heritage of the hermit kingdom warriors" [2]
  5. ^ [3] John R. BENTLEY, "The origin of Manyogana", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (2001), 64: 59-73, Cambridge University Press.
  6. ^ Shunpei Mizuno, ed (2002) (in Japanese). 韓国人の日本偽史―日本人はビックリ!. Shogakukan. ISBN 4094027165. http://books.google.com/books?id=_MMbNwAACAAJ&dq=%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%81%BD%E5%8F%B2&cd=3. 
  7. ^ Shunpei Mizuno, ed (2007) (in Japanese). 韓vs日「偽史ワールド」. Shogakukan. ISBN 4093877033. http://books.google.com/books?id=qwBgGQAACAAJ&dq=%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%81%BD%E5%8F%B2&cd=2. 

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