Man'yōgana

Man'yōgana
万葉仮名まんようがな
Man'yōgana; 万葉仮名まんようがな;
	Katakana characters and the man'yōgana they originated from
Script type	Syllabary
Time period	c. 650 CE to Meiji era
Direction	Top-to-bottom
Languages	Japanese and Okinawan
Related scripts
Parent systems	Oracle bone script Seal script Clerical script Regular script Man'yōgana; 万葉仮名まんようがな; ; ; ;
Child systems	Hiragana, Katakana
Sister systems	Contemporary kanji
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Man'yōgana (万葉仮名まんようがな, Japanese pronunciation: [maɰ̃joꜜːɡana] or [maɰ̃joːɡana]) is an ancient writing system that uses Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. It was the first known kana system to be developed as a means to represent the Japanese language phonetically. The date of the earliest usage of this type of kana is not clear, but it was in use since at least the mid-7th century. The name "man'yōgana" derives from the Man'yōshū, a Japanese poetry anthology from the Nara period written with man'yōgana.

Texts using the system also often use Chinese characters for their meaning, but man'yōgana refers to such characters only when they are used to represent a phonetic value. The values were derived from the contemporary Chinese pronunciation, but native Japanese readings of the character were also sometimes used. For example, 木き (whose character means 'tree') could represent /mo/ (based on Middle Chinese [məwk]), /ko/, or /kwi/ (meaning 'tree' in Old Japanese).^[1]

Simplified versions of man'yōgana eventually gave rise to both the hiragana and katakana scripts, which are used in Modern Japanese.^[2]

Origin

Scholars from the Korean kingdom of Baekje are believed to have introduced the man'yōgana writing system to the Japanese archipelago. The chronicles Kojiki and the Nihon shoki both state so; though direct evidence is hard to come by, scholars tend to accept the idea.^[3]

A possible oldest example of man'yōgana is the iron Inariyama Sword, which was excavated at the Inariyama Kofun in 1968. In 1978, X-ray analysis revealed a gold-inlaid inscription consisting of at least 115 Chinese characters, and this text, written in Chinese, included Japanese personal names, which were written for names in a phonetic language. This sword is thought to have been made in the year 辛からし亥年いどし (471 AD in the commonly-accepted theory).^[4]

There is a strong possibility that the inscription of the Inariyama Sword may be written in a version of the Chinese language used in Baekje.^[5]

Principles

Man'yōgana uses kanji characters for their phonetic rather than semantic qualities. In other words, kanji are used for their sounds, not their meanings. There was no standard system for choice of kanji, and different ones could be used to represent the same sound, with the choice made on the whims of the writer. By the end of the 8th century, 970 kanji were in use to represent the 90 morae of Japanese.^[6] For example, the Man'yōshū poem 17/4025 was written as follows:

Man'yōgana	之これ乎路可か良りょう	多た太古たこ要かなめ久礼くれ婆ばば	波なみ久比くび能のう海うみ	安佐あさ奈藝思おもえ多た理り	船ふね梶かじ母はは我わが毛け
Katakana	シオジカラ	タダコエクレバ	ハクヒノウミ	アサナギシタリ	フネカジモガモ
Modern	志雄しお路ろから	ただ越こえ来くれば	羽咋はくいの海うみ	朝凪あさなぎしたり	船ふね梶かじもがも
Romanized	Shioji kara	tadakoe kureba	Hakuhi no umi	asanagi shitari	funekaji mogamo

In the poem, the sounds mo (母はは, 毛もう) and shi (之これ, 思おもえ) are written with multiple, different characters. All particles and most words are represented phonetically (多た太ふとし tada, 安佐あさ asa), but the words ji (路みち), umi (海うみ) and funekaji (船ふね梶かじ) are rendered semantically.

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

Types

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

Shakuon kana (借か音おと仮名がな) are based on a Sino-Japanese on'yomi reading, in which one character represents either one mora or two morae.^[7]

*Shakuon kana* 借か音おと仮名がな
Morae	1 character, complete	1 character, partial
1	以 (い) 呂りょ (ろ) 波なみ (は)	安やす (あ) 樂らく (ら) 天てん (て)
2	信しんじ (しな) 覧らん (らむ) 相そう (さが)

Shakkun kana (借か訓くん仮名がな) are based on a native kun'yomi reading, one to three characters represent one to three morae.^[7]

*Shakkun kana* 借か訓くん仮名がな
Morae	1 character, complete	1 character, partial	2 characters	3 characters
1	女おんな (め) 毛もう (け) 蚊か (か)	石いし (し) 跡あと (と) 市し (ち)	嗚呼ああ (あ) 五ご十じゅう (い) 可愛かわい (え) 二に二に (し) 蜂はち音おん (ぶ)
2	蟻あり (あり) 卷まき (まく) 鴨かも (かも)			八はち十じゅう一いち (くく) 神樂かぐら聲ごえ (ささ)
3	慍 (いかり) 下した (おろし) 炊 (かしき)

Table of *man'yōgana*
one character represents one mora
	–	K	S	T	N	P	M	Y	R	W	G	Z	D	B
a	阿おもね安英やすえ足あし鞅	可か何なん加か架か香が蚊か迦	左ひだり佐さ沙すな作者さくしゃ柴しば紗しゃ草くさ散ち	太ふと多た他た丹に駄だ田手たで立りつ	那な男おとこ奈南なな寧やすし難なん七なな名めい魚ぎょ菜さい	八方芳房半伴倍泊波婆破薄播幡羽早者速葉歯	萬末馬麻摩磨満前真間鬼	也移夜よる楊耶埜八矢や屋や	良りょう浪なみ郎ろう樂らく羅ら等ひとし	和かず丸まる輪わ	我わが何なに賀が	社しゃ射い謝しゃ耶奢装そう蔵ぞう	陀太大だい嚢	伐き婆ばば磨すり魔ま
i₁	伊い怡以異い已やめ移うつ射い五ご	氣き支ささえ伎岐企くわだて棄寸吉きち杵きね來らい	子こ之の芝しば水すい四司詞斯志思信偲寺侍時歌詩師紫新旨指次此死事准磯爲	知ち智さとし陳ひね千せん乳ちち血ち茅ちがや	二貳人日仁爾儞邇尼泥耳柔丹荷似煮煎	比ひ必卑賓まろうど日び氷ごおり飯めし負ふ嬪臂避匱	民彌たみや美び三參水見視御		里さと理り利り梨なし隣となり入いれ煎せんじ	位くらい爲ため謂いい井い猪いの藍あい	伎祇藝げい岐儀蟻あり	自じ士し仕つかまつ司つかさ時じ尽つき慈耳餌えさ兒じ貳に爾なんじ	遅おそ治ち地ち恥はじ尼あま泥どろ	婢鼻彌わたる
i₂	伊い怡以異い已やめ移うつ射い五ご	貴紀たかのり記き奇き寄よせ忌き幾いく木城きじょう	子こ之の芝しば水すい四司詞斯志思信偲寺侍時歌詩師紫新旨指次此死事准磯爲	知ち智さとし陳ひね千せん乳ちち血ち茅ちがや	二貳人日仁爾儞邇尼泥耳柔丹荷似煮煎	非ひ悲斐火ひ肥こえ飛ひ樋とい干乾ひぼし彼かれ被ひ秘ひ	未み味あじ尾お微ほろ身み実じつ箕み		里さと理り利り梨なし隣となり入いれ煎せんじ	位くらい爲ため謂いい井い猪いの藍あい	疑うたぐ宜むべ義ぎ擬なずらえ	自じ士し仕つかまつ司つかさ時じ尽つき慈耳餌えさ兒じ貳に爾なんじ	遅おそ治ち地ち恥はじ尼あま泥どろ	備肥飛ひ乾いぬい眉まゆ媚こび
u	宇羽汙于有ゆう卯う鴉からす得とく	久ひさ九きゅう口くち壟苦鳩ばと來らい	寸すん須周酒しゅ州しゅう洲しゅう珠たま數すう酢す栖渚	都と豆まめ荳まめ通どおり追つい川津かわづ	奴やつ努つとむ怒いか農のう濃こ沼ぬま宿やど	不ふ否ひ布ぬの負まけ部ぶ敷じき経歴けいれき	牟武無む模かたぎ務つとむ謀はかりごと六ろく	由よし喩たとえ遊ゆう湯ゆ	留とめ流りゅう類るい		具ぐ遇ぐう隅すみ求もとめ愚ぐ虞おそれ	受授殊こと儒	豆まめ荳まめ頭あたま弩いしゆみ	夫おっと扶府文ぶん柔やわら歩ふ部ぶ
e₁	衣ころも依よ愛あい榎えのき	祁家計けい係かかり價か結ゆい鶏にわとり	世よ西にし斉ひとし勢いきおい施ほどこせ背せ脊迫瀬せ	堤つつみ天帝てんてい底そこ手代てだい直じき	禰尼泥どろ年ねん根宿ねじゅく	平ひら反返そっかえり弁べん弊へい陛遍覇は部ぶ辺あたり重おも隔へだた	売うれ馬面うまづら女おんな	曳延要よう遙はるか叡あきら兄けい江こう吉枝よしえ衣ころも	禮れい列れつ例れい烈れつ連れん	廻まわり恵めぐみ面めん咲さき	下しも牙きば雅みやび夏なつ	是ぜ湍	代田しろた泥どろ庭にわ傳でん殿どの而涅提ひさげ弟おとうと	弁べん便びん別べつ部ぶ
e₂	衣ころも依よ愛あい榎えのき	氣き既すんで毛げ飼消	世よ西にし斉ひとし勢いきおい施ほどこせ背せ脊迫瀬せ	堤つつみ天帝てんてい底そこ手代てだい直じき	禰尼泥どろ年ねん根宿ねじゅく	閉倍陪拝戸ど経けい	梅うめ米べい迷昧目め眼め海うみ	曳延要よう遙はるか叡あきら兄けい江こう吉枝よしえ衣ころも	禮れい列れつ例れい烈れつ連れん	廻まわり恵めぐみ面めん咲さき	義氣ぎき宜むべ礙削	是ぜ湍	代田しろた泥どろ庭にわ傳でん殿どの而涅提ひさげ弟おとうと	倍ばい毎ごと
o₁	意い憶於應おう	古こ姑しゅうと枯故侯こう孤兒こじ粉こ	宗祖しゅうそ素もと蘇そ十じゅう拾ひろえ	刀かたな土ど斗と度ど戸と利り速そく	努つとむ怒いか農のう埜	凡方抱だき朋とも倍ばい保ほ宝たから富とみ百ひゃく帆ほ穂ほ本ほん	毛もう畝うね蒙こうむ木き問とい聞	用よう容よう欲ほし夜よる	路みち漏も	乎呼遠どお鳥とり怨越少しょう小尾こび麻あさ男おとこ緒いとぐち雄ゆう	吾われ呉くれ胡えびす娯後籠かご兒じ悟さとる誤あやま	俗ぞく	土ど度ど渡わたり奴やつ怒いか	煩はん菩番蕃しげる
o₂	意い憶於應おう	己おのれ巨きょ去さ居きょ忌き許もと虛きょ興きょう木き	所ところ則そく曾僧増ぞう憎にく衣ころも背せ苑えん	止とめ等とう登のぼり澄きよし得え騰あが十じゅう鳥とり常つね跡あと	乃能笑わらい荷に	凡方抱だき朋とも倍ばい保ほ宝たから富とみ百ひゃく帆ほ穂ほ本ほん	方面ほうめん忘母文ぶん茂しげ記き勿物望もち門もん喪も裳も藻も	與あずか余あまり四よん世代せだい吉きち	呂りょ侶	乎呼遠どお鳥とり怨越少しょう小尾こび麻あさ男おとこ緒いとぐち雄ゆう	其期碁ご語ご御ご馭凝	序じょ叙じょ賊ぞく存そん茹鋤	特とく藤ふじ騰あが等とう耐たい抒杼	煩はん菩番蕃しげる

Development

Due to the major differences between the Japanese language (which was polysyllabic) and the Chinese language (which was monosyllabic) from which kanji came, man'yōgana proved to be very cumbersome to read and write. As stated earlier, since kanji has two different sets of pronunciation, one based on Sino-Japanese pronunciation and the other on native Japanese pronunciation, it was difficult to determine whether a certain character was used to represent its pronunciation or its meaning, i.e., whether it was man'yōgana or actual kanji, or both.^{[citation needed]} To alleviate the confusion and to save time writing, kanji that were used as man'yōgana eventually gave rise to hiragana, including the now-obsolete hentaigana (変体へんたい仮名がな) alternatives, alongside a separate system that became katakana. Hiragana developed from man'yōgana written in the highly cursive sōsho (草書そうしょ) style popularly used by women; meanwhile, katakana was developed by Buddhist monks as a form of shorthand, utilizing, in most cases, only fragments (for example, usually the first or last few strokes) of man'yōgana characters. In some cases, one man'yōgana character for a given syllable gave rise to a hentaigana that was simplified further to result in the current hiragana character, while a different man'yōgana character was the source for the current katakana equivalent. For example, the hiragana る (ru) is derived from the man'yōgana 留とめ, whereas the katakana ル (ru) is derived from the man'yōgana 流ながれ. The multiple alternative hiragana forms for a single syllable were ultimately standardized in 1900, and the rejected variants are now known as hentaigana.

Man'yōgana continues to appear in some regional names of present-day Japan, especially in Kyūshū.^{[citation needed]}^[8] A phenomenon similar to man'yōgana, called ateji (当あて字じ), still occurs, where words (including loanwords) are spelled out using kanji for their phonetic value. Examples include 倶楽部くらぶ (kurabu, "club"), 仏蘭西ふらんす (Furansu, France), 阿おもね弗どる利加りか (Afurika, Africa) and 亜米利加あめりか (America, America).

Katakana with man'yōgana equivalents (segments of man'yōgana adapted into katakana highlighted)

Katakana's *man'yōgana*
including obsolete syllabograms
Man'yōgana which are a common source for Hiragana and Katakana are highlighted
	–	K		S	T		N	H	M	Y	R	W
a	阿おもね	加か		散ち	多おお		奈	八はち	末すえ	也	良りょう	和わ
a	ア	カ		サ	タ		ナ	ハ	マ	ヤ	ラ	ワ
i	伊い	機き	幾いく	之これ	千せん		仁ひとし	比ひ	三さん		利り	井い
i	イ	キ		シ	チ		ニ	ヒ	ミ		リ	ヰ
u	宇	久ひさ		須	州しゅう	川かわ	奴やつ	不ふ	牟	由ゆかり	流ながれ
u	ウ	ク		ス	ツ		ヌ	フ	ム	ユ	ル
e	江こう	介かい		世よ	天てん		祢	部ぶ	女おんな		礼れい	恵めぐみ
e	エ	ケ		セ	テ		ネ	ヘ	メ		レ	ヱ
o	於	己おのれ		曽そ	止とめ		乃	保ほ	毛もう	與あずか	呂りょ	乎
o	オ	コ		ソ	ト		ノ	ホ	モ	ヨ	ロ	ヲ
–							尓
–							ン

Development of hiragana from man'yōgana

Hiragana's *man'yōgana*
including obsolete syllabograms
Man'yōgana which are a common source for Hiragana and Katakana are highlighted
	–	K		S	T	N	H	M	Y	R	W
a	安やす	加か		左ひだり	太ふとし	奈	波なみ	末すえ	也	良りょう	和わ
a	あ	か		さ	た	な	は	ま	や	ら	わ
i	以	機き	幾いく	之これ	知ち	仁ひとし	比ひ	美よし		利り	爲ため
i	い	き		し	ち	に	ひ	み		り	ゐ
u	宇	久ひさ		寸すん	川かわ	奴やつ	不ふ	武たけ	由ゆかり	留とめ
u	う	く		す	つ	ぬ	ふ	む	ゆ	る
e	衣ころも	計けい		世よ	天てん	祢	部ぶ	女おんな		礼れい	恵めぐみ
e	え	け		せ	て	ね	へ	め		れ	ゑ
o	於	己おのれ		曽そ	止とめ	乃	保ほ	毛もう	与あずか	呂りょ	遠とお
o	お	こ		そ	と	の	ほ	も	よ	ろ	を
–						无
–						ん

References

Citations

^ Bjarke Frellesvig (29 July 2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-1-139-48880-8.
^ Peter T. Daniels (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7.
^ Bentley, John R. (2001). "The origin of man'yōgana". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 64 (1): 59–73. doi:10.1017/S0041977X01000040. ISSN 0041-977X. S2CID 162540119.
^ Seeley, Christopher (2000). A History of Writing in Japan. University of Hawaii. pp. 19–23. ISBN 9780824822170.
^ Farris, William Wayne (1998). Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues in the Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan. University of Hawaii Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780824820305. The writing style of several other inscriptions also betrays Korean influence... Researchers discovered the longest inscription to date, the 115-character engraving on the Inariyama sword, in Saitama in the Kanto, seemingly far away from any Korean emigrés. The style that the author chose for the inscription, however, was highly popular in Paekche.
^ Joshi & Aaron 2006, p. 483.
^ ^a ^b Alex de Voogt; Joachim Friedrich Quack (9 December 2011). The Idea of Writing: Writing Across Borders. BRILL. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-90-04-21545-0.
^ Al Jahan, Nabeel (2017). "The Origin and Development of Hiragana and Katakana". Academia.edu: 8.

Works cited

Joshi, R. Malatesha; Aaron, P. G. (2006). Handbook Of Orthography And Literacy. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-8058-5467-1.
Bentley, John R. (2001). "The origin of man'yōgana". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 64 (1): 59–73. doi:10.1017/S0041977X01000040. JSTOR 3657541. S2CID 162540119.

External links

[Frellesvig2010-1] Bjarke Frellesvig (29 July 2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-1-139-48880-8.

[Daniels1996-2] Peter T. Daniels (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7.

[3] Bentley, John R. (2001). "The origin of man'yōgana". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 64 (1): 59–73. doi:10.1017/S0041977X01000040. ISSN 0041-977X. S2CID 162540119.

[Seeley-4] Seeley, Christopher (2000). A History of Writing in Japan. University of Hawaii. pp. 19–23. ISBN 9780824822170.

[Ferris1998-5] Farris, William Wayne (1998). Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues in the Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan. University of Hawaii Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780824820305. The writing style of several other inscriptions also betrays Korean influence... Researchers discovered the longest inscription to date, the 115-character engraving on the Inariyama sword, in Saitama in the Kanto, seemingly far away from any Korean emigrés. The style that the author chose for the inscription, however, was highly popular in Paekche.

[FOOTNOTEJoshiAaron2006483-6] Joshi & Aaron 2006, p. 483.

[VoogtQuack2011-7] Alex de Voogt; Joachim Friedrich Quack (9 December 2011). The Idea of Writing: Writing Across Borders. BRILL. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-90-04-21545-0.

[8] Al Jahan, Nabeel (2017). "The Origin and Development of Hiragana and Katakana". Academia.edu: 8.

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