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.