6. The character is read specially—[縵] kadzura (chaplet), [棟] kura (saddle).

7. The character is abbreviated—[建] for [健], [已] for [起].

In addition the Kogi gives the following categories:—

gikun, combinations not literally translated into Japanese—[玄{黄}] ametsuchi (heaven and earth), lit. dark-blue (of sky) and yellow-brown (of earth), [親親] chichi-haha (parents, father and mother), lit. love-love. A great many of these are given; many would scarcely suggest the meaning of the combination; sometimes, as when [蓋] futa (lid), is used to express [二] futa (two), a word-play is involved.

kariji or borrowed characters which have been already exemplified. But one curious expression may be added, [{喚}犬{追}馬鏡] masokagami (true-pure-mirror), the characters mean call (or bark?)-dog-follow-horse (ma) mirror; call-dog-follow is a humorous (?) description of ma, meaning horse, but here used for the homophon ma, true, εὐ, part of ma so, which has the same meaning.

Subjoined is the script of the text of [Lay 118] which well exemplifies the peculiarities of Manyôgaki. The columnar transliteration represents the similar transliteration into syllabic kana in the usual editions inclusive of the Kogi.

FOOTNOTES

[1] For a more complete account the grammars of Aston and Chamberlain must be consulted.

[2] For the purposes of Old Japanese the grammatical nomenclature of Aryan grammar seems to me misleading and I use it therefore as little as possible.

[3] See miru below.