Man'yōgana

Man'yōgana ( 万葉仮名, Japanese pronunciation: [maɰ̃ joꜜːɡana] or [maɰ̃ joːɡana]) 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.
 Man'yōgana
万葉仮名

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
Child systems Hiragana, Katakana

Sister systems Contemporary kanji

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 (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, whichwas 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 辛亥年 (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 Shioji kara tadakoe kureba Hakuhi no umi asanagi shitari funekaji mogamo

In the poem, the sounds mo ( 母, 毛) and shi (之, 思) are written with multiple, different
characters. All particles and most words are represented phonetically (多太 tada, 安佐 asa),
but the words ji (路), umi (海) and funekaji (船梶) 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 ( 借音仮名) are based on a Sino-Japanese on'yomi reading, in which one
character represents either one mora or two morae.[7]

Shakuon kana 借音仮名

Morae 1 character, complete 1 character, partial

1 以 (い ) 呂 (ろ ) 波 (は ) 安 (あ ) 樂 (ら ) 天 (て )
2 信 (しな) 覧 (らむ) 相 (さが)
Shakkun kana (借訓仮名) are based on a native kun'yomi reading, one to three characters
represent one to three morae.[7]

Shakkun kana 借訓仮名

Morae 1 character, complete 1 character, partial 2 characters 3 characters

嗚呼 (あ)
女 (め ) 石 (し ) 五十 (い)
1 毛 (け ) 跡 (と ) 可愛 (え)
蚊 (か ) 市 (ち ) 二二 (し)
蜂音 (ぶ)
蟻 (あり) 八十一 (くく)
2 卷 (まく) 神樂聲 (ささ)
鴨 (かも)
慍 (いかり)
3 下 (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

八方
芳房
左佐 那男 半伴 萬末 也移
阿安 可何 沙作 太多 奈南 倍泊 馬麻 夜楊 良浪 和丸 我何 社射
英足 加架 者柴 他丹 寧難 波婆 摩磨 耶埜 郎樂 輪 賀 謝耶 陀太 伐婆
鞅 香蚊 駄田 破薄 満前 奢装 大嚢 磨魔
a

迦 紗草 手立 七名 播幡 真間 八矢 羅等 蔵
散 魚菜 羽早 鬼 屋
者速
葉歯
子之
氣支 芝水 比必 民彌
伎岐 四司 卑賓 美三 伎祇
企棄 詞斯 二貳 日氷 參水 藝岐 婢鼻
i1
寸吉 志思 人日 飯負 見視 儀蟻 自士 彌
信偲 仁爾 嬪臂
伊怡 杵來 寺侍 知智 儞邇 避匱 御 里理 位爲 仕司 遅治
以異 時歌 陳千 尼泥 利梨 謂井 時尽 地恥
已移 詩師 乳血 耳柔 隣入 猪藍 慈耳 尼泥
射五 貴紀 茅 非悲 煎 餌兒
紫新 丹荷 斐火 未味 貳爾
記奇 旨指 似煮 肥飛 尾微 疑宜 備肥
i2 寄忌 次此 煎 樋干 身実 義擬 飛乾
幾木 死事 乾彼 箕 眉媚
城 准磯 被秘
爲
寸須
宇羽 久九 周酒 都豆 奴努 不否 牟武 具遇 受授 豆荳 夫扶
汙于 口壟 州洲 荳通 怒農 布負 無模 由喩 留流 隅求 殊儒 頭弩 府文
u
有卯 苦鳩 珠數 追川 濃沼 部敷 務謀 遊湯 類 愚虞 柔歩
鴉得 來 酢栖 津 宿 経歴 六 部
渚
e1 衣依 祁家 世西 堤天 禰尼 平反 売馬 曳延 禮列 廻恵 下牙 是湍 代田 弁便
愛榎 計係 斉勢 帝底 泥年 返弁 面女 要遙 例烈 面咲 雅夏 泥庭 別部
施背 根宿 弊陛 叡兄 連 傳殿
 價結 脊迫 手代 遍覇 江吉 而涅
鶏 瀬 直 部辺 枝衣 提弟
重隔
氣既 義氣閉倍 梅米
毛飼 宜礙陪拝 迷昧
倍毎
e2
消 削 戸経 目眼
海
古姑 宗祖 刀土 吾呉
枯故 素蘇 斗度 努怒 毛畝 用容 胡娯 土度
o1
侯孤 十拾 戸利 農埜 蒙木 欲夜 路漏 後籠 俗 渡奴
凡方 問聞 乎呼 兒悟 怒
兒粉 速 遠鳥 誤
抱朋 怨越
意憶 倍保 方面 少小 煩菩
於應 己巨 所則 止等 宝富 忘母 尾麻 其期 特藤 番蕃
去居 曾僧 登澄 乃能 百帆 文茂 與余 男緒 碁語 序叙 騰等
o2 忌許 増憎 得騰 笑荷 穂本 記勿 四世 呂侶 雄 御馭 賊存 耐抒
虛興 衣背 十鳥 物望 代吉 凝 茹鋤 杼
木 苑 常跡 門喪
裳藻

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.[8] On top of that, Buddhist monks found recording oral teachings time-consuming, since
every syllable would need to be written using an entire kanji.[9]

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 ( 変体仮名)
alternatives, alongside a separate system that became katakana. Hiragana developed from
man'yōgana written in the highly cursive sōsho ( 草書) 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, whereas the katakana ル (ru)
is derived from the man'yōgana 流. 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.[10] 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. Examples
include 倶楽部 (kurabu, "club"), 仏蘭西 (Furansu, France), 阿弗利加 (Afurika, Africa) and 亜米利
加 (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

阿加 散多 奈八末也良和
a
アカ サタ ナハマヤラワ
伊機幾之千 仁比三 利井
i
イキ シチ ニヒミ リヰ
宇久 須州川奴不牟由流
u
ウク スツ ヌフムユル
江介 世天 祢部女 礼恵
e
エケ セテ ネヘメ レヱ
於己 曽止 乃保毛與呂乎
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

安加 左太奈波末也良和
a
あか さたなはまやらわ
以機幾之知仁比美 利爲
i
いき しちにひみ りゐ
宇久 寸川奴不武由留
u
うく すつぬふむゆる
衣計 世天祢部女 礼恵
e
えけ せてねへめ れゑ
於己 曽止乃保毛与呂遠
o
おこ そとのほもよろを
无
–
ん

See also

Syllabogram
Idu script, Korean analogue
References

Citations

1. Bjarke Frellesvig (29 July 2010). A History

of the Japanese Language (https://books.
google.com/books?id=v1FcAgiAC9IC&pg
=PA14) . Cambridge University Press.
pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-1-139-48880-8.

2. Peter T. Daniels (1996). The World's

Writing Systems (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=ospMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21
2) . 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 (ht
 tps://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0041977X010
00040) . ISSN 0041-977X (https://www.w
orldcat.org/issn/0041-977X) .
S2CID 162540119 (https://api.semanticsc
holar.org/CorpusID:162540119) .

4. Seeley, Christopher (2000). A History of

Writing in Japan (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=ZIkuX0US69QC&q=%22Inariy
ama+Sword%22&pg=PA22) . University of
Hawaii. pp. 19–23. ISBN 9780824822170.

5. Farris, William Wayne (1998). Sacred

Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues in the
Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan
(https://books.google.com/books?id=dCN
ioYQ1HfsC&q=Inariyama%20sword%20ko
rean%20origin&pg=PA99) . 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."

6. Joshi & Aaron 2006, p. 483.

7. Alex de Voogt; Joachim Friedrich Quack
(9 December 2011). The Idea of Writing:
Writing Across Borders (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=KTA6MsEjkPIC&pg=P
A170) . BRILL. pp. 170–171. ISBN 978-90-
04-21545-0.

8. "L335: Manyogana" (https://web.archive.o

rg/web/20170202001653/http://www.ima
 bi.net/l335manyogana.htm) .
www.imabi.net. Archived from the original
(http://www.imabi.net/l335manyogana.ht
m) on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2016-02-17.

9. "Learn Japanese with

JapanesePod101.com" (http://www.japan
esepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=
2&t=7142) . JapanesePod101. Retrieved
2016-02-17.

10. Al Jahan, Nabeel (2017). "The Origin and

Development of Hiragana and Katakana"
(https://www.academia.edu/40998205) .
Academia.edu: 8.

Works cited

Joshi, R. Malatesha; Aaron, P. G. (2006).

Handbook Of Orthography And Literacy (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=RtStmGIe
 L8EC) . 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 (https://
doi.org/10.1017%2FS0041977X0100004
0) . JSTOR 3657541 (https://www.jstor.org/
stable/3657541) . S2CID 162540119 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:1625
40119) .

External links

Look up man'yōgana in Wiktionary, the

free dictionary.
Look up Appendix:Comparison of
hiragana and katakana derivations in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 An extensive list of man’yōgana
arranged according to the characters,
and not their readings (https://www.ac
ademia.edu/4214516/Manyogana_)
Tomasz Majtczak: "How are we
supposed to write with something like
that? Early employment of the Chinese
script to write Japanese as exemplified
by the Man'yōshū (http://www.silvajp.a
mu.edu.pl/Silva%202930.pdf#page=5
3) ".

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