The Footprints of the Buddha The Text and the Language 9004449779, 9789004449770

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The Footprints of the Buddha

The Languages of Asia Series Series Editor Alexander Vovin (ehess/crlao, Paris, France) Associate Editors José Andrés Alonso de la Fuente ( Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland) Aleksandra Jarosz (Nicolas Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland) Editorial Board Mark Alves (Montgomery College) Ákos B. Apatóczky (Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary) Gilles Authier (ephe – École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris) Anna Bugaeva (Tokyo University of Science/National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics) Bjarke Frellesvig (University of Oxford) Guillaume Jacques (Centre de recherches linguistiques sur l'Asie orientale) Juha Janhunen (University of Helsinki) Ross King (University of British Columbia) Marc Miyake (British Museum) Mehmet Ölmez (Istanbul University) Toshiki Osada (Institute of Nature and Humanity, Kyoto) Pittawayat Pittayaporn (Chulalongkorn University) Elisabetta Ragagnin (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) Pavel Rykin (Russian Academy of Sciences) Yukinori Takubo (National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics) John Whitman (Cornell University) Wu Ying-zhe (Inner Mongolia University)

volume 25 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/la

The Footprints of the Buddha The Text and the Language

By

Alexander Vovin

leiden | boston

Cover illustration: The Buddha Footprints stone (Bussokuseki) (left), and Poems about Buddha’s Footprints (Bussokuseki-no uta) stele (right). Both images are courtesy of the Yakushiji temple. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Vovin, Alexander, translator author of commentary. Title: The footprints of the Buddha : the text and the language / by Alexander Vovin. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2021. | Series: Languages of Asia series, 2452-2961 ; volume 25 | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: lccn 2021009621 (print) | lccn 2021009622 (ebook) | isbn 9789004449770 (hardback) | isbn 9789004449848 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Buddhist poetry, Japanese–Translations into English | Buddhist poetry, Japanese. | Japanese poetry–To 794–Translations into English. | Japanese poetry–To 794. | Japanese poetry–To 794–History and criticism. | Buddhist inscriptions–Japan–Nara-shi. | Inscriptions, Japanese–Japan–Nara-shi. | Inscriptions, Japanese–Japan–Nara-shi–Translations into English. | Buddhist poetry, Chinese. | Chinese poetry–Tang dynasty, 618-907–Translations into English. | Chinese poetry–Tang dynasty, 618-907. | Inscriptions, Chinese–Japan– Nara-shi. | Inscriptions, Chinese–Japan–Nara-shi–Translations into English. | Yakushiji (Nara-shi, Japan) Classification: lcc pl757.5.b8 f66 2021 (print) | lcc pl757.5.b8 (ebook) | ddc 895.61–dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021009621 lc ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021009622

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. issn 2452-2961 isbn 978-90-04-44977-0 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-44984-8 (e-book) Copyright 2021 by Alexander Vovin. Published by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

To my children: Aleksei, Jacob Tomotatsu, and Marie Alexandra

∵

Contents Preface ix Acknowledgements xiii List of Charts and Illustrations Abbreviations xvi

xiv

Introduction 1 1 Hōssō Sect of the Japanese Buddhism 4 2 Bussokuseki and Bussokuseki-no uta 10 3 Inscriptions on the Footprints Stone 10 4 Stele Inscription 12 5 Previous Research 13 6 Poetic Form 15 1 Translation of Chinese Inscriptions and Commentary 17 2 Translation, Glossing, and Morphemic Analysis of Old Japanese Poems A Commentary to the Old Japanese Poems 30 3 Language of the Bussokuseki-no uta 88 1 Graphemics and Phonology 88 2 Grammar 99 3 Vocabulary 147 4 List of Grammatical Morphemes 151 Appendix: Photographs of the Inscriptions Bibliography 186

155

Preface My interest in the Bussokuseki-no uta (仏足石歌) goes back almost forty years, more exactly to the first half of 1983, when I have just finished my ba and ma training at the Saint Petersburg (then Leningrad) State University. At this time Tsuchihashi Yutaka (1957) and Roy A. Miller (1975) were the only editions available to me. Both were the source of inspiration and the object of admiration by a young intrepid soul, which, easily got excited by all studies on Ancient Japan. But as Herakleitos the Dark noted more than two and a half thousands years ago, πάντα ῥεῖ ‘everything flows’. My deep respect for Tsuchihashi’s edition has remained, but it is completely gone for Miller’s. There are good reasons for that, which I will outline briefly below in general, and will refer to particulars throughout this book. The most thorough and detailed review of Miller’s study was given by Cranston (1976), however, strangely enough his review (1976) of Miller (1975) is split in its evaluation: on one side is very laudatory, but on the other it is very critical. I presume that the laudatory part can be probably explained mostly by the fact that although Cranston did wonderful work on translating Old Japanese poetry from the Man’yōshū, the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki, his predominant area of expertise is the Heian period, and he is by no means a specialist in the Old Japanese language or paleography. Anyway, while I completely agree with Cranston’s negative comments (1976: 302–308), I cannot agree with his overall evaluation that Miller (1975) is “a monograph of exceptional range, depth, and originality” (1976: 299) and “a superb, exciting, and original study” (1976: 308). Well, maybe I can agree with “originality”, but not in the sense intended by Cranston. I came across Cranston’s review only in the early 1990s, after I have already made my escape from the former USSR to the USA and was enjoying the superb collection of Japanese Studies materials at the University of Michigan. Cranston’s review managed to confirm one of the lingering doubts that I intuitively had almost from the beginning and was immensely helpful to transform it to a red flag. Namely, it seemed to me like to Cranston that it is “excessively strange as well as unfortunate that the book is completely lacking in both illustrations and kanji” (1976: 302). Certainly, 1970s was still a pre-computer age, but while other Japanologists managed to fill in necessary Chinese characters into their publications by hand, Miller was never keen on using the actual Japanese writing system in his publications: for example, the German 1993 edition, already done in the computer age, of his original The Japanese Language (1967), includes no more than a handful of kanji, hiragana and katakana, which

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fit on just half of a page even in the chapter dedicated to the writing system (1993: 130). Still, the absence of the original script in the philological edition of an Old Japanese text is quite unacceptable. But the absence of photographs of the text of the Bussokuseki-no uta stele had no explanation, especially that Miller stresses throughout his book how meticulously he has personally examined the text of the stele in situ—or so it seemed at the time. In short, I was feeling more and more that a new solid and richly illustrated philological edition of the text is necessary, especially that I am still unaware of such an edition ever done even in Japan, let alone in the West, with only Hirooka (2015) being an exception, but it was published only recently and became accessible to me only when this book was almost finished. I have made two research trips to the Yakushiji temple in July and August of 2008 during my second year-long stay at the International Center for Japanese Studies (国際日本文化研究センター) in Kyoto. I was granted permission to take my own photographs and was also kindly given a number of the superb quality photos by the Yakushiji temple. As my work on these photos has progressed, I came to an inevitable conclusion: Miller might have visited the Yakushiji temple, but he has never performed any personal examinations of the inscription as all his notes and even worse—“correct readings” of the actual text as found on the stele could be attributed only to a work with low-quality photographs. Therefore, Miller’s publication is not only useless and unreliable, but it also constitutes the greatest intellectual misconduct in the history of the Japanese Studies, which can only be compared to the creation of the ‘Characters of the Era of Deities’ ( Jindai moji, 神代文字). I will document this misconduct step by step throughout this publication, but it will suffice to say for now that Miller betrayed himself right in the very beginning of his book. In the footnote 8 he says: “The considerable damage (erosion?) that the Chinese inscriptions on the sides of the footprint stone have suffered renders them today, in effect, virtually unreadable; if we did not have Noro’s transcription, it is difficult to understand how much if anything could be made out of them today” (1975: 3). Well, first of all, anyone doing personal examination of the stone in situ and not from low-quality photographs, would be able to see immediately that it is indeed erosion, and not any other kind of damage. Second, and more importantly, the inscriptions are quite legible even today on the high quality photographs, especially when projected on a large-size display (see photographs 2 and 3 in the Appendix). This is why there is very little difference between Noro (1752) and Saitō (2000) editions, and overall the number of illegible characters is very low. This should come as no wonder, because the erosion cannot progress to the level of the complete illegibility within 250 years, especially when artefacts are well sheltered from elements, which was the case from at least the middle of the Tokugawa period to the present day.

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It seems that the Bussokuseki-no uta has gradually become a kind of a stepchild in the Japanese Studies dedicated to the Nara period. Ironically, it is the Chinese inscriptions that receive recently much more attention (Hirooka 1989; Saitō 1990; Saitō 1999; Saitō 2000), with the notable exception of (Hirooka 2015), which is partially dedicated to the Chinese inscriptions on the footprints stone and partially to the Japanese inscription on the stele. Maybe it is due to two factors: first, traditionally Japanese poems on the stele received much more attention than the Chinese inscriptions on the footprints stone. Second, the Bussokuseki-no uta may be considered a relatively minor Old Japanese text due to its length, especially when compared not only with the enormous Man’yōshū (萬葉集), but also with the Kojiki kayō (古事記歌謡), the Nihonshoki kayō (日本書紀歌謡), and the Senmyō (宣命). However, despite its seemingly unremarkable volume of text, we should not overlook its three very important aspects. First, the Bussokuseki-no uta is the only 100 % authentic text from the Nara period inscribed in stone. Other much longer Old Japanese texts are known only from manuscripts on paper with none of them older than the midHeian period. Second, the Bussokuseki-no uta seems to be brimming with very basic Old Japanese grammar and vocabulary. Third, it is a wonderful introduction to the man’yōgana writing system, because it includes the most frequently used phonograms and has no polyphonic ambiguity of the Man’yōshū and the Nihonshoki kayō. Although the writing system in the Kojiki kayō also tends to be monophonic for the most part, this text is full of obsolete and poorly understood vocabulary and grammar. All these circumstances make the Bussokuseki-no uta an ideal introduction to the Old Japanese language for a beginner. Finally, the actual text (and not the modern editions) of the stele written in the non-cursive script with a limited dosage of non-standard characters or their rare variants also serves well as the introduction to the real world of Old Japanese paleography, whereas the reading of the original manuscripts of the most books of the Man’yōshū1 requires a thorough knowledge of semi-cursive (gyōsho, 行書) and cursive (sōsho, 草書) scripts as a prerequisite. All these considerations have finally prompted me to write this book. I must apologize to the Yakushiji temple that it has been a long time since my research visit to the Yakushiji temple where I received their permission to study the inscriptions on both stones as well as their high-quality photographs. Different circumstances have prevented me from finishing this project earlier: increasing obstacles that I had to face at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa during my last

1 For example, the notable exception is the book two of the Man’yōshū in the oldest Genryaku kōhon (元暦校本) manuscript from the end of the Heian period.

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two years there, two other urgent scholarly projects, and a move from the USA to France, to mention just a few. But at the same time, I hope that this delay was for the best and helped me to produce a considerably better publication than it would be ten years ago. Alexander Vovin Poligny, France, October 2020

Acknowledgements After my research trips to the Yakushiji temple in the summer of 2008, I had to put the planned monograph on the Japanese and Chinese inscriptions on a back burner due to various events in the one of the most turbulent periods in my life: serving as an Interim chair at the Bochum-Ruhr University in 2008–2009, then as an Interim chair at the University of Hawai’i in 2009–2010, a witch-hunt at the same University in 2011–2013, and finally the relocation to France in early 2014, with a subsequent challenges of getting adjusted to yet another country with different challenges. There were also some more urgent research and teaching obligations. All in all, I was able to come back to this project only twelve years later in 2020, which makes this project as old as my daughter, Marie (真理枝) Alexandra. I would like to thank first of all the Yakushiji temple in general, and Reverend Maekawa (前川) in particular for allowing me to take my own pictures of the stone with a Japanese inscription, and also for providing me with much more superior quality photographs taken by the temple. Without these pictures the present work would simply be pointless and, most likely, would never materialize. I am also very grateful to my wife and the best friend Sambi Ishisaki (石 崎賛美)-Vovin, who accompanied me on all my research trips to Yakushiji, and being not just a Japanese, but a Japanese to the bone, paved very smoothly the process of the negotiations with the temple, saving her ignorant gaijin (外人) husband from committing many faux pas. As always, I am no less grateful to all my editors at Brill: Patricia Radder, Elisa Perotti, and Irene Jager for taking care of this book, and also to the head of Asian Department, Uri Tadmor for supporting the publication of this monograph at Brill. Finally, I would like to thank all my friends around the globe, too numerous even to simply list here, but I will make a special exception for several of them. Although none is connected with this project, all of them made my recent years of life more enjoyable and worth living: Juha Janhunen, José Andrés Alonso de la Fuente, Irène Tamba, Augustin de Benoist, Mehmet Ölmez, Wu Ying-zhe, Elena Perekhval’skaya, and Aleksandra Jarosz. This book is dedicated to my children, Aleksei, who is himself a scholar, and thirty-eight years old, Jacob Tomotatsu (智龍), who is twenty years younger, and Marie (真理枝) Alexandra, aged twelve. We all live under the shadow of covid-19 now, but as the Turks say, geçmiş olsun ‘may it soon be past’!

Charts and Illustrations Charts 1 2 3 4

Man’yōgana signs used in the Bussokuseki-no uta 88 The high frequency phonograms in the Bussokuseki-no uta 92 The consonantal system 94 The vocalic system 97

Figures 1

A general panorama of Yakushiji temple as seen from Yōrakumon Gate (與樂 2 The relief on the back of the pedestal of the statue of Buddha Yakushi (Yakushi Nyorai, 藥師如來) (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 2 The old Eastern Pagoda (Tōtō, 東塔) (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 3 The new Western Pagoda (Saitō, 西塔) (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 4 The Great Lecture Hall (Dai Kōdō, 大講堂) (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 5 The right wing of the Great Lecture Hall (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 5 The Main Hall (Kondō, 金堂) (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 6 The Eastern Pagoda and the Main Hall (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 6 The Main Hall and the Great Lecture Hall (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 7 Xuan-zang Pagoda (Genzō tō, 玄奘塔) (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 7 Buddhist Guardian King Misshaku Kongō (密迹金剛) on the left side of Chūmon (中門) gate (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 8 Buddhist Guardian King Naraen Kongō (那羅延金剛) on the right side of Chūmon (中門) gate (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 9 門), or Northern Entrance (© Alexander Vovin, 2008)

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Photographs 1 2 3 4

The engraving of Buddha’s footprints (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 155 Inscription on the back of the footprints stone (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 156 Inscription on the front of the footprints stone (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 157 The stele with Bussokuseki-no uta inscription (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 158

charts and illustrations 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

xv

Bussokuseki-no uta stele (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 159 The top of the stele (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 160 The top of the stele (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 161 Bottom of the poems 1, 2, 3, and 4 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 162 Bottom of the poems 1–10 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 163 Bottom of the poems 1–10 and top of the poems 12–20 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 164 Bottom of the poems 4–7 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 165 Lines 5–6 of poems 1–10 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 166 Line 6 of poems 1–10 and line 1 of poems 12–20 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 167 Line 1 of poems 7–11 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 168 Line six of poems 6–10 and preface to poems 18–21 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 169 Lines 1–3 of poems 12–21 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 170 Lines 1–2 of poems 12–21 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 171 Line 2–4 of the poems 12–21 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 172 Line 2–5 of the poems 12–21 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 173 Line 3–5 of the poems 12–21 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 174 Line 3–6 of the poems 12–21 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 175 Line 4–6 of the poems 12–21 (© Alexander Vovin, 2008) 176 Line 1 of poems 12–14 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 177 Line 1 of poems 17–21 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 178 Lines 1–2 of poems 18–21 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 179 Lines 2–3 of poems 18–21 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 180 Lines 5–6 of poems 16–21 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 181 Line 6 of the poems 13–18 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 182 The bottom of line 6 of the poems 13–15 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 183 Line 6 of the poem 21 and ends of line 6 of the poems 18 and 19 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 184 Preface to the poems 18–21 (courtesy of the Yakushiji temple) 185

Abbreviations Languages emc eoj lhc lmc mj mk mm oc oj ok wm woj

Early Middle Chinese Eastern Old Japanese Late Han Chinese Late Middle Chinese Middle Japanese Middle Korean Middle Mongolian Old Chinese Old Japanese (both Western and Eastern Old Japanese) Old Korean Written Mongolian Western Old Japanese

Texts bs im kk mys nk siwks tm

Bussokuseki-no uta (仏足石歌), between 770 and 789ad Ise monogatari (伊勢物語), late ninth or early tenth century Kojiki kayō (古事記歌謡), 712ad Man’yōshū (萬葉集), between 759 and 785ad Nihonshoki kayō (日本書紀歌謡), 720ad Shūi Wakashū (拾遺和歌), 1005–1007ad Taketori monogatari (竹取物語), late ninth or early tenth centuryad

Grammar Terms acc adj adv affir asser attr ben caus

Accusative Adjectivizer Adverbilizer Affirmative Assertive Attributive Benefactive Causative

abbreviations cl com comp con conc cond conj conv coor cop dat deb des dlf dp dv emph ep ev excl fin fp gen hon hum ip int inter loc neg nml nom pass past perf poss pot pref pres pret

Classifier Comitative Comparative Conjunctive gerund Concessive gerund Conditional gerund Conjunction Converb Coordinative gerund Copula Dative Debitive Desiderative Directive-locative focus Desiderative particle Defective verb Emphatic Emphatic particle Evidential Exclamative Final verbal form Focus particle Genitive Honorific Humble Interrogative particle Intensive Interjection Locative Negative Nominalizer Nominative Passive Past tense Perfective Possessive Potential Prefix Present tense Preterite

xvii

xviii prev prog pt rec retr rp sub subj sup tent term top

abbreviations Preverb Progressive Particle Reciprocal-cooperative Retrospective Restrictive particle Subordinative gerund Subjunctive Suppositional Tentative Terminative Topic

Introduction Yakushiji temple (藥師寺), founded in 680 ad, and originally built in Fujiwara kyō (藤原京) in Asuka (飛鳥), was moved to Nishi-no kyō (西ノ京) in Nara following the capital transfer from the former to the latter in 710 ad. It is a very important Buddhist temple for the Japanese cultural history in several aspects. First, it houses eight very important National Treasures, such as the bronze statue of Buddha Yakushi (Yakushi Nyorai, 藥師如來) with his two attendants as well as several other Buddhist statues; Eastern Pagoda (Tōtō, 東塔, 34.1 m high including the spire, see the Figure 3 below), the only wooden structure that has survived in the temple complex from the Nara period, being originally erected during the Tenpyō (天平) years (729–748ad); and finally the stone with carved Buddha footprints with inscriptions in Chinese and the stele with poems in Japanese about these footprints, which are the object of this study (see the pictures of both stones in the Appendix). The bronze statue of Buddha Yakushi is housed in the Main Hall (Kondō, 金堂, see the Figures 7–9 below)and the Buddha footprints stones are in the Great Lecture Hall (Dai Kōdō, 大講堂, see the Figures 5–6 below). Second, Yakushiji temple, and not Cháng’ān (長安) in Tang China, was the ultimate terminus of the Silk road. There are several pieces of evidence pointing in that direction, the most important of which, probably, being Yakushiji temple’s art. For example, on the back of the pedestal of the bronze statue of Buddha Yakushi in the Main Hall (Kondō, 金堂) one finds the relief described below (see Figure 2). The iconography on this relief is highly interesting: in the middle it depicts a figure that is reminiscent of an Indian deity. Four other figures have clearly Central Asian origin, except the Genbu (玄武) in the middle of the bottom frame, a mythical half-turtle half-snake creature that symbolizes the North in the Chinese tradition. Other decorative patterns look very Middle Eastern. On the very top panel, we can see grapes—definitely of Middle Eastern or other Mediterranean origin, but by no means Chinese. Third, the Yakushiji temple is the headquarters of the Hossō sect (Hossō shū, 法相宗), one of the six old Nara sects of Buddhism alongside with the Kusha sect (Kusha shū, 俱舎宗), the Jōjitsu sect (Jōjitsu shū, 成實宗), the Ritsu sect (Risshū, 律宗), the Sanron sect (Sanronshū, 三論宗), and the Kegon sect (Kegon shū, 華嚴宗), although the Kusha sect is frequently considered to be a branch of the Hossō sect. The following pictures provide images of main buildings in the Yakushiji temple complex, as well as of two Buddhist Guardian Kings (Niō, 仁王): Mis-

© Alexander Vovin, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004449848_002

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introduction

figure 1

A general panorama of Yakushiji temple as seen from Yōrakumon Gate (與樂門), or Northern Entrance. Left to right: Eastern Pagoda, Yōrakumon Gate, roof of the Great Lecture Hall (with the roof of the Main Hall behind), Western Pagoda © alexander vovin, 2008

figure 2

The relief on the back of the pedestal of the statue of Buddha Yakushi (Yakushi Nyorai, 藥師如來) © alexander vovin, 2008

introduction

figure 3

3

The old Eastern Pagoda (Tōtō, 東塔) © alexander vovin, 2008

shaku Kongō (密迹金剛), on the left side of Chūmon gate (中門), Figure 11, and Naraen Kongō (那羅延金剛), on the right side of the same gate, Figure 12. The Niō at Chūmon gate are highly unusual, because normally Niō are depicted with their torso naked, but those at the Yakushiji temple wear full body armor. The stele with Bussokuseki-no uta poems and the stone with the carved Buddha’s footprints with inscriptions in Chinese are currently located inside The Great Lecture Hall (see the Photographs 1–5 in the Appendix). The bronze statue of Buddha Yakushi (Yakushi Nyorai, 藥師如來) with his two attendants is currently located inside the Main Hall.

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figure 4

1

The new Western Pagoda (Saitō, 西塔) © alexander vovin, 2008

Hōssō Sect of the Japanese Buddhism1

The Hossō sect (Hossō shū, 法相宗, Chin. Fǎxiāng zōng, Sanskrit Vijñānavāda) is a Mahāyāna ‘Great vehicle’ (Daijō, 大乗) sect that asserts that all existences are reducible to consciousness. The Vijñānavāda sect was originally founded in India in fourth century ad by Vasubandhu (Seshin, 世親).2 Vasubandhu is 1 The following description of the Hossō sect is mostly based on Matsunaga and Matsunaga (1974: 76 ff.). 2 Vasubandhu was originally a Hinayanist born in Gandhāra, but later converted to Mahāyāna.

introduction

figure 5

The Great Lecture Hall (Dai Kōdō, 大講堂) © alexander vovin, 2008

figure 6

The right wing of the Great Lecture Hall © alexander vovin, 2008

5

6

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figure 7

The Main Hall (Kondō, 金堂) © alexander vovin, 2008

figure 8

The Eastern Pagoda and the Main Hall © alexander vovin, 2008

introduction

figure 9

The Main Hall and the Great Lecture Hall © alexander vovin, 2008

figure 10 Xuan-zang Pagoda (Genzō tō, 玄奘塔) © alexander vovin, 2008

7

8

figure 11

introduction

Buddhist Guardian King Misshaku Kongō (密迹金剛) on the left side of Chūmon (中門) gate © alexander vovin, 2008

believed to be the author of the Abhidharmakośa (Abidatsuma kusha ron, 阿 毘達磨俱舎論), The Discourse on the Repository of Abbhidharma Discussions, which serves as the basis of the Kusha sect.3 Kusha doctrines are considerably similar to Hossō teachings; and this is probably why the Kusha in due course of time became a branch of the Hossō sect. Other Indian patriarchs are Dharmapalā (Gohō, 護 法, born mid-sixth century ad) and Śīlabhadra (529–645ad).

3 Paradoxically, Abhidharmakośa is considered to be a Hīnayāna text, while Kusha certainly belongs to Mahāyāna. It was translated by Xuan-zang.

introduction

9

figure 12 Buddhist Guardian King Naraen Kongō (那羅延金剛) on the right side of Chūmon (中門) gate © alexander vovin, 2008

The famous Chinese monk pilgrim Xuan-zang (Genzō, 玄奘, 602–664 ad) studied with Śīlabhadra at the Nālanda Buddhist University in India and brought with him the Vijñānavāda scriptures back to Tang China, where he became the first patriarch of the Fǎxiāng sect. This explains the veneration of Xuan-zang in the Yakushiji temple (see Figure 10 above). The following Chinese patriarchs were Kui-zhi (632–682ad), the chief disciple of Xuan-zang, who was in turn succeeded by his own disciple Hui-zhao (649–714ad) and Ji-zhou (dates unknown). The Fǎxiāng sect was transmitted to Japan on four different occasions: first by Dōshō, who studied under Xuan-zang himself, then by Chitsū and Chitatsu,

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who studied under both Xuan-zang and Kui-zhi, consequently by a Korean priest Chihō, a student of Ji-zhou, and finally by Genbō, a disciple of Ji-zhou. The foundation text of the Hossō sect is the Jōyuishikiron (成唯識論), The Discourse on the Theory of Consciousness-Only, which mostly consists of Xuanzang’s translation of Dharmapalā’s commentary on Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only by Vasubandhu, but also includes works by other masters. The main accent in the teachings of the Hossō sect is on the human consciousness that is believed to be the key to Enlightenment. In this aspect the Hossō teachings are practically identical to the early Buddhism, which is faithfully preserved in this sect. The first verse of the Dhammapada summarizes this perfectly and eloquently: Mind foreruns all, is the foundation of all, is the origin of all. If one speaks of acts with an evil mind, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the ox hoof. I am not a Buddhologist, and this book is not on Buddhism, but rather on philology and historical linguistics; therefore, the reader who is particularly interested in the details of teachings by the Hossō sect and its participation in the arguments with other Buddhist sects, should probably start with the detailed description of the Hossō sect and its doctrine in Matsunaga and Matsunaga (1974: 76–94).

2

Bussokuseki and Bussokuseki-no uta

There are two stones with inscriptions: a smaller one with carved picture of the Buddha’s footprints on the top and four Chinese inscriptions on the sides with the height of 53cm and the width of 59.5cm; and a bigger stele stone with 194cm in height and 48.5cm in width with twenty-one poems in Western Old Japanese all engraved on the front face.

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Inscriptions on the Footprints Stone

There are all together six inscriptions in Chinese on the footprints stone. The longest inscription consisting of twenty lines is on the front side. On the right side there are two inscriptions: the second longest one inside the frame including seventeen lines and a very short one consisting just of three lines outside of the frame. The third longest inscription including twelve lines is on the back

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side. Finally, there are two very short inscriptions on the left side: one consisting of three lines inside the frame, and the other representing just one character outside of the frame. During my 2008 visits to the Yakushiji temple, due to various circumstances it was not possible for me to take my own pictures of the footprints stone; however, the temple kindly provided me with two high quality photographs of the inscriptions on both the front side and the back side (Photographs 2–3 in the Appendix) as well as of the top surface of the stone with the carved footprints of the Buddha (Photograph 1 in the Appendix). For the reading and translations of other inscriptions, I have relied on modern editions: Saitō (2000: 272–276), Hirooka (2015: 15–220), and 廣瀬裕之, 漆原徹, 遠藤祐介 (2018: 140–127). Although the front inscription is more eroded than the back inscription, both are quite legible contrary to Miller’s statement (1975: 3). When working with high-resolution photographs, despite the fact that the more eroded inscription on the front of the footprints stone required a close-up display, even a slight enlargement on a regular laptop display does the trick. Still, there are numerous lacunae on many lines. I trust that using the current 3D photo technology might help, because on this stone we deal with the erosion, and not with stone damage. When Hirooka was doing his monumental study, 3D technology was already available but 3D equipment consisted then of two big (and quite heavy) interconnected boxes that required two men to operate. Then around 2017 a real revolutionary technological advancement has happened, which reduced these boxes to just a hand-held camera. Basically, there are two main types of these cameras: those that require to be plugged to a computer, to which they transmit the acquired data, and those that can work in an autonomous regime. The pleasure of having one is not cheap: autonomous cameras cost around 25,000 € and those requiring a computer around 13,000 €. And then there is a further limitation: at the time of writing this book, these hand-held cameras are compatible only with pc, but not with Mac. However, the application of the 3D technology to the so far unreadable parts of inscriptions opens new and unprecedented possibilities, because now the unreadable may become readable. A word of caution: the 3D technology can capture slight indentations on eroded parts of inscriptions and potentially restore the illegible markings: it cannot magically eliminate the physical damage done to them. Thus, in the case of the footprints stone which suffered erosions, we can expect new clearer images through 3D photographs. Dating the stone with Chinese inscriptions is easy, because the date is mentioned in the text of the inscription on the right side. Namely, it is forty days from the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month of the fifth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (天平勝寶五年七月十五日, corresponding to August 18, 753ad) brings

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us to the twenty-fifth day of the eighth lunar month of the fifth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (天平勝寶五年八月二十五日), which corresponds to September 26, 753ad. The person who ordered Chinese inscriptions to be carved is Prince Tinu (智奴王, also written as 智努王, 知努王 or 知奴王), a son of Imperial Prince Naŋga (長皇子), who ordered the Bussokuseki stone in memory of his late wife. Prince Tinu is also the likeliest author of the texts of all inscriptions on the stone. On more details of his biography see the commentary to the right side of the inscription.

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Stele Inscription

Stele inscription comprises twenty-one poems in Nara dialect of Western Old Japanese in different stages of preservation. Poems 11 and 21 on the left fringe of the stone suffered the most damage and are not preserved in full, although there are occasional lacunae in other places as well. Unfortunately, on the stele stone the illegible parts are mostly due to real physical damages to the stone with some parts simply chipped off. Therefore, in contrast to footprints stone, I do not expect any breathtaking results coming from the application of 3D technology to the stele inscription. While footprints stone is clearly dated, the stele has no date on it, and even no indication that it has some relationship to footprints stone. In short, its provenance remains a complete mystery. Regarding the origin of the stele stone, there are two major schools of thought that I will call “romantic” and “realistic”. Romanticists believe that both stones are somehow connected, that the stele inscriptions can also be dated by 753ad, and that the author of these poems is Prince Tinu. Realists (including myself) object to the idea above, saying that none of those points can be confirmed by scientific evidence and the idea is driven solely by an act of faith. Moreover, one of the points brought up by romanticists can be rejected outright on the basis of the linguistic data. The stele poems could not be possibly composed in 753ad since there is a clear loss of the vocalic contrast o : ǝ after dentals, which is still pretty much alive in the contemporaneous poems from the Man’yōshū dated around 753 ad and written in the same Nara dialect of Western Old Japanese as the stele poems. The said contrast started to crumble in 770s only. However, there are no losses of other Western Old Japanese vowel contrasts around this time, namely the contrasts that start to disappear only in 790s and become rampant in the ninth century ad due to the transition from Old to Middle Japanese. Thus, we have a window of

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about 20 years, from 770 to 789ad when the poems on the stele were likely to be carved. By whom and where this engraving was done and who the author of these poems was will likely to remain a perennial mystery. It so happened that the fate brought both stones under the roof of the Yakushiji temple, but when or how it happened also remains unknown.

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Previous Research

The Bussokuseki scholarship is very different from, for example, the Man’yōshū scholarship. This comes as no wonder because considerable part of the latter is dedicated to discussing variants and establishing the Ur-text, whereas the former has no variants of the text, and the Ur-text is written right there on the stones. Consequently, in the majority of cases the publications of both Chinese inscriptions and the Japanese poems just include the texts themselves without any commentary. The editions, followed by a commentary, such as Hirooka (2015) are exceptions rather than the standard. Meanwhile, publications of the Man’yōshū text without a commentary are either extremely rare or have an auxiliary function, like Omodaka’s Honbun, which is just an addition to his twenty-volume edition and translation of the text itself. In contrast to the allinclusive bibliography in Hirooka (2015: 675–711) my goal here was much more modest: below I present only the major highlights, indispensable, as I believe for the future study of both Chinese inscriptions and Japanese poems. The study of the texts on the both stones starts only in mid-Edo period with Noro Genjō (野 呂 元 丈, 1752). Noro’s edition includes both Chinese inscriptions and Japanese poems with some commentary. It is quite clear that by his time both stones were already in the possession of the Yakushiji temple. Noro painstakingly surveys both inscriptions and reproduces them, noting all the lacunae and missing characters using quite limited technological means of the day. He also differentiates between primary texts of the inscriptions and signs that were added later. After Noro’s work there is almost a 150 years’ publication gap in the studies of the Bussokuseki and Bussokuseki-no uta. Chronologically, the next is Karitani Bōshi (狩谷望之, 1775–1835ad), The Remaining Inscriptions of the Old Capital (古京遺文), written much earlier but published only in 1893ad. Karitani dedicated only eleven pages to Bussokuseki and Bussokuseki-no uta (1893: 37–47). His study is much inferior to that of Noro, since it represents only reproduction of the text, with almost no commentary. Starting from 1900s and until the end of the war, the publications of Chinese inscriptions and Old Japanese poems become much more frequent, but

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unfortunately almost all of them follow the general trend found in Karitani’s work. Namely, the Bussokuseki and Bussokuseki-no uta are found within some larger publications with a very little space allotted for them, and a commentary is rudimentary if present at all. A representative example of such an approach is Sasaki Nobutsuna’s study (1921), which has the same title as Karitani’s booklet. Its only advantage is the inclusion of a photo depicting a fragment of the Bussokuseki-no uta stele. The notable exception of the research that follows in Noro’s rather than in Karitani’s footsteps is Matsudaira Sadanobu (松平定信, 1900, 2nd edition 1905). It includes a rubbing and rather detailed commentary. Inoue Michiyasu included an edition of Japanese poems, their kana transliteration and the commentary to both Chinese inscriptions and Japanese poems (but no original of the Chinese text) in his Man’yōshū shinkō, dai go [A New commentary on the Man’yōshū, Volume 5] (1928.5: 2739–2761). This edition is somewhat illogically sandwiched between his edition of the Man’yōshū books twelve and thirteen. Overall, it is a useful publication, and together with Noro and Matsudaira, it includes one of the most detailed commentaries published before 1945ad. Another edition of the Bussokuseki-no uta (but not the Chinese inscriptions) is found in Aiso Teizō’s monograph on the Kojiki kayō and the Nihonshoki kayō (1962). It includes the original text of the Japanese poems (本文, honbun) and the kana transliteration (書き下し, kakikudashi), but no commentary. Although the major bulk of his publication is on the Kojiki kayō and the Nihonshoki kayō, its major virtue is that it conveniently includes in one place the edition of all Old Japanese minor texts (but without any commentaries). The first important post-war edition with a commentary was done by Konishi Jin’ichi (1957: 239–247), but unfortunately it deals only with poems in Old Japanese, leaving the Chinese inscriptions out. In spite of that, Konishi’s edition served well to several generations of scholars. Konishi’s edition is to a certain extent supplemented by Takeuchi 1962a and 1962b, although his edition includes only the original text. Chronologically the next publication by Miller (1975) should not be mentioned here for the reasons that are amply documented throughout this book. It comes as no wonder that the study of the poems in Old Japanese was given rather obvious priority over the inscriptions in Chinese during the period from the late Meiji and throughout the early post-war years, because of the strong nationalist tendencies. But in recent years the attitude towards Japanese texts written in Chinese has cardinally changed, and in essence we can observe another extreme, for example represented by such studies as Saitō (1990, 2000) and Hirose et al. (2018) that do not deal with the Old Japanese poems at all.

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The crowning achievement of the study of both the Japanese poems and the Chinese inscriptions is without any doubt the monumental volume by Hirooka Yoshitaka (2015), which is not only the most detailed study of these texts produced up to date (756 pp.), but also takes a good balanced approach to the study of the poems and the inscriptions. Unfortunately, due to covid-19 pandemic it took me almost a year to obtain this outstanding publication, and I heartily thank my in-laws Ishisaki Tetsuo and Ishisaki Fukiko for going into trouble to send me this book via a very complicated route. Due to these circumstances, Hirooka 2015 arrived to France only when my own book was practically ready, so I was able to make only a limited usage of it. I have only two critical notes about Hirooka’s study. First, it has practically no description or even notes on the language of Japanese poems, with the exception of the writing system (2015: 427–446), but perhaps it should come as no wonder, because Hirooka is not a linguist. Second, when he uses photographs to illustrate his readings of the text, they invariably come as black-and-white, which renders them practically useless as a supporting material. He might have achieved better results, if the photographs were in color. In my work on the text of both the poems and the inscriptions I mostly relied on the photographs of the stones that either I myself took in the summer of 2008, or were graciously supplied to me by the Yakushiji temple. For the Chinese inscriptions that I could not photograph at that time I mostly relied on Saitō’s edition (2000), which is a little bit different from Hirooka (2015).

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Poetic Form

The Old Japanese poems on the stele have a unique poetic meter 5-7-5-7-7-7, that is known as Bussokuseki tai (仏足石体) ‘Bussokuseki poetic form’. Outside of the stele, this form is attested only once in the whole Old Japanese corpus: the poem 16.3884 in the book sixteen of the Man’yōshū is also in this form. For the convenience of my readers I reproduce this poem below:

16.3884 本文 · Original Text (1) 伊夜彦 (2) 神乃布本 (3) 今日良毛加 (4) 鹿乃伏良武 (5) 皮服著而 (6) 角附奈我良

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) いやひ₁こ₁ (2) かみ₂の₂ふも₂と₂に (3) け₁ふらも₁か (4) しかの₂ふすらむ (5) かはご₂ろ₂も₂き₁て (6) つの₁つき₁ながら

Romanization (1) Iyapiko (2) kamï-nǝ pumətə-ni (3) kepu-ra mo ka (4) sika-nǝ pus-uramu (5) kapa-ŋ-gərəmə ki-te (6) tuno tuk-i-naŋgara Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) Iyapiko (2) deity-gen foot-loc (3) today-loc fp ep (4) deer-gen lie.downtent2-attr (5) hide-gen-garment wear(conv)-sub (6) horn attach-convcoor Translation (3) I wonder whether today, too, (4) deer would lie down (2) at the foot of deity (1) [Mt.] Iyapîkô (5) wearing [their fur] garments (6) with horns attached? Commentary This poem is found in a small poetic sequence 16.3881–3884 including four poems from the Wettiu province (越中國), which roughly corresponds to the modern Toyama prefecture. Line one is hypometric ( ji tarazu, 字足らず). Mt. Iyapiko was located somewhere in present-day Toyama prefecture, possibly one of the mountains in Tateyama (立 山) range (Nakanishi 1985: 427). I think that the hypothesis that it is in present-day Niigata prefecture (premodern Wetiŋgo province, 越後國), also cited by Nakanishi can be safely ruled out here, because the poem 16.3883 is listed as a poem from Wettiu province, and because Yahiko village (Yahiko mura, 弥 彦 村) in Nishikanbara county (Nishikanbara gun, 西蒲原郡) of Niigata prefecture where Yahiko mountain (Yahiko yama, 弥彦山, 634m) with Yahiko shrine (Yahiko jinja, 弥彦神社) at its foot is quite far from Wettiu province to the extent that Yahiko mountain cannot be seen from Wettiu’s territory.

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Translation of Chinese Inscriptions and Commentary Inscription on the Front Side 本文 · Original Text

(1) 釋迦牟尼佛跡圖 (2) 案西域傳云今摩掲陁國昔阿育王方精舎中一大石 (3) 有佛跡各長一尺八寸廣六寸輪相花文十指各異是佛 (4) 欲涅槃北趣拘尸南望王城足所蹈處近爲金耳國商迦王 (5) 不信正法毀壊佛跡鑿已還生文相如故又捐□□ (6) 中尋復本處今現圖寫所在流布觀佛三昧經□ (7) 若人見佛足跡内心敬重无量衆罪由此而滅今□値遇 (8) 非有幸之所致乎北印度烏仗那國東北二百六十里 (9) 入大山有龍泉河源春夏含凍晨夕飛雪有暴惡 (10) 龍常雨水災如來往化令金剛神以杵撃崖龍聞□ (11) 怖歸依於佛恐惡心起留跡示之於泉南大石上現其□ (12) 跡随心淺深量有長短今丘慈國城北四十里寺佛堂 (13) 中玉石之上亦有佛跡齋日放光道俗至時同往慶 (14) 依觀佛三昩經佛在世時若有衆生見佛行者及 (15) 見千輻輪相即除千劫極重惡罪佛去世後想 (16) 佛行者亦除千劫極重惡業雖不想行見佛迹者見 (17) 像行者歩歩之中亦除千劫極重悪業觀如來 (18) 足下平滿不容一毛足下千輻輪相轂輞具足魚鱗相次 (19) 金剛杵相足跟亦有梵王頂相衆蠡之相不遇諸惡 (20) 是爲休祥 Translation (1) An image of Śākyamuni Buddha’s footprints (2) As it is known [on the basis of] the transmission from the Western Regions there was a big stone in Śrāvastī that was in ancient times in the land of King Aśoka, but nowadays in Magadha country. (3) [It] had Buddha’s footprints, each of them one shaku and eight sun long and six sun wide, rinsō, and ten toes with flowery patterns that are all different. This Buddha (4) wanted [to enter] the Nirvana. [This is] close to the place where [He] left

© Alexander Vovin, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004449848_003

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his footprints facing Kuśi[nagara fortress] in the North, and looking at the King’s fortress in the South. King Ṣaṣaṅka of Karṅasuvarṅa (5) did not believe in the True Law and destroyed Buddha’s footprints. [Although he] chiseled [them] out, the pattern came back to life, and was like before. [King Ṣaṣaṅka] again threw [them] away … (6) During the search now again the image was found in the original place and so it became widely known. In Buddha’s Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra [it is said]: (7) “When people look at the footprints of Buddha’s feet, [they] greatly respect [them], and countless sins of sentient beings all disappear because of that. Where now … [one] will directly encounter (8) more auspicious place than this?” In 260 lǐ to the North-East of Oḍḍiyāna country in Northern India (9) [when one] enters huge mountains there is a source of the Dragon spring that is frozen [even] in the spring and in the summer. The snow, flying at the dawn and at the dusk, is unreasonably violent. (10) Dragons often [send] rain and [other] water calamities. Tathāgata went to change [that] and ordered Vajrapāṇi to beat the dragon from the cliffs with his hammer. [Buddha] asked [the dragon] … (11) [whether he] would be afraid to return, because of Buddha’s anger with [the dragon’s] evil intentions to tempt [people] to do wrong and left His footprints showing on a big stone to the South of the spring. Nowadays these … (12) footprints follow the heart and by measurements of [their] depth or shallowness there are long and short [ones]. Now in the forty lǐ to the North of the fortress of Kucha country in the image hall of a Buddhist temple (13) on a jade stone there are again Buddha’s footprints. On a purification day [they] emanate light. When the time comes, monks and lay people alike go to venerate [these footprints]. (14) On the basis of looking into Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra, [one can see that] when the Buddha [Śākyamuni] was in [this] world, if there were sentient beings who went to see the Buddha and [they] managed (15) [just] to see rinsō patterns with thousand spikes [on His soles], [their] most grave bad sins for a thousand kalpas were removed. After the Buddha left [this] world (16) [those] who came to think about the Buddha also had the gravest bad sins for a thousand kalpas removed. And although those who did not think of going to see the Buddha’s footprints (17) went to see [their] image, among [these] walking [their] most grave bad deeds for a thousand kalpas were removed. [They] looked at Tathāgata

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(18) soles, flat and full, without a single hair, and rinsō with a thousand spikes, bushes and rims complete with feet’s fish scales following one another. (19) Vajras are shaped like [His] heels. There is also a Brahmā King’s protuberance on [His] brows. The sentient beings and snails alike do not face any multiple evils. (20) This is a happy omen. Commentary For the image of the original text see the Photograph 3 in the Appendix. The original text presented above is based on Saitō (2000: 272–273). Hirooka’s edition is in general much more conservative regarding the readable characters (2015: 15–16). Thus, on line two Hirooka has a lacuna (2015: 15) for the last character 石 ‘stone’ (Saitō 2000: 272). Ditto for the last character 王 ‘king’ on line four (Hirooka 2015: 15). This tendency continues throughout Saitō (2000) and Hirooka’s (2015) editions. It is necessary to mention that Hirooka (2015) reconstructs these characters that he treats as lacunae in the kundoku (訓読) part of his edition. Then it is quite possible that Hirooka does nicer philological job than Saitō, strictly differentiating between readable characters and characters that can be reconstructed on the basis of the context. The problem is that without the application of the 3D technology we cannot really tell for sure, so the final word has to wait until 3D photos are taken and processed. Śākyamuni ‘the sage of the Śākya clan’, a historical Gautama Buddha, who was born according to the Mahāyāna tradition in 565 (according to the Hīnayāna tradition in 624bc) bc as an heir to the throne to King Sudhodana and Queen Māyā in a small Indian kingdom Kapilavastu’s capital Lumbini (more exactly in its gardens) in Nepal, which is now on the border with India. Until he left home at the age of nineteen (or twenty-nine), he led quite a luxurious life in the palace of his father, and was married to Yaśodharā, with whom he had a son named Rāhula. Both Yaśodharā and Rāhula later became Buddhist nun and monk respectively and disciples of Gautama Buddha. After he left home, Śākyamuni initially attempted to conduct extreme ascetic practices including mortifying his flesh in order to achieve Enlightenment, but after nine years of being engaged in this kind of enterprise, he recognized its futility. Śākyamuni then arrived to the concept of the Middle Way, a path which leads to the Enlightenment without engaging in any extreme behavior, and he finally reached the Enlightenment after meditating under the Bodhi (Enlightenment) tree (also known as Sala tree or Ficus religiosa) without moving from his seat under this tree for seven weeks (forty-nine days). Gautama Śākyamuni preached the Buddhist Way (Dharma) and founded the first Buddhist community of monks (Sangha). The Buddha (Butsu, 佛), the Dharma (Hō,

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法), and the Sangha (Sō, 僧) are collectively known as Three Buddhist Treasures (Sanbō, 三 寶). Gautama Śākyamuni passed away at the age of eighty

and went into Nirvana. The date of his death or Entering the Nirvana is given variously as 486bc (in the Mahāyāna tradition) or 544 bc (in the Hīnayāna tradition). Magadha was an ancient Indian kingdom in southern Bihar, a state in present-day Eastern India. Today its territory mostly corresponds to Bihar state of India, small part of Eastern Nepal, and most of Bangladesh. Magadha was one of the largest and the strongest among Sixteen Great Kingdoms of Ancient India and played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism, and two of India’s greatest empires, the Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire, originated in Magadha as well. We might have an anachronism in the text of this inscription, because Magadha as an independent kingdom preceded the Maurya empire, and not followed the latter, although it seems that there was also a later Magadha state, see the commentary on Tang Ambassador Wáng Xuán-cè to the inscription on the right side of the stone below. King Aśoka (阿育王, lhc Ɂɑ juk wɑŋ), also known as Aśoka the Great (304– 232bc) is a grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya dynasty. Aśoka Maurya has ruled most of India from ca. 268 bc to 232bc, and was a great patron of Buddhism, which he promulgated in India and beyond. There is a problem with the lhc transcription of his name, namely it is unclear why Sanskrit ś- is transcribed as lhc j-, since even if we exclude all affricates and voiced fricatives, we still have three voiceless fricatives that would fit much better with Sanskrit ś-: s-, ś-, and ṣ-. At the present time I have no explanation for this transcriptional oddity. Śrāvastī was one of the six largest cities of Ancient India during Śākyamuni Buddha lifetime. In present-day India it is located in the eastern part of Uttra Pradesh state on the fertile plain of Ganges. It played an important role in Śākyamuni Buddha’s life, as he spent there 24 Chaturmases1 there. There are remains of Buddha’s hut in Jetavana monastery in Śrāvastī. One shaku (尺) is approximately 30.3cm, and one sun (寸) is ⅟10 of a shaku, equivalent to 3.03cm. Rinsō (輪相) is a spiky wheel pattern found on the soles of a Buddha. It is considered to be the second out of the thirty-two marks [of physical] excellence of a Buddha (三十二相, emc sam dźip ńiC sjaŋC, MdJ sanjūni-sō). See bs 2 and the commentary to it for more details.

1 Chaturmas is a holy period of four months.

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Kuśinagara (拘尸那掲羅) fortress was located in Eastern India on a border with Nepal. It is believed to be near this place where Buddha Śākyamuni has attained Nirvana. 金耳國 ‘country of golden ears’ is a Chinese translation of Sk. Karṅasuvarṅa (羯羅拏蘇伐剌那, emc kjet lâ nuo suo bjwɐt lât nâ) or Karṅasubarṅa. It was the capital of Gauda Kingdom during the reign of Ṣaṣaṅka, the first important king of ancient Bengal who ruled in 590–625ad. His rule ended when he was killed in 625ad. King Ṣaṣaṅka (商迦王, emc śjaŋ ka jwaŋ) was very pro-Hindu and anti-Buddhist. On King Ṣaṣaṅka see the commentary right above. The True Law (正法) is the Buddhist Law. Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra (三昧經, Sanmaikyō) is an Early Mahāyāna text which is likely to originate in the first century bc in the Gandhāra region of North-West India. Oḍḍiyāna country (烏仗那國, emc Ɂuo ḍjaŋB nâ kwǝk) was a small country in early medieval India, which was an important location for the development and promulgation of Vajrayāna Buddhism, the source of origin for Japanese esoteric Mikkyō (密教) sects. It is usually placed in the Swat District of Pakistan located in Peshavar region. Nyingma school of the Tibetan Buddhism views it as a Sbas yul (སབྶ་ཡུལ་), a legendary heavenly place inaccessible to ordinary mortals. Lǐ (里) is a measure of length that approximately equals 500 m. There is an inconsistency here: one can easily observe frozen springs in the spring and in the summer in Himalayas, but not in Peshawar. In the East Asian Sinosphere cultural tradition dragons are associated with rain and tempests. Except for this, they are usually benign unlike dragons in the Western cultural tradition. From this point of view it is interesting that the dragon depicted in the story here is apparently evil. Tathāgata (Nyorai, 如 來) ‘thus coming’ is an honorific title of a Buddha, especially of the Śākyamuni Buddha. In Theravada (Hīnayāna) Pāli canon the Śākyamuni Buddha often uses it in reference to Himself. Vajrapāṇi (MdJ Kongōjin, 金剛神) is a deity protecting Buddhism. He is usually depicted with a hammer in his hand which he uses to crush the enemies of Buddhism. There is usually a couple of Kongōjin deities: Misshaku Kongō (密 迹金剛) and Naraen Kongō (那羅延金剛). Their statues are frequently placed at the entrance to Buddhist temples in Japan. See the introduction for the images of Kongōjin statues, with Misshaku Kongō on the left side of Chūmon gate (中 門) in the Yakushiji temple, Figure 11, and Naraen Kongō, on the right side of the same gate, Figure 12. Note that one of them holds a sword, and another one Vajra ‘Indra’s thunderbolt’, but not a hammer. Kongōjin are also called Niō (仁 王) ‘Buddhist Guardian Kings’.

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Kucha country (丘慈國, lhc kʰu dziǝ kuǝk, emc kʰjǝu dzɨ kwǝk) was a Buddhist kingdom that existed from ca. 111 ad to 648 ad when it was conquered by Tang China. Its territory roughly coincides with present-day Aksu Prefecture of Western Xinjiang province in China. Kucha town is the county seat of that prefecture’s Kucha County. The main part of the population spoke Tocharian B language (Kuśiññe), the best attested Tocharian language, which belonged to the Tocharian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Buddha Hall (佛堂, MdJ Butsudō) is the building on a temple grounds where Buddhist statues (or other images) are venerated. The Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra (般舟三昧經, lhc bɑn tśu sɑm mǝs kǝŋ) is an early Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture, which probably originated around the 1st century bce in the Gandhāra area of Northwestern India. It was first translated into Chinese by the Kushan Buddhist monk Lokaksema in 179ad, in the Eastern Han capital of Luoyang. This translation is, together with the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, one of the earliest historically datable texts of the Mahāyāna tradition. Kalpa ‘aeon’ is a period of time that equals to 4.32 billion years. Vajra (MdJ Kongōsho, 金 剛 杵) is ‘Indra’s thunderbolt’, a legendary main weapon of Indra, with which he was able to send the clasps of thunder. It is shaped like a stick with two semi-round prongs each with three or four arches at the end. Something similar was used by Ancient Indian warriors as a fencing club. Vajra is used by esoteric Buddhist sects as a ritual weapon symbolizing wisdom and power over illusion and evil spirits. In Sk. vajra means both ‘thunderbot’ and ‘diamond’. Since diamonds are almost impossible to break, a thunderbolt weapon was considered essentially unbreakable. Bonnō (梵王) ‘Brahmā king’ is a king of Brahmā Heaven (MdJ Bonten, 梵天) in the Buddhist realm of form. 頂相 (MdJ chōsō) is the protuberance above the Buddha’s brow, one of the thirty-two marks of a Buddha.

Inscription on the Right Side 本文 · Original Text (1) 大唐使人王玄策向中天竺鹿 (2) 野薗中轉法輪處因見 (3) 跡得轉寫搭是第一本 (4) 日本使人黄書本實向 (5) 大唐國於普光寺得轉 (6) 寫搭是第二本此本在

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(7) 右京四條一坊禪院向禪 (8) 院檀披見神跡敬轉寫 (9) 搭是第三本從天平勝 (10) 寶五年歳次癸巳七月十五日盡 (11) 廿七日并一十三箇日作了檀 (12) 主從三位智努王以天平勝 (13) 寶四年歳次壬辰九月七日 (14) 改王字成文屋眞人智努 (15) 畫師越田安萬書寫 (16) 神石手□□□呂人足 (17) 匠仕奉□□□人 Translation (1) Ambassador Wáng Xuán-cè from the Great Tang went to Central India (2) and because at Mṛgadāva, the place where the Buddhist Law was expounded, [he] saw (3) [the Buddha’s] footprints, [he] obtained an engraved copy. This is the first copy. (4) The Japanese Ambassador Kïŋgaki-nǝ Mǝtǝⁿzane went (5) to the country of the Great Tang [and] in the Pǔguāng temple [he] obtained an (6) engraved copy. This is the second copy. This copy is located (7) in a Meditation Hermitage on the Fourth Avenue in the Right Ward of the Capital (8) Upon [receiving] a donation, [they] opened [it for him], and [he] saw divine footprints, and with reverence made an engraved copy. (9) This is the third copy. From (10) the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month of the fifth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (11) [they] spent twenty-seven and thirteen days and have completed it. (12) The donor Prince Tinu with the Junior Third Junior Rank (13) on the seventh day of the ninth lunar month of the fourth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (14) has been demoted from the Prince status and became Pumiya-nǝ mapitǝ Tinu. (15) The painter Koyeⁿda-nǝ Yasuma[rǝ] draw the copy. (16) The cutter of divinity stone [images] … rǝ Pitǝtari (17) the carpenter presented … pitǝ/person.

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Commentary Tang Ambassador Wáng Xuán-cè (王玄策, emc jwaŋ γjwen tṣʰɛk) and other thirty members of his embassy were sent to Śrāvastī in India by Taizong in response to Harshavardhana, a king from Vardhana dynasty of Magadha, who ruled Northern India in 606–647ad, sending an ambassador to China. However once in India he discovered that Harshavardhana had died and the new king Aluonashun (probably transcribing Sk. Arunāsva) attacked Wang and his thirty companions. This case of mediaeval Indian hospitality made Wáng Xuáncè escape to Tibet. He subsequently organized a retaliation military expedition to Magadha consisting of over 7,000 Nepalese mounted warriors and 1,200 Tibetan infantry. His attack on the Indian state of Magadha occurred on June 16, 649ad. The war lasted a mere three days and ended in a crushing defeat for the Indian side. 2,000 prisoners were taken from Magadha by the Nepalese and Tibetan forces under the command of Wáng Xuán-cè, and some of them were later sent to China, alongside with an important Buddhist relic which was believed to be a part of the Buddha’s skull-bone. Mṛgadāva (鹿野薗) ‘Deer Garden’, also known as 仙人薗 ‘Garden of Wise Men’ is a famous park north-east of Vārāṇaśi, a favorite resort of Śākyamuni. It is the modern Sārnāth (Śāraṅganātha) near Benares. Here Śākyamuni is reported to have preached His first sermon and converted His first five disciples. Mṛga ‘deer’ is a symbol of Śākyamuni’s preaching, as He first preached the four noble truths in the Deer Garden. Zhuǎn fǎ lún (MdJ ten Hōrin, 轉法輪) ‘to turn the wheel of the Dharma’ means to expound the Buddhist Law. Fǎ lún (MdJ Hōrin, 法輪) ‘the wheel of the Dharma’ (Sk. dharma cakra) refers to the Buddha’s teachings. ‘Wheel’ here has two meanings: (1) the Buddha’s teachings are compared to the Wheel-turning Noble King (MdJ Tenrin jōō, 轉 輪聖王, Sk. cakravartin)’s wheel treasure (MdJ rinbō, 輪寶) because they crush all the evils of sentient beings, and (2) they are like a wheel in motion because they spread endlessly from one person to another (Inagaki 1989: 112). For more details on cakravartin see the commentary to the bs 2. Kïŋgaki-nǝ Mǝtǝⁿzane (黄書本實) is a painter and a technician in the second half of the seventh and early eighth centuries. His exact dates of birth and death are unknown. He served four Emperors and Empresses: Tenji, Tenmu, Jitō, and Monmu. He is particularly famous for his work on the construction of Imperial Mausoleums for Jitō in 702ad and for Monmu in 707ad. He reached Fifth Rank, Lower Grade. There is not much information on Pǔguāng sì (普光寺) ‘Pǔguāng temple’, but it seems to have been an important Buddhist center in Cháng’ān (長安) at least during the early Tang period. It was founded in 631 ad.

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It is not quite clear who is ‘he’ on line eight, although possibly it is Prince Tinu (智努王), who is mentioned below. The character 檀 (Mandarin Chinese tán) transcribes Sk. dāna ‘gift’, ‘donation’, especially to a Buddhist temple or to a monk. The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month of the fifth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (天平勝寶五年七月十五日) corresponds to August 18, 753 ad. Forty days from this date brings us to the twenty-fifth day of the eighth lunar month of the fifth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (天平勝寶五年八月二十五日), which is September 26, 753ad. Consequently, this is the exact date for the stone with Chinese inscriptions, which were carved by an experienced master. Prince Tinu (智奴王, also written as 智努王, 知努王or 知奴王) is a son of Imperial Prince Naŋga (長皇子). Prince Tinu was promoted from a person with no rank to Junior Fourth Rank, Lower grade on the fourth day of the first lunar month of the first year of Yōrō (February 19, 717ad), and further to Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade on the fourth day of the third lunar month of the first year of Tenpyō (April 4, 729). Prince Tinu was then promoted to Junior Third Rank on the twentieth day of the first lunar month of the nineteenth year of Tenpyō (March 5, 747ad). On the twenty-second day of the ninth lunar month of the fourth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (November 2, 752 ad) he was demoted from his princely status and given the family name and kabane (a hereditary noble title) of Pumiya-nǝ mapitǝ (文室真人). Prince Tinu was promoted to Senior Third Rank on the second day of the first lunar month of the fifth year of Tenpyō Hōji (February 11, 761ad), and on the seventh day of the first lunar month of the eighth year of Tenpyō Hōji (February 13, 764ad) to Junior Second Rank. Prince Tinu retired on the fourth day of the ninth lunar month of the same year (October 3, 764ad), and passed away on the ninth day of the tenth lunar month of the first year of Hōki (寶龜) (October 31, 770ad) at the age of seventy-eight. He is an author of one poem in the Man’yōshū (19.4275). The Bussokuseki stele (仏足石) in the Yakushiji temple was constructed by prince Tinu in memory of his late wife (Hashimoto 1985: 77). The seventh day of the ninth lunar month of the fourth year of Tenpyō Shōhō (天平勝寶四年九月七日) corresponds to October 18, 752 ad. Nothing is known about the biography of the painter Koyeⁿda-nǝ Yasuma[rǝ] (越田安萬). The final character 呂 /rǝ/ is strangely lacking in his given name: there is no such a name as Yasuma to the best of my knowledge. But the very fact that he has a family name Koyeⁿda probably indicates that he was from the nobility. Lines sixteen and seventeen are badly eroded. The last character 人 ‘person’ could be either a transcription pitǝ of a part of a person’s name or a word pitǝ (人) ‘person’.

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Inscription on the Right Side outside the Frame 本文 · Original Text (1) 知識家口男女大小 (2) 三國真人浄足 (3) 三國真人浄足

Translation (1) Knowledgeable members of the household, male and female adults and children (2) Mikuni-nǝ mapitǝ Kiyotari (3) Mikuni-nǝ mapitǝ Kiyotari Commentary The meaning and function of this inscription are not clear. Are these ‘knowledgeable members of the of Prince Tinu household’? Are they also donors? It is not clear either who Mikuni-nǝ mapitǝ Kiyotari is, or why his name is repeated twice on lines two and three. Among seven Mikuni-nǝ mapitǝ mentioned in the Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀), six have different given name, and the one who appears in sm 13 has no given name mentioned, but upon a closer inspection it turned out that his given name is Pitǝtari, as he also appears in sn 3: 92.1.2 There is no mention of Mikuni-nǝ mapitǝ Kiyotari in the Man’yōshū either. Therefore, nothing is known about the biography of Mikuni-nǝ mapitǝ Kiyotari.

Inscription on the Back Side 本文 · Original Text (1) 至心發願爲 (2) 亡夫人從四位下 (3) 茨田郡主法 (4) 名良式敬寫 (5) 釋迦如来神 (6) 跡伏願夫人 (7) 之靈駕遊

2 Pages and line numbers for the Shoku Nihongi are given according to Shin Nihon bungaku taikei edition (Aoki Kazuo et al. 1999–2000).

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(8) 无勝之妙邦 (9) 受□□□之 (10) 聖□永脱有 (11) 漏高證无為同 (12) 霑三界共契一真 Translation (1) Reaching to [my] heart, [I] pray for (2) [my] deceased wife of Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. (3) The Chief Buddhist Priest of Mamuta district (4) named Ryōshiki venerably copied (5) Śākya[muni] Tathāgata’s divine (6) footprints, and prostrating [himself], prayed for [my] wife’s (7) soul to be send to enjoy (8) the unsurpassed Pure Land of the West. (9) Receiving … it?/of? (10) Discarding Four Noble Truths eternally [is like] to have (11) a leak of high truth, and [it] is the same as not acting. (12) Three Realms, which provide mercy, together promise the single truth. Commentary For the original text, see the Photograph 2 in the Appendix. Mamuta district (茨田郡) was located in Kapati province (河内國), nowadays a part of Ōsaka prefecture. Mamuta district is mentioned in the Parima Puⁿdokï (MdJ Harima Fudoki, 播 磨 風 土 記). Kapati province was one of the Great Provinces (Taikoku, 大 國) in the classification of the Ritsuryō code. According to the Ritsuryō code (Ritsuryō sei, 律令制),3 all provinces of Yamatö were divided into four classes according to the size of their area and population: Great Provinces (Taikoku, 大國), Upper Provinces (Jōkoku, 上國), Middle Provinces (Chūgoku, 中國), and Lower Provinces (Gekoku, 下國). A rank of a governor was generally consummate with the size of a province he ruled. Mushō (无勝, Sk. ajita) ‘unsurpassed’, ‘unparalleled’ is an epithet for the Pure Land of the West. Myōhō (妙邦) ‘wonderful country’ is the Pure Land of the West. Line nine is badly damaged (the stone is chipped off in this place), therefore it cannot be interpreted and translated.

3 Promulgated in 701 ad.

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Line ten is also damaged for the same reason. The right part of the third character 永 ‘eternal’ is missing, but it is still readable. The second character suffered much worse, but it seems to me that it has the radical 言 ‘speech’, ‘word’ on the left, which is only partially damaged. If I am right, then most likely the first two characters on line ten are 聖語 (Sk. āryabhāṣā) ‘sacred words’, ‘sacred speech’, ‘sacred language’. However, much more likely is the second possibility: 聖諦 (Mandarin Chinese shèng dì4) ‘Four Noble Truths’, ‘sacred principles or dogmas’. The Four Noble Truths are: dukkha (suffering, incapable of satisfying, painful) is an innate characteristic of existence in the realm of samsara;5 samudaya (origin, arising) of this dukkha, which arises or comes together with taṇhā (‘craving, desire or attachment’); nirodha (cessation, ending) of this dukkha can be attained by the renouncement or letting go of this taṇhā; marga (path, Noble Eightfold Path) is the path leading to renouncement of taṇhā and cessation of dukkha. The character 霑 (MdJ ten, Mandarin Chinese zhāng) here has the meaning ‘to provide mercy’. Three Realms [of Existence] (sangai, 三界, Sk. trailokya) are also known as the Three [Transmigratory] Existences (sannu ~ san’u, 三有6). These include Realm of Desire ( yokukai, 欲界, Sk. kāmadhātu), Realm of Form (shikikai, 色 界, Sk. rūpadhātu7), and Realm of Non-Form (mushikikai, 無色界, Sk. arūpadhātu8). Sentient beings go in their successive existence through these Three Worlds. The Realm of Desire includes different domains: hells, souls in purgatory, hungry spirits, fighting spirits, animals, asuras, men, and Six Heavens of Desire. The inhabitants of the Realm of Desire all have desires for sleep, food and sex. The Realm of Form comprises (by different counts) sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen Heavens of Form. The inhabitants in this Realm have no desire for sleep, food or sex. The Realm of Non-Form comprises four Formless Heavens. There are no material forms there, and the inhabitants enjoy only meditative states.

4 There is no such a word in Modern Japanese, instead it uses shitei (四諦) ‘Four Noble Truths’. 5 Samsara is the eternal cycle of death and rebirth. 6 The Sanskrit word for ‘existence’ is bhava, and the Sanskrit equivalent of this term as a whole appears to be trailokya (Soothill 1937: 68). 7 Also Sk. rūpāvacara or rūpaloka. 8 Also Sk. arūpaloka.

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Inscription on the Left Side 本文 · Original Text (1) 諸行无常 (2) 諸法无我 (3) 涅槃寂静

Translation (1) All deeds are impermanent. (2) All laws have no ego. (3) Nirvana is silent and quiet. Commentary Nirvana (Sk. nirvāṇa, 涅槃, emc niet bwân, MdJ nehan) ‘non-existence’ is the final goal of all Buddhists as it brings the break from the endless cycle of deaths and rebirths which brings suffering. Besides being first person pronoun, the character 我 in Buddhist texts often means ‘ego’ or ‘selfishness’. The same parallel usage can be observed in Classical Tibetan བདག་ /bdag/ ‘I’, ‘ego’. Buddhism takes 無我 or 無常我 ‘no permanent ego’ as fundamental dogma, only recognizing a temporal or functional ego. The erroneous idea of a permanent self continued in reincarnation is the source of all illusion. The character 寂 here means ‘silent’, although its more frequent meaning is ‘quiet’.

Inscription on the Left Side outside the Frame 本文 · Original Text

(1) 觀 Translation Meditation. Commentary The character 觀 may mean either ‘meditation’ or ‘contemplation’. It is not quite clear upon what this meditation or contemplation is. Possibly it could be on the contents of the previous inscription on the same side of the stone consisting of three lines.

chapter 2

Translation, Glossing, and Morphemic Analysis of Old Japanese Poems A Commentary to the Old Japanese Poems

Note: Edition of the text with kana transliteration, romanization, morphemic analysis and commentary.

Preface to bs 1–17 本文 · Original Text

恭佛跡 一十七首 Translation Seventeen poems revering Buddha’s footprints. Commentary This preface does not follow the format of the prefaces in the Man’yōshū, or any other poetic anthologies. First it is not placed to the right of the first poem, in this case, bs 1. Second, the location is quite odd, because the first line is placed above the poem bs 2, and the second one above the poem bs 9, leaving the huge gap between them (see the Photograph 6 in the Appendix). Modern editions, such as Tsuchihashi (1957) and Takeuchi (1962) do not reflect these peculiarities, placing both lines before bs 1, and making them one line (Tsuchihashi 1957: 240), (Takeuchi 1962b: 974), nor do they mention these peculiarities. Moreover, while Tsuchihasi leaves a big gap between 恭佛跡 ‘revering Buddha’s footprints’ and 一十七首 ‘seventeen poems’, Takeuchi does not. In addition, Takeuchi makes 一十七首 in smaller size script, which is completely unwarranted by the original text as found on the stele (see the Photograph 14 in the Appendix). The characters 恭 佛 跡 ‘revering Buddha’s footprints’ are carved (or recarved) on the damaged part of the inscription. The top part of the character

© Alexander Vovin, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004449848_004

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恭 ‘to revere’ is completely lost, so superficially it might seem that we have the character 尒 ‘that’, ‘you’, ‘such’. However, two facts speak against such an iden-

tification. First, a very careful perusal of the first character reveals that there are two dots 丶丶 and not one between the vertical line with a hook 亅 and the slash to the right 乀, therefore the bottom part should be 㣺 ‘heart’1 between two slashes 丿 and 乀, and not 尒 ‘that’, ‘you’, ‘such’. Certainly, to the best of my knowledge three other characters: 忝 ‘to be thankful’, ‘to be obliged’, 慕 ‘to yearn’, ‘to miss’, 㤗 ‘to be easy (?)’2 share the same bottom part. However, in this context only 慕 ‘to yearn’, ‘to miss’ would make any sense at all, but, nevertheless, 恭 ‘to revere’ remains the best semantic fit. Second, 尒佛跡 as ni Busseki ‘that Buddha’s footprints’, nandi Busseki ‘your Buddha’s footprints’, or sikaru Busseki ‘such Buddha’s footprints’ does not make any sense in the given context. The second line 一十七首 ‘seventeen poems’ in contrast to the first line is carved on the same surface of the stele stone as the most of the text, not on the damaged part. The extra numeral 一 ‘one’ in front of 十 ‘ten’ is a very rare way of writing, as normally just 十七 ‘seventeen’ would be sufficient. 一十 contradicts the rules of Chinese grammar as well, because ‘ten’ is just shí 十 (emc dźip), and yī 一 (emc jit) ‘one’ in yì shí 一十 (emc jit dźip) is absolutely unnecessary.

bs 1 本文 · Original Text (1) 美阿止都久留 (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎波 (3) 阿米尓伊多利 (4) 都知佐閇由 湏礼 (5) 知々波々賀多米尓 (6) 毛呂比止乃多米尓 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration

(1) み₁あと₂つくる (2) いしの₂ひ₁び₁き₁は (3) あめ₂にいたり (4) つちさへ₂ゆ すれ (5) ちちははがため₂に (6) も₁ろ₂ひ₁と₂の₂ため₂に Romanization (1) mi-atǝ tukur-u (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i pa (3) amɛ-ni itar-i (4) tuti sapɛ yusur-e (5) titi papa-ŋga tamɛ n-i (6) morǝ pitǝ-nǝ tamɛ n-i

1 Only the 㣺 part of the first character could be seen by the middle of the eighteenth century, because this is exactly what Noro reproduced in his work (1752: 2b). 2 In most dictionaries 㤗 is considered to be a character of unknown meaning, although sometimes it is believed to be a mistake for ‘to be easy’.

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Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) hon-footprint make-attr (2) stone-gen echo-nml top (3) Heaven-loc reach-conv (4) earth rp shake-ev (5) father mother-poss for cop-conv (6) all person-gen for cop-conv

Translation (2) The echo of the stone (1) where [I] carved the [Buddha’s] honorable footprints (3) reaches the Heaven, and (4) shakes the Earth as well (5) for father and mother, (6) for all sentient beings. Commentary The Photograph 6 in the Appendix includes the text up to the character 多 /ta/ on line five. The last character 尓 /ni/ on line five as well as line six is found on the Photographs 8 and 10. The lines 5 and 6 in their entirety can be viewed on the Photograph 9. Line one is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. woj atǝ 阿止 ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ is in all likelihood an unetymological spelling for ato: the earliest phonographic attestations all represent ato, and in addition a combination of /a/ and /ǝ/ is rather rare. Since this is one of only three words (the other two being taputo- ~ taputǝ- ‘to be awesome’ in bs 5 and bs 15 and tutomɛ- (etymologically correct spelling unattested in bs) ~ tutǝmɛ- in bs 18) in the text of the poems where the merger of /o/ and /ǝ/ has occurred after /t/, the Bussokuseki-no uta probably demonstrates the very beginning of this process by the time the poems were composed and/or carved on the stele. Because this merger is not attested for the Asuka dialect of Western Old Japanese, and it is unlikely that it affected the Nara dialect before 770 ad, this fact helps in dating the poems with 770ad as non-ante quem. Etymologically woj ato represents a compound consisting of a ‘foot’ and to ‘place’. The character 美 ‘beauty’ transcribing the honorific prefix mi- on line one appears to be re-carved after the damage to the top of the stele. See the Photographs 6 and 7 in the Appendix. The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line one and elsewhere is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 6 and 7 in the Appendix. Line three is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five, but this might be a graphic illusion since -ni itari could have been pronounced as [nitari]. Miller dedicated several pages to ‘prove’ his point of view that yusur-e on line four is an evidential, and not the imperative of the woj verb yusur-, which he, for reasons unknown, believed to mean ‘to echo’, ‘to reverberate’ (1975: 75, 77–79), while its real meaning is ‘to shake’ (Omodaka et al. 1967: 782). As for

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the interpretation of -e, we will, of course, never know, because after /r/ the distinction between woj imperative -e that is a kō-rui vowel /e/ and woj evidential -ɛ that is an otsu-rui vowel /ɛ/ has merged. Like Miller I thought before and still think now that it is an evidential form, because unlike Middle Japanese there are cases in Old Japanese when the evidential is used as a form of final predication without a preceding focus particle kǝsǝ (Vovin 2009a: 637, 639–641, 645). I believe, however, that there is only one structural consideration (not mentioned by Miller) that it is indeed an evidential. Namely, if yusur-e were an imperative, it would be structurally odd to have a topic marker pa highlighting the addressee of the imperative: ‘as for the echo … shake!’ This oddity is attested in woj only three times in two poems from the same book of the Man’yōshū: mys 20.4408 and mys 20.4475. In addition in two examples from mys 20.4408 topic pa is clearly contrastive, so we might just have one odd example in mys 20.4475. There would be no oddity whatsoever, if yusur-e is an evidential form: ‘as for the echo … [it] indeed shakes’. Lines five and six are hypermetric ( ji amari, 字 余 り) with eight syllables instead of seven. Line six is carved in smaller size characters than the previous five lines and is placed slightly to the right (see the Photographs 8 and 9 in the Appendix). woj morǝ ‘all’ (毛 呂) on line six is an unetymological spelling for mǝrǝ, reflecting the merger of /o/ and /ǝ/ after /m/. But this merger happened at the latest in the very early eighth century, so it is useless for the purpose of dating the stele. woj morǝ pitǝ (毛呂比止) ‘all people’ is a translational equivalent of Chinese 衆生 (emc tśjuŋC ṣɐŋ, MdJ shujō) ‘sentient beings’.

bs 2 本文 · Original Text

(1) 弥蘇知阿麻利 (2) 布多都乃加多知 (3) 夜蘇久佐等 (4) 曾太礼留比止 乃 (5) 布美志阿止々己呂 (6) 麻礼尓母阿留可毛 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) み₁そ₁ちあまり (2) ふたつの₂かたち (3) やそ₁くさと₂ (4) そ₂だれるひ₁と₂ の₂ (5) ふみ₁しあと₂と₂こ₂ろ₂ (6) まれにも₂あるかも₁

Romanization (1) miso-ti amar-i (2) puta-tu n-ǝ katati (3) yaso kusa-tǝ (4) sǝⁿdar-er-u pitǝ-nǝ (5) pum-i-si atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (6) mare n-i mǝ ar-u kamo

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Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) thirty-cl exceed-conv (2) two-cl cop-attr mark (3) eighty type-com (4) be.complete-prog-attr person-gen (5) step-conv-past.attr footprint place (6) rare cop-conv fp exist-attr ep Translation (6) Is [not it] rare, too, (5) the place [of] the footprints left (4) by a Person, who is complete (1/2) with thirty-two marks (3) [and] eighty [lesser sign] types? Commentary Line one is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. This poem provides us with a unique window on the organization of Old Japanese numerical system when the count involves combinations of decades with digits. Namely, in the case of ‘thirty-two’ as on lines one and two, we have miso-ti amar-i puta-tu ‘two exceeding thirty’. In other Old Japanese texts such combinations are normally written logographically in Chinese manner as 三十 二 or 卅二. But since Bussokuseki-no uta are written entirely in phonograms, this much shorter option was not available, and the numerals had to be spelled out. woj miso-ti amar-i puta-tu n-ǝ katati (弥蘇知阿麻利布多都乃加多知) ‘thirtytwo marks’ is a translational equivalent of Chinese 三十二相 (emc sam dźip ńiC sjaŋC, MdJ sanjūni-sō) ‘the thirty-two marks [of physical] excellence’ of a Buddha or cakravartin (tenrin jōō, 轉輪聖王) ‘Wheel-turning Noble King’. The ideal king was conceived in India as the one who rules the world3 with the wheel (Sk. cakra). There are four kinds of cakravartin, according to the value of the material that the wheel was made from. A king with a golden wheel (konrin ō, 金輪 王) rules all the four continents of the world, one with a silver wheel (ginrin ō, 銀輪王) rules three continents, one with a copper wheel (dōrin ō, 銅輪王) rules two continents, and a king with an iron wheel (tetsurin ō, 鉄輪王) rules just one (Inagaki 1989: 344–345).

3 The world is Shi shū (四州) ‘Four Continents’, which according to Buddhist cosmology, lie in the ocean in the four cardinal directions from Mt. Sumeru (Shumisen (湏彌山), the highest mountain rising from the center of the world; it has four sides and is the narrowest in the middle). These four continents consist of: (1) Tōhotsubadai (東弗婆提, Sk. Pūrvavideha) to the East, (2) Nan’enbudai (南閻浮提, Sk. Jambudvīpa) to the South, (3) Saikudani (西 陀 尼, Sk. Aparagodānīya) to the West, and (4) Hokkuru (北俱廬, Sk. Uttarakuru) to the North. The topography of each continent is different and their inhabitants have like-wise distinct physical characteristics (Inagaki 1989: 308, 327).

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woj yaso kusa (夜蘇久佐) is a translational equivalent of Chinese 八十種好 (emc pat dźip ḍjoŋ xâuB, MdJ hachijū shu kō) ‘eighty minor marks of physical excellence of a Buddha’ also known as Chinese 八十隨好 (emc pat dźip zjwe xâuB, MdJ hachijū zui kō). bs 2 also includes two native Japanese decade numerals: miso ‘thirty’ and yaso ‘eighty’. While mi- and ya- are certainly ‘three’ and ‘eight’ respectively, -so is not a cognate of woj tǝwo ‘ten’. I have suggested before that -so is a loan from Korean *-son, also found only in decades, but not independently, and reflected in Middle Korean by various allomorphs, such as -hïn, -zʌn, -ïn, -ʌn, -Vn (Vovin 2020.1: 343). I analyzed before tǝ (等) on line three as a copula tǝ (Vovin 2020.2: 800), but now I think that the comitative case marker -tǝ is more likely here from the morphosyntactic point of view. woj kusa is ‘type’, ‘sort’, not to be mixed with its near-homophone kusa ‘grass’ (mj kusa ‘grass’ has low-low accent pattern (a.k.a. 2.3 accent class), while mj kusa ‘type’ is high-low (2.2 accent class), and we do not have grounds for a suspicion that the woj accentual system was different from the mj one, or at least significantly different). Miller’s lengthy and sloppy discussion regarding the absence or presence of voicing (actually of a prenasalized voiced /ⁿd/—A.V.) in sǝⁿdareru ‘endowed with’ fulfills only one purpose: it just further strengthens my suspicion that Miller, contrary to what he says, he neither has ever personally gone to Yakushiji nor saw the inscription. Namely, Miller complains that all Japanese editions use the character 太 ‘thick’, not the character 大 ‘big’ for transcribing /ⁿda/ in sǝⁿdareru, while as he alleges, the additional dot “cannot be detected on the surface of the stone, at least not in the condition in which we have the stone today” (1975: 80). But everyone is welcome to consult the Photograph 6 in the Appendix and see for himself/herself that the additional dot is right there. What I suspect that Miller has just consulted some low-quality photograph, and, as usual, has based his far-reaching conclusions on them, although ultimately even he was forced to agree with the reading /ⁿda/ (1975: 81). Miller continues by claiming that a sedōka (旋頭歌) mys 7.1267 is a source of bs 2 (1975: 81–84). Let us look at this Man’yōshū poem with a full philological apparatus and not just in Miller’s quite confusing transcription (1975: 81):

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mys 7.1267 本文 · Original Text (1) 百師木乃 (2) 大宮人之 (3) 踏跡所 (4) 奥浪 (5) 來不依有勢婆 (6) 不失 有麻思乎 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) も₁も₁しき₂の₂ (2) おほみ₁やひ₁と₂の₂ (3) ふみ₁しあと₁と₂こ₂ろ₂ (4) おき₁ つなみ₁ (5) き₁よ₂せざりせば (6) うせざらましを

Romanization (1) momo [i]si kï-nǝ (2) opo miya pitə-nǝ (3) pum-i-si ato təkərə (4) okitu nami (5) k-i-yəse-ⁿz-ar-i-s-emba (6) use-ⁿz-ar-amasi-wo Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) hundred stone fortress-comp (2) Great Palace person-gen (3) step-convpast.attr footprint place (4) offing-gen/loc wave (5) come-conv-approachneg-exist-conv-past.attr-cond (6) be.lost-neg-exist-subj-acc Translation (3) The place [of] footprints left (2) by the people [from] the Great Palace (1) [built] like a fortress from hundreds of stones (6) would not be lost (4/5) if it were not for waves from the offing that approached, but … Commentary to mys 7.1267 The only commonality is the line pum-i-si ato tǝkǝrǝ ‘the place [of] the footprints left’, which does not occur anywhere else in the Man’yōshū, but the contents are different and the background symbolism is quite opposite. Buddha’s footprints symbolize the uninterrupted tradition and the eternity of the Buddhist faith, while the image in mys 7.1267 conveys the impermanence through the image of a footprints left by courtiers on the sand that are easily washed away and erased forever by sea waves. Not to mention that bs 2 is a pious religious poem, while mys 7.1267 has a completely secular context. The further discussion that follows in Miller’s text starts to resemble science fiction more and more. This is, of course, highly entertaining, but should be of no concern in the context of a serious academic research. Or, alternatively, it presents former and well known research as a ground-breaking discovery made by Miller, such as, for example, of the poem 1345 in the Shūi wakashū (拾遺和歌, 1005– 1007ad), which is a variant of bs 2 (1975: 84–98), given below:

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siwks 1345 本文 · Original Text (1) みそちあまり (2) ふたつのすがた (3) そなへたる (4) むかしの人の (5) ふめるあとぞこれ

Romanization (1) miso-ti amar-i (2) futa-tu n-o suŋgata (3) sonafe-tar-u (4) mukasi-no fito-no (5) fum-er-u ato ⁿzo kore Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) thirty-cl exceed-conv (2) two-cl cop-attr mark (3) be.completely. provided(conv)-perf.prog-attr (4) old.times-gen person-gen (5) stepprog-attr footprint fp this Translation (5) These are footprints left (4) by a Person of old (3) who is completely provided (1/2) by thirty-two marks Commentary to siwks 1345 Miller, nevertheless, provides the text of this poem only among other poems (1975: 85), forgetting to inform his readers that a whole line from bs 2 mentioning yaso kusa ‘eighty types [of lesser signs]’ is missing in siwks 1345. The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line four is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 6, 7, and 9 in the Appendix. Lines five is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with eight syllables instead of seven. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line five see the commentary to bs 1. The Photograph 6 in the Appendix includes the text up to the character 己 /kǝ/ on line five. The last character 呂 /rǝ/ on line five and line six is found on the Photograph 10. The Photograph 8 includes only line 6. The lines 5 and 6 in their entirety can be viewed on the Photograph 9. Line six is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with eight syllables instead of seven, but this might be a graphic illusion since mǝ ar- could have been pronounced as [mar-]. Cf. とまれかくまれ to m-are kaku m-are < ともあれかくもあれ to mo are kaku mo are ‘be it this way or that way’ (tm 14).4

4 Cited according to nkbt edition (Sakakura 1957), with numbers indicating pages.

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The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line six is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 8 and 9 in the Appendix.

The modern edition of Bussokuseki-no uta by Tsuchihashi represents line six as if it was written with small size characters as in poem 1 (1957: 240). However, even a quick glance at the stele reveals that characters on line six in bs 2 have the same size as the characters on the previous lines. Nevertheless, line six is placed slightly to the right as in bs 1, see the Photograph 9. Consequently, I preserve the large size on line six in my edition of the text.

bs 3 本文 · Original Text

(1) 与伎比止乃 (2) 麻佐米尓美祁牟 (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏 弖 (5) 伊波尓惠利都久 (6) 多麻尓惠利都久 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) よ₂き₁ひ₁と₂の₂ (2) まさめ₂にみ₁け₁む (3) み₁あと₂す ら を (4) われはえ₁ み₁ずて (5) いはにゑりつく (6) たまにゑりつく

Romanization (1) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (2) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-miⁿz-u-te (5) ipa-ni wer-i-tuk-u (6) tama-ni wer-i-tuk-u Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) be.good-attr person-gen (2) right eye-loc see-past.tent-attr (3) honfootprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-conv-sub (5) rock-loc carve-convattach-fin (6) jade-loc carve-conv-attach-fin Translation (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (1) that Good Persons (2) probably saw right by [their] eyes, (5) [I] carve [them] on a rock, (6) [I] carve [them] on a jade. Commentary Miller does a major blunder in his translation, mistranslating woj yǝ-ki pitǝ as ‘noble men’, further aggravated by unfounded fantasies such as that becoming a Buddhist believer makes an ‘aristocrat’ out of a commoner (1975: 98, 100). But woj yǝ-ki pitǝ (lit. ‘good person’, consisting of yǝ-, inflected adjective ‘to be good’, adjectival attributive -ki, and pitǝ ‘person’) does not mean ‘noble man’,

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which is masura wo in Old Japanese. It is actually a calque of Chinese shàn rén 善人 (emc źjänB ńin), which is defined by Soothill as ‘a good man, especially one who believes in Buddhist ideas of causality and lives a good life’ (1937: 368). Tsuchihashi, on the other hand, insists that it is a term for Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, giving in the support of his point of view a quote from the Amida kyō (阿彌陀經) (1957: 240–241). Since someone who saw the actual footprints of Śakyamuni cannot be just a ‘noble person’ or a ‘good person’ in general, but must be able to see in the past, Tsuchihashi’s explanation seems to be more viable. It is also supported by its usage in bs 9, where it refers to someone who is already in the Pure Land. I also wonder whether Buddha’s disciples are actually meant here. woj masa on line two is ‘right’ in the sense of ‘proper’, ‘correct’, ‘true’. On woj atǝ 阿止 ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line three see the commentary to bs 1. Line three is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. Note that in the text of the stele the character 湏 is used throughout for the syllable /su/. Some modern editions, like Tsuchihashi (1957), replace it with the character 須. woj restrictive particle sura on line three shows the maximum representation and can be approximately rendered into English as ‘even’, ‘even as much as’, ‘just’, ‘just as much as’. It has also more archaic variant sora, which preserves its original shape predating the o > u raising, but it does not occur in the Bussokuseki-no uta text, being attested only in mys 4.534 and 20.4408. Miller insists on translating woj ware on line four as ‘we’ the first person plural pronoun because “of keeping with the communal, liturgical nature of the sequence” (1975: 96). I’ll leave on Miller’s consciousness any imagined liturgies served around the stele, but once we descend from the world of science fiction into the much more prosaic world of Old Japanese grammar, the following observations are in order. While oj a ~ are is almost always singular (with one exception of are clearly meaning ‘we’), oj wa ~ ware turns out much trickier, because it appears that sometimes it can be used as a first person singular pronoun, and sometimes as a first person plural pronoun. Let us start with the plural usage, as unlike singular it is completely uncontroversial. The plural meaning of the first person pronoun wa ~ ware is not attested in Eastern Old Japanese, therefore all the following examples of the plural usage come from woj texts: 志藝和那波留和賀麻都夜

siŋgi-wana par-u wa-ŋga mat-u ya snipe-trap stretch-fin we-poss wait-fin ep [we] set a snipe trap. We waited! (kk 9)

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ware pa ya we-n-u we top ep starve-perf-fin we are starving (kk 14) 和賀由久美知

wa-ŋga yuk-u miti we-poss go-attr way the way we go (kk 43) 和礼乎於吉弖比等波安良自

ware-wo ok-i-te pitǝ pa ar-aⁿzi we-acc leave-conv-sub person top exist-neg/tent except us, there would be no [other] men (mys 18.4094) At the first glance it might seem that woj wa ~ ware also can present just a regular singular usage, but consider the following examples where wa ~ ware are used as singular but with the implications of being a member of a group: 許能美岐波和賀美岐那良受

kǝnǝ mi-ki pa wa-ŋga mi-ki nar-aⁿz-u this hon-rice.wine top i-poss hon-rice.wine be-neg-fin This rice wine is not my rice wine (kk 39) The rice wine was likely to be shared by several people. 和藝幣能伽多由区毛位多知区暮

wa-ŋg-ipe-nǝ kata-yu kumowi tat-i-k-umo i-poss-home-gen side-abl cloud rise-conv-come-excl Clouds rise from the side of my home (nk 21) One’s home is certainly a place that belongs not only to me, but to all my family. Interestingly enough, there are no examples of *a-ŋga ipe in woj. 和我惠比爾祁牟

wa-ŋga wep-i-n-i-k-em-u i-poss get intoxicated-conv-perf-conv-past/fin-tent-fin I got intoxicated (fk 6) It is unlikely that the speaker was the only one who got drunk.

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和礼爾於止礼留比止乎於保美

ware-ni otǝr-er-u pitǝ-wo opo-mi i-dat be worse-prog-attr person-abs many-ger because there are many people who are worse than me (bs 13) The speaker is just one of many others. 伊波敞和我勢古多太爾安布末低爾

ipap-e wa-ŋga se-ko taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni pray-imp i-poss beloved-dim direct dv-conv meet-attr-term-loc pray, my beloved, until [we] meet directly (mys 15.3778) woj seko ‘beloved, husband’ was certainly at this period a person collectively shared by all his wives and concubines. 和期於保伎美余思努乃美夜乎安里我欲比賣湏

wa-ŋgǝ opo kimi Yǝsino-nǝ miya-wo ari-ŋgayop-i mes-u i-poss Great Lord Yǝsino-gen palace-acc iter-go back and forth-conv look(hon)-fin My emperor constantly visits the palace in Yǝsino, and looks around (mys 18.4099) The emperor rules many subjects, therefore he is the great lord of various people, not only of the speaker. To the best of my knowledge woj has only wa-ŋga opo kimi, never *a-ŋga opo kimi. eoj exhibits pretty much the same usage: 和我世故乎安杼可母伊波武

wa-ŋga se-ko-wo an-dǝ kamǝ ip-am-u i-poss beloved-dim-acc what-dv ep say-tent-attr What shall [I] say about my beloved, I wonder? (mys 14.3379) eoj seko ‘beloved, husband’ was shared by several wives and concubines. 久君美良和礼都賣杼

kuku-mira ware tum-e-ⁿdǝ stalk-leek I pick up-ev-conc Although I pick stalk-leeks … (mys 14.3444) The speaker does not gather leeks all by herself, but as a member of a group.

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chapter 2 和可加敞流弖能毛美都麻弖宿毛等和波毛布

waka kaperute-nǝ momit-u-maⁿde ne-m-o tǝ wa pa [o]mop-u young maple-gen leaves.turn.red/yellow-attr-term sleep-tentattr dv I top think-fin I think that [we] should sleep [together] until the young maple becomes red (mys 14.3494) Apparently the speaker is not the only person who is attracted to this woman. 和礼左倍爾伎美爾都吉奈那

ware sapɛ n-i kimi-ni tuk-i-n-ana I even dv-conv lord-dat cling-conv-perf-des Even I want to cling to [my] lord (mys 14.3514) Lord (here referring to the husband) is shared by many wives and concubines. 和呂多比波多比等於米保等

Warǝ tambi pa tambi tǝ omɛp-o-ⁿdǝ I journey top journey dv think-ev-conc Although I think that [my] journey is [just] a journey … (mys 20.4343) People normally went travelling with some companions, cf. the famous lines from the Ise monogatari: むかしをとこありけりそのをとこ身 をえうなき物に思なして京にはあらじあづまの方にすむべきくにもとめ にとてゆきけりもとより友とする人ひとりふたりしていきけり ‘Once upon

a time there was a gentleman. That gentleman thought of himself being useless and did not want to be in the capital. Therefore, he went with a goal in mind to find a land in Azuma, where he could live. He went together with one or two persons who were his companions from the beginning’ (im 9). Therefore, I think that oj wa ~ ware besides being 1pp pronoun, also has a function of 1ps pronoun that refers not only to a speaker himself, but to other people involved, such as, for example, other members of the group to which the speaker belongs. Thus, we are dealing here with a kind of inclusive function. While the distinction between 1pp inclusive ‘we and you’ and 1pp exclusive ‘we without you’ is not rare in the languages of the world, the distinction between 1ps exclusive, such as oj a ~ are ‘I alone’ and inclusive oj wa ~ ware ‘I and other members of my group’ seems to be highly typologically unusual. I am aware of the similar phenomenon only in Ainu, where the inclusive 1ps pronoun was somewhat confusingly labeled by some Japanese scholars as the 4th person.

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One of the usages of the Ainu 4th person may represent the situation when a story teller includes by its usage his auditorium as well, but there are other functions of this 4th person in Ainu, which involve designating a recipient of an action or replacing regular 1ps pronoun in quoted speech (Nakagawa and Nakamoto 1997: 60, 104). There are no pronouns parallel to the Ainu 4th person in oj. The presence of the polyfunctionality in Ainu and absence of thereof in oj strongly suggests that it was Ainu that influenced oj and not the other way around. Still, there are cases of usage of wa ~ ware in woj that can be only explained as pure singular, for example: 淤曾夫良比和何多多勢禮婆比許豆良比和何多多勢禮婆

osǝ-m-bur-ap-i wa-ŋga tat-as-er-e-mba pikǝ-ⁿ-dur-ap-i wa-ŋga tat-as-er-emba push-dv(conv)-shake-iter-conv i-poss stand-hon-prog-ev-con pull-dv(conv)-shove-iter-conv i-poss stand-hon-prog-ev-con [I] was pushing and shaking [the door], when I was standing [there], [I] was pulling and shoving [it], when I was standing [there] (kk 2) 和何許許呂

wa-ŋga kǝkǝrǝ i-poss heart my heart (kk 3) 伊慕我堤鳴倭例爾魔柯斯毎

imo-ŋga te-wo ware-ni mak-asimɛ beloved-poss hand-acc i-dat use as a pillow-caus(conv) [my] beloved will let me use [her] hands as a pillow (nk 96) The same is true for eoj: 和爾奈多要曾祢

wa-ni na-taye-sǝ-n-e i-dat neg-break-do-des-imp Do not become estranged from me (mys 14.3378) 和爾余曾利

wa-ni yǝsǝr-i i-dat become.intimate-conv becoming intimate with me (mys 14.3408)

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wanu-ni kop-unam-o i-dat long.for-tent2-attr [you] will probably long for me (mys 14.3476) I think that this picture reflects in all probability a gradual semantic shift from oj wa ~ ware 1pp ‘we’ to 1ps ‘I’. Such a scenario seems to be confirmed by the fact that in Proto-Ryukyuan *wa was clearly plural. I use ‘I’ rather than ‘we’ in my translation, because carving the stone was an act of one individual (which can be easily seen from the paleographic analysis of the inscription—it is the same style of writing all over the stele), or was carried out by the order of one individual. But this individual was in all likelihood not the only person engaged in this kind of activity: it is just the irony of history that we have a single example of a stele with Buddhist poems—doubtlessly there were many other similar ones, which are simply not extant today. Therefore ‘I’ in bs 3 should be understood along these lines as an inclusive ‘I’: ‘I and other people like me’. oj e- in e-mi-ⁿz-u-te ‘cannot see and’ on line four is a potential verbal prefix, apparently derived from the verb e- ‘to get’, ‘to receive’. Note that oj negative -ⁿz- with the following converb -u is written with 湏 /su/, which has a voiceless consonant. This is an exceptional case, because in all other occurrences 湏 is used to write a syllable /su/ with a voiceless fricative /s/. On this basis Miller is much too eager to get in the saddle of his dying ‘Altaic’ horse claiming that the reading e-mi-ⁿz-u-te of 衣美湏弖 with a voiced prenasalized -ⁿz- instead of a voiceless -s- is erroneous, and he again proposes with reference to Miller (1971: 272–274) that this newly resurrected -s- has an ‘Altaic’ pedigree and is related to Middle Mongolian suffix -msAr that forms restrictive nouns, e.g., uqa-msar ‘without understanding’ (mnt § 240), ölös-ümser ‘without having hunger’ (mnt §56).5 Since Miller is apparently at a loss how to reconcile his single oj -s- with Middle Mongolian -msAr, he engages in further ‘Altaistic’ fantasies, which could be entertaining, but hardly worth discussing.6 It will suffice to say that any internal explanation should always have a priority over an external one. And it is quite easy: the man’yōgana type A in which Bussokuseki poems are written does not consistently differentiate between voiceless and prenasalized voiced, hence the usage of -s- for -ⁿz-. Thus, 5 Miller provides only front vocalic variant -mser and no textual addresses in the Monggol ni’uča tobča’an. 6 All this vividly reminds the scientific value of a Japanese legend that claims that Yoshitsune escaped to Mongolia and became Činggis-khan there.

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there is no need for any clumsy Mongolian parallels with multiple phonetic and semantic problems. woj tuk- ‘to attach’, ‘to be attached’ on lines five and six is actually transitive tukɛ-, which, as expected, loses its final root vowel befre the final -u. woj tama ‘jade’, ‘jewel’, ‘pearl’ on line six should not be taken literally. The stele or the footprints stone are not from jade or jadeite. It probably just implies just ‘precious stone’, not because it is a gem, but because it is a stone with the carving of the Buddha’s footprints that make it precious. Another Miller’s blunder is that he translated wer-i-tuk-u ‘carves’ on lines five and six as imperatives (1975: 98), in spite of the fact that wer-i-tuk-u is clearly a final form in contrast to wer-i-tuk-e, an imperative form.

bs 4 本文 · Original Text

(1) 己乃美阿止夜 (2) 与呂豆比賀利乎 (3) 波奈知伊太志 (4) 毛呂毛呂湏 久比 (5) 和多志多麻波奈 (6) 湏久比多麻波奈 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) こ₂の₂み₁あと₂や (2) よ₂ろ₂づひ₁かりを (3) はなちいだし (4) も₁ろ₂も₁ろ₂ すくひ₁ (5) わたしたまはな (6) すくひ₁たまはな

Romanization (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ ya (2) yǝrǝⁿdu pikari-wo (3) panat-i-iⁿdas-i (4) morǝ-morǝ sukup-i (5) watas-i-tamap-ana (6) sukup-i-tamap-ana Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) this hon-footprint ep (2) ten.thousand light-acc (3) radiate-conv-bring. out-conv (4) all-all save-conv (5) take.across-conv-hon-des (6) save-convhon-des

Translation (1) Oh, these honorable footprints (3) radiate (2) myriad of lights. (4/5) [I] want [them] to save all [sentient beings], and to take [them] across, (6) [I] want [them] to save [all sentient beings].

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Commentary Line one is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five.7 Here I agree with Miller’s division between lines one and two and interpretation of ya as an emphatic particle rather than a numeral ya ‘eight’ on the next line (1975: 102), but not for impressionistic ideas of Miller, but for the simple fact that the combination ya yǝrǝⁿdu is not attested in Old Japanese, the fact that Miller completely overlooked. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line one see the commentary to bs 1. Miller engages in further fantasies about the man’yōgana script, this time claiming that his alleged piŋgari (Miller’s outdated transcription is Figari) 比賀 利, instead of standard pikari ‘light’, is a dialectal form (1975: 104). In spite of the fact that 賀 is indeed emc γâC, it has no consequence for the reading, because as I have already mentioned above in the commentary to bs 3, man’yōgana type A does not consistently differentiate between voiceless and voiced consonants. The reason for that is very simple, because the man’yōgana type A unlike man’yōgana type B was not modelled directly on mc readings, but had a Korean intermediary. For example, in the Old Korean writing system 賀 and 加 had the same phonetic value [ka]. Therefore, 比賀利 in bs 4 and 比加利 in bs 20 are also likely to render one and the same phonetic sequence [pikari]. Line three is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five, but this might be a graphic illusion since panat-i-iⁿdas-i could have been pronounced as [panatiⁿdasi]. woj sukup- ‘to save’ on lines four and six is a translational equivalent of Chinese jiù 救 (emc kjǝuC), which in the Buddhist context more specifically refers to saving from suffering or deliverance from hell. Its occurrence together with morǝ-morǝ ‘all [sentient beings]’ on line four closely reminds Bodhisattva’s vow not to enter into Nirvana before all sentient beings are saved. oj watas- ‘to take over’, ‘to take across’, ‘to make someone cross over’ on line five is denoting a Buddhist concept of crossing (dō, 度) and also implying a salvation by describing making someone cross a river from this shore (sigan, 此 岸) of the repeating circle of life, death and ignorance to that shore (higan, 彼 岸) of the Enlightenment (satori, 悟り) and Nirvana (Sk. nirvāṇa, 涅槃, emc niet bwân, MdJ nehan). This process is described as Sk. Pāramitā (Chin. 波羅蜜, emc pwâ lâ mit, MdJ haramitsu). There are six practices known as Ropparamitsu (六 波羅蜜) that are required of a Bodhisattva to achieve the Enlightenment and 7 Miller believes that line one is regular and not hypermetric. But to achieve this outstanding discovery he is forced to speculate that there was a vowel crasis m-atǝ → metǝ. But this is highly unlikely, because such a crasis would render the first line completely incomprehensible during a recitation.

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attain Buddhahood: (1) fuse haramitsu, Sk. dānā pāramitā (布施波羅蜜, emc puoC śjeC pwâ lâ mit) ‘charity’, (2) jikai haramitsu, Sk. sīla pāramitā (持戒波羅蜜, emc ḍjï kǎiC pwâ lâ mit) ‘observing Buddhist precepts’, (3) ninniku haramitsu, Sk. kṣānti pāramitā (忍辱波羅蜜, emc ńjenB ńjwok pwâ lâ mit) ‘perseverance’, (4) shōjin haramitsu, Sk. vīrya pāramitā (精進波羅蜜, emc tsjäŋ tsjenC pwâ lâ mit) ‘energy’, (5) zenjō haramitsu, Sk. dhyāna pāramitā (禪定波羅蜜, emc źjänC dieŋC pwâ lâ mit) ‘meditation’, and (6) chie haramitsu, Sk. prajñā pāramitā (智慧波羅 蜜, emc tjeC zjwäiC pwâ lâ mit) ‘wisdom’. Usually a spiritual teacher is involved in this process, but in bs 4 this role is delegated to the lights that emanate from Buddha’s footprints. oj desiderative suffix -ana (-na after stems of vowel verbs) on lines five and six is found only in Asuka and Nara period texts. It did not survive into Middle Japanese except in some rare cases where it is always followed by the tentative suffix -am-. Line six is carved in a little bit smaller size characters than the previous five lines and is placed slightly to the right, see the Photographs 8 and 9 in the Appendix.

bs 5 本文 · Original Text (1) 伊可奈留夜 (2) 比止尓伊麻世可 (3) 伊波乃宇閇乎 (4) 都知止布美奈 志 (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) いかなるや (2) ひ₁と₂にいませか (3) いはの₂うへ₂を (4) つちと₂ふみ₁な し (5) あと₂の₂け₁るらむ (6) たふと₁くも₁あるか

Romanization (1) ika nar-u ya (2) pitǝ n-i imas-e ka (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-wo (4) tuti tǝ pum-i nas-i (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) what be-attr ep (2) person cop-conv exist(hon)-ev ip (3) rock-gen topacc (4) earth cop step-conv make-conv (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp exist-attr ep

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Translation (1) What kind of (2) a person is [He]? (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints (3) on the top of the rock (4) making [them] as if stepping on the earth! Commentary The ongana character 留 /ru/ on lines one, five, and six is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 6, 9, and 11 in the Appendix. oj ika ‘how’ on line one also can mean ‘what’ as in this poem. oj nar- ‘to be’ on the same line is a contraction of the converb n-i of the copula n- and ar- ‘to exist’. There are two examples of this uncontracted form in Western Old Japanese attested in mys 5.810 and mys 18.4036. The oj interrogative particle ka is used mostly in wh-questions like in this poem, while the oj interrogative particle ya is used only in general questions. The interrogative particle ka is found quite rarely after the evidential verbal form -ɛ ~ -(ur)e, with another clear phonographic example found in mys 15.3969. Line three is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five, but this might be a graphic illusion since -nǝ upɛ could have been pronounced as [nupɛ] or [nǝpɛ], with [nupɛ] being more likely, cf. kunuti (久奴知) ‘inside the land’ in mys 5.797 and mys 17.4000. Miller expresses the opinion (apparently unfounded) that the line four tuti tǝ pum-i nas-i ‘making [footprints] as if stepping on the earth’ “unmistakably relates the poem to the Bhaiṣajya-guru8 cult of Yakushiji, while at the same time it associates the footprint veneration cult both with temple and with the stele” (1975: 106). As usual, too many words and too little substance, simply because it is usually the footprints of Buddha Śākyamuni (Shakamuni, 釋迦牟 尼)9 that are venerated, and also because bs 9 clearly mentions the veneration of the footprints of Śākyamuni, not of Yakushi (藥師). The latter is known for his twelve vows that he made when he was a bodhisattva: (1) to attain effulgence of his physical light and enable other beings to attain the same, (2) to guide and enlighten sentient beings, (3) to fulfill their wishes, (4) to establish them in Mahāyāna, (5) to enable them to perform undefiled good acts and to abide by three groups of pure precepts (sanju jōkai, 三聚淨戒),10 (6) to cure beings of 8

9 10

This is the Sk. name of Yakushi Buddha, the full name being Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūryaprabha (Yakushi rurikō butsu, 藥師瑠璃光佛) ‘The Buddha Emerald Light of the Master of Medicine’. On Buddha Śākyamuni see the commentary to bs 9. (1) These are: shō ritsugi kai (攝律儀戒) ‘the precept of avoiding all evil acts’, (2) shō zenpō

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their physical imperfecions, (7) to give them peace of mind and comfort and enable them to proceed towards enlightenment with ease, (8) to change all women into men (so that they can obtain Buddhahood), (9) to remove heretical views and establish beings in the right view, (10) to save all beings from the dangers of torture and harm by evil rulers, bandits, etc., (11) to assuage their hunger and thirst, and (12) to clothe the poor and destitute. The vows of Buddha Yakushi are listed in the Yakushi rurikō nyorai hongan kudoku kyō (藥師瑠璃光如來本願功徳經, Sk. Bhagavān Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhāsa pūrva-praṇidhāna viśeṣa vistara) ‘Sutra of virtuous deeds and vows of the Thus Coming Emerald Light of the Holy Master of Medicine’, more widely known in its abbreviated name Yakushi kyō (藥師經) ‘Sutra of the Medicine Master’. This sutra was translated by the famous Chinese Buddhist monk Xuan Zang (玄奘), who managed to reach India, from Sanskrit into Chinese in 650 ad. A repository of sutras in the Precinct of Xuan Zang sutra repository (Genjō Sanzō-in Garan, 玄奘三蔵院伽藍) of the Yakushiji temple is located next door to onestory pagoda called Xuan Zang Pagoda (Genjō tō, 玄奘塔), see the Figure 9 in the Introduction. So, this is a real connection between the veneration of Buddha Yakushi in the Yakushiji temple, Yakushi sutra, and Xuan Zang’s activities, not the invented one by Miller between the footprints of Buddha Śākyamuni and Buddha Yakushi. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line five see the commentary to bs 1. Line six is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with eight syllables instead of seven, but this might be a graphic illusion since mo ar- could have been pronounced as [mar-]. See the commentary to bs 2 on this specific contraction. Line six is carved in smaller size characters than the previous five lines and is placed slightly to the right, see the Photographs 9 and 12 in the Appendix.

bs 6 本文 · Original Text (1) 麻湏良乎乃 (2) 湏々美佐岐多知 (3) 布賣留阿止乎 (4) 美都々志乃波 牟 (5) 多太尓阿布麻弖尓 (6) 麻佐尓阿布麻弖尓

kai (攝善法戒) ‘the precept of doing all good acts’, and (3) shō shujō kai (攝衆生戒) ‘the precept of embracing and benefitting sentient beings’. They are a part of Daijō kai (大 乗戒) ‘Mahāyāna precepts’ that are the precepts to be observed by boddhisattvas and include besides three pure precepts also ten major precepts and forty-eight minor ones (Inagaki 1989: 32).

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) ますらをの₂ (2) すすみ₁さき₁たち (3) ふめ₁るあと₂を (4) み₁つつしの₂は む (5) ただにあふまでに (6) まさにあふまでに

Romanization (1) masura wo-nǝ (2) susum-i saki tat-i (3) pum-er-u atǝ-wo (4) mi-tutu sinǝpam-u (5) taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (6) masa n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) noble man-gen (2) advance-conv front depart-conv (3) step-prog-attr footprint-acc (4) look(conv)-coor long.for-tent-fin (5) direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc (6) real cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc Translation (1) The Noble Man (2) went forward and departed first. (4) [I] will be longing for [Him] while looking (3) at the footprints [He] has left (5) until [we] meet directly, (6) until [we] really meet. Commentary This poem laments the passing of Buddha Śākyamuni. His departure happened, of course, more than a thousand years before this poem was composed and carved. The theme of parting and then direct meeting again face to face is a recurrent one in Western Old Japanese poetry, although in most cases (but not in all) a romantic relationship is involved. Cf. the following examples: 多陁尓阿波湏阿良久毛於保久

taⁿda n-i ap-aⁿz-u ar-aku mo opo-ku direct dv-conv meet-neg-conv exist-nml fp many-conv There are many occasions when [we] do not meet directly (mys 5.809) 安我許呂母之多尓乎伎麻勢多太尓安布麻弖尓

a-ŋga kǝrǝmǝ sita-ni wo ki-mas-e taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni i-poss garment below-loc ep wear(inf)-hon-imp direct dv-inf meetattr-term-loc Wear my garment beneath [your clothes] until [we] meet directly (mys 15.3584)

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安我之多其呂母宇思奈波受毛弖礼和我世故多太尓安布麻 尓

a-ŋga sita-ŋ-gǝrǝmǝ usinap-aⁿz-u mot-er-e wa-ŋga se-ko taⁿda n-i ap-umaⁿde-ni i-poss bottom-gen-garment lose-neg-conv carry-prog-imp i-poss beloved-dim direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc My dear beloved, carry [with you] my undergarment without losing [it], until [we] meet directly (mys 15.3751) The Noble Man on line one is, of course, Buddha Śākyamuni. On his biography see the commentary to bs 9. woj masura wo ‘excellent man’, ‘nobleman’, ‘brave man’ is treated sometimes as a single word, but masura meaning ‘excellent’ is also attested as a modifier to kamï ‘deity’ and take ‘brave hero’ (Omodaka et al. 1967: 677). In addition, wo ‘man, male’ is also amply attested (Omodaka et al. 1967: 828). There is no etymology for masura. It could possibly be a JapaneseKorean hybrid: oj ma-, intensive prefix with the meaning ‘true, real’ + mk súh ‘male’11 + oj -ra, suffix of endearment. The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line three is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 6 and 7 in the Appendix. Line three is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line three see the commentary to bs 1. woj sinǝp- ‘to long for’ is a misspelling for sinop-. Since this is the only word in the text of the poems where the merger of /o/ and /ǝ/ has occurred after /n/, the Bussokuseki-no uta probably demonstrates the very beginning of this process at the time the poems were composed and/or carved on the stele. Miller, as always, develops a far-fetching theory: “Forms with -ǝ- (Miller’s -ö-— A.V.) are also attested in the Senmyō (宣命—A.V.) and once in a non-standard poem in the Man’yōshū, m[ys] [20.]4427 … in sinǝpu (Miller’s sinöFu—A.V.) the poem stele preserves an early, non-standard Old Japanese form, and one that, together with standard [w]oj sinopu (Miller’s sinoFu—A.V.), considerably predates the analogic changes that resulted, first of all, in sinupu (Miller’s sinuFu—A.V.), and then eventually, and much later in Japanese linguistic history, in sinob-u and its later, extremely complicated, descendant forms” (1975: 110). This brave conclusion is completely misleading making simple facts look very complicated. Miller can be excused for not knowing about o > u raising in the Japanese history, since this theory together with all its supporting data has not yet been known in 1975, because it was formulated explicitly for the first

11

In Modern Korean su ‘male’ is used only for animals, but it appears that in earlier stages of the language it was also applicable to humans.

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time by Hayata (1998). But Miller’s lack of knowledge of the other most elementary facts about Old Japanese, or/and their willful distortion are inexcusable. Thus, even a quick glance at the relevant pages 362–363 of Omodaka et al. (1967), that Miller claims to consult, let alone the actual Western Old Japanese texts, would certainly reveal to Miller that there are two different and unrelated woj verbs, sinop- ‘to long for’, ‘to yearn’ and sinǝmbï- ‘to endure’, ‘to bear’, ‘to hide’. The first of these survived until the middle of the Heian period—it is attested in the Sakaki (賢木) chapter of the Genji monogatari (源氏物語) in the attributive form sinof-uru12 (Nakamura et al. 1987: 129), but does not appear in the late Heian period language (Mochizuki 1974). The second verb well survived into the Modern Japanese, but changed its paradigm to a consonantal one. woj sinup- (with /u/ and not /o/) ‘to long for’ is actually a hapax legomenon: Omodaka et al. maintain that it is attested twice in mys 5.802 and mys 20.4367 (1967: 361), but mys 20.4367 clearly has sinop-, because the ongana sign 奴 is generally ambiguous, spelling both /no/ and /nu/, and it is used to spell sinopin many other cases. This leaves us with a unique spelling of sinup- with 農 /nu/ in mys 5.802. The evidence for Miller’s “non-standard” sinǝp- in bs 6 is based on (1) spelling in the Senmyō (宣命), which is a very late woj text, being found in the Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀), compiled only in 797ad, when the merger of /no/ and /nǝ/ was the fait accompli; and (2) on eoj sinǝp- in mys 20.4427. But it was already known from the work of Hashimoto Shinkichi in 1920s that Eastern Old Japanese had only five vowels contrary to Western Old Japanese with its eight. In addition, how an eoj sinǝp- could have found its way in Bussokusekino uta, especially that there are no other Eastern Old Japanese features attested in the text of the inscription? Thus, the reader can see that the history of the form sinǝp- once it is freed from the intricate spider web of Miller’s invented difficulties does not involve any complexity and is quite straightforward, after we take into consideration the merger of /no/ and /nǝ/ and its approximate timing. Lines five and six are hypermetric ( ji amari, 字 余 り) with eight syllables instead of seven. Line six is carved in smaller size characters than the previous five lines and is placed slightly to the right, see the Photographs 9, 10, 12, and 15 in the Appendix.

12

This form demonstrates that the first step on the way to its disappearance was a paradigmatic merger with mj sinombi- ‘to endure’, possibly accompanied by a phonetic merger of [sinow-] X [sinomb-] as well. Interestingly enough, Miyajima et al. (2014) include sinop- ‘to long for’ as an exclusively oj verb, not attested after the Nara period.

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bs 7 本文 · Original Text (1) 麻湏良乎乃 (2) 布美於祁留阿止波 (3) 伊波乃宇閇尓 (4) 伊麻毛乃己 礼利 (5) 美都々志乃覇止 (6) 奈賀久志乃覇止 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) ますらをの₂ (2) ふみ₁おけ₁るあと₂は (3) いはの₂うへ₂に (4) いまも₁の₂こ₂ れり (5) み₁つつしの₂へ₁と₂ (6) ながくしの₂へ₁と₂

Romanization (1) masura wo-nǝ (2) pum-i-ok-er-u atǝ pa (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-ni (4) ima mo nǝkǝrer-i (5) mi-tutu sinǝp-e tǝ (6) naŋga-ku sinǝp-e tǝ Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) noble man-gen (2) step-conv-place-prog-attr footprint top (3) rockgen top-loc (4) now fp remain-prog-fin (5) look(conv)-coor long.forimp dv (6) be.long-conv long.for-imp dv Translation (2) The footprints that were left (1) by the Noble Man, (4) even now have remained (3) on the top of the rock. (5) [I] say: “Long for [the Buddha] while looking [at them]”, (6) [I] say: “Long for [Him] for a long [time]”! Commentary On woj masura wo ‘Noble Man’ on line one see the commentary to bs 6. Line two is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字 余 り) with eight syllables instead of seven. The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line two is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 6 and 7 in the Appendix. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line two see the commentary to bs 1. woj ok- ‘to place’, ‘to put’ on line two may be used as an auxiliary verb meaning that an action of the main verb is designed for the future use, exactly like in Modern Japanese. Line three is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five, but this might be a graphic illusion since -nǝ upɛ could have been pronounced as [nupɛ] or [nǝpɛ], with [nupɛ] being more likely, cf. kunuti (久奴知) ‘inside the land’ in mys 5.797 and mys 17.4000. Miller fantasizes that bs 7 has the same content as two Man’yōshū poems, mys 3.463 and mys 12.2967 (1975: 111–112). I think a reader should judge for him-

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self or herself, so I place these two poems below in their original form with all pertinent philological information vis-à-vis Miller’s romanization followed by unfounded statements. Let us start with mys 3.464.

mys 3.464 本文 · Original Text

(1) 秋去者 (2) 見乍思跡 (3) 妹之殖之 (4) 屋前乃石竹 (5) 開家流香聞 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) あき₁さらば (2) み₁つつしの₂へ₁と₂ (3) いも₁がうゑし (4) やど₁の₂なでしこ₁ (5) さき₁にけ₁るかも

Romanization (1) aki sar-amba (2) mi-tutu sinop-e tǝ13 (3) imo-ŋga uwe-si (4) yaⁿdo-nǝ naⁿdesiko (5) sak-i-n-i-ker-u kamo Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) autumn go.away-cond (2) look(conv)-coor long.for-imp dv (3) belovedposs plant(conv)-past.attr (4) house.place-gen pink (5) bloom-convperf-conv-retr-attr ep Translation (4) The pinks at [my] house (3) that [my] beloved planted (2) saying: “Long for [me] while looking [at them] (1) when autumn comes”—(5) [it] turned out that [they have] bloomed! Nothing really is reminiscent of bs 7 here, but let us also consult mys 12.2967.

mys 12.2967 本文 · Original Text (1) 年之經者 (2) 見管偲登 (3) 妹之言思 (4) 衣乃縫目 (5) 見者哀裳

13

For reasons unknown, Miller transcribed sinop-e tǝ as shinotö (1975: 111), which has no meaning and is ungrammatical.

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) と₂しの₂へ₂ば (2) み₁つつしの₁へ₁と₂ (3) いも₁がいひ₁し (4) こ₂ろ₂も₂の₂ ぬひ₁め₂ (5) み₁ればかなしも

Romanization (1) təsi-nə pɛ-mba (2) mi-tutu sinop-e tǝ (3) imo-ŋga ip-i-si (4) kərəmə-nǝ nup-i-mɛ (5) mi-re-mba kanasi-mo Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) year-gen pass-cond (2) look(conv)-coor long.for-imp dv (3) belovedposs say-conv-past.attr (4) garment-gen sew-conv-point (5) look-ev-con be.sad-excl Translation (5) [I] am sad when [I] look (4) at the seams of the garment (3) of which [my] beloved said: (2) “Long for [me] when [you look [at it] (1) as the years pass.” Commentary The only commonality that unites the pious poem bs 7 and the love poems mys 3.46414 and mys 12.2967 is the imperative form sinop-e of the verb sinop‘to long for’, unless, of course, the author of bs 7 could be suspected of a homosexual desire for the Buddha. In addition, we also are provided with the definition of woj masura wo’s as ‘controller’ (Miller 1975: 112) and other irrelevant nonsense, which required a considerable deforestation of our planet to be put into Miller’s usual flowery but meaningless writing. Line six is carved in smaller size characters than the previous five lines and is placed slightly to the right, see the Photographs 9, 10, 12, and 15 in the Appendix.

bs 8 本文 · Original Text (1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 多豆祢毛止米弖 (3) 与伎比止乃 (4) 伊麻湏久尓々 波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (6) 毛呂毛呂乎為弖

14

This poem is from the same poetic sequence where Opotǝmǝ-nǝ sukune Yakamǝti laments the passing of his secondary consort.

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) こ₂の₂み₁あと₂を (2) たづねも₁と₂め₂て (3) よ₂き₁ひ₁と₂の₂ (4) いますくに には (5) われも₁まゐてむ (6) も₁ろ₂も₁ろ₂をゐて

Romanization (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) taⁿdune motǝmɛ-te (3) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (4) imas-u kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (6) morǝ-morǝ-wo wi-te Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) search.for(conv) seek(conv)-sub (3) be.goodattr person-gen (4) exist(hon)-attr land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)perf-tent-fin (6) all-all-acc lead(conv)-sub Translation (2) Searching and seeking for (1) these honorable footprints (5) I would also go (3/4) to the Land where the Good Person resides (6) leading [there] all [sentient beings]. Commentary This poem is very reminiscent of a Bodhisattva vow not to enter into Nirvana until all sentient beings are saved. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line one see the commentary to bs 1. woj 毛止米 motǝmɛ- ‘to seek’ on line two is a misspelling of mǝtǝmɛ-, but this is to be expected, because the o : ǝ contrast after /m/ was lost soon after 712ad even in the Asuka dialect of Western Old Japanese, and it is not present in the Nara dialect, which is the one that the poems on the stele are written in. Line one is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. woj yǝki pitǝ ‘Good Person’ on line three is unmistakably a reference to Buddha here, in particular Buddha Amida. Cf. bs 3. oj kuni ‘land’ is Amida (阿彌陀) Buddha’s Paradise Pure Land (Gokuraku Jōdo, 極樂浄土), also known as Western Pure Land. Buddha Amida (derived from Sk. Amitābha ‘Infinite Life’ and Amitāyus ‘Infinite Life’) is one of the most popular Buddhas in the Mahāyāna tradition. According to Muryōju kyō (無量 壽經) sutra, Amida once was a king, but when he met a Buddha called Seijizaiō (世自在王, Sk. Lokeśvara rāja), he desired to become a Buddha, too. Consequently, Amida renounced the world and became a mendicant called Hōzō (法 蔵, Sk. Dharmākara). He then made forty-eight vows and performed various Bodhisattva practices to fulfil them. After many aeons of time, his vows were fulfilled, and he became a Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life. His land in the West was also created resulting from his vows and practices. It is called

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Gokuraku (極樂, Sk. Sukhāvatī) ‘Utmost Bliss’ or ‘Paradise’. As promised in his eighteenth vow, known as Hongan (本願, Sk. pūrva praṇidhāna) or Hongan-no mon (本願の文), those who have sincere faith in Amida and make a recitation of his name called nenbutsu (念佛) will be able to be reborn in this land.15 The Buddhist sect centering around Buddha Amida is known as Pure Land Buddhism sect ( jōdokyō, 浄土教 or jōdoshū, 浄土宗). In esoteric Buddhism, Buddha Amida is one of the five Buddhas (gobutsu, 五佛) in the five cardinal directions, among which he is the Buddha of the West (Inagaki 1989: 5) oj ware on line five is a collective ‘I’, on which see the commentary to bs 3. Namely, in this case it is not only ‘I’, but also other people like me that will lead sentient beings to the Paradise Pure Land. woj syllable /wi/ on line five is uniquely rendered by the character 胃, while in two other cases it is carved with the character 為 (on line six of bs 8 and line three of bs 12). Line six is carved in a smaller size characters than the previous five lines and is placed slightly to the right, see the Photographs 9, 10, 12, and 15 in the Appendix.

bs 9 本文 · Original Text (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 宇夜麻比弖 (4) 乃知乃保止 氣尓 (5) 由豆利麻都良牟 (6) 佐々義麻宇佐牟 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) さかの₂み₁あと₂ (2) いはにうつしおき₁ (3) うやまひ₁て (4) の₂ちの₂ほと₂ け₂に (5) ゆづりまつらむ (6) ささげ₂まうさむ

Romanization (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) uyamap-i-te (4) nǝti-nǝ potǝkɛ-ni (5) yuⁿdur-i-matur-am-u (6) sasaŋgɛ-mawus-am-u

15

The full text of the eighteenth vow of Buddha Amida is: “If, after I have attained Buddhahood, sentient beings in the ten directions who have sincere minds, serene faith, and a desire to be born in my country, should not be born there even with ten nenbutsu recitations, may I not attain perfect enlightenment—excepted are those who committed the five deadly sins and abused the True Law” (Inagaki 1989: 109).

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Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-place-conv (3) worship-conv-sub (4) after-gen Buddha-dat (5) pass.on-conv-hum-tentfin (6) present(conv)-hum-tent-fin Translation (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of [Buddha] Śākya[muni], and (3) [I] worship [them]. (5) [I] would pass [them] (4) to the Buddha of the Future, (6) [I] would present [them] to [Him]. Commentary woj Saka (舎加) is a partial transcription of Śākyamuni ‘the sage of the Śākya clan’, a historical Gautama Buddha, who was born according to the Mahāyāna tradition in 565 (according to the Hīnayāna tradition in 624 bc) bc as a heir to the throne to King Sudhodana and Queen Māyā in a small Indian kingdom Kapilavastu’s capital Lumbini (more exactly in its gardens) in Nepal, which is now on the border with India. Until he left home at the age of nineteen (or twenty-nine), he led quite a luxurious life in the palace of his father, and was married to Yaśodharā, with whom he had a son named Rāhula. Both Yaśodharā and Rāhula later became Buddhist nun and monk respectively and disciples of Gautama Buddha. After he left home, Śākyamuni initially attempted to conduct extreme ascetic practices including mortifying his flesh in order to achieve Enlightenment, but after nine years of being engaged in this kind of enterprise, he recognized its futility. Śākyamuni then arrived to the concept of the Middle Way, a path which leads to the Enlightenment without engaging in any extreme behavior, and he finally reached the Enlightenment after meditating under the Bodhi (Enlightenment) tree (also known as Sala tree or Ficus religiosa) without moving from his seat under this tree for seven weeks (forty-nine days). Gautama Śākyamuni preached the Buddhist Way (Dharma) and founded the first Buddhist community of monks (Sangha). The Buddha (Butsu, 佛), the Dharma (Hō, 法), and the Sangha (Sō, 僧) are collectively known as Three Buddhist Treasures (Sanbō, 三寶). Gautama Śākyamuni passed away at the age of eighty and went into Nirvana. The date of his death or Entering the Nirvana is given variously as 486bc (in the Mahāyāna tradition) or 544 bc (in the Hīnayāna tradition). This commentary is the same as the commentary to the Chinese Inscription on the Front Side, but it is repeated here for readers’ convenience. Note that the character transcription 舎加 /saka/ for Śākya is different from the much more common 釋迦. I am unaware of the usage of 舎加 /saka/ in the Chinese tradition, and I do not see it in Soothill (1937) either. Thus, it is likely

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that we deal here either with a loan from Old Korean, or with an independent Old Japanese creation. woj does not have a contrast between /s/ and /ś/, unlike Sanskrit or Early Middle Chinese and Late Han Chinese.16 Anyway, 舎加 is emc śjaB ka and lhc śaB ka and 釋迦 is emc śjäk ka and lhc śak ka. The transcription 釋迦 then is likely go back to the Late Han times, due to the lhc /a/ vs. emc /ä/ in the first syllable. On the other hand, 舎加 could be either, since the contrast of /ś-/ v. /śj-/ would be too much to ask of Japanese to maintain. However, given its absence in the Chinese sources, it seems that 舎加 is an innovative transcription as compared to 釋迦. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line one see the commentary to bs 1. woj ok- ‘to place’, ‘to put’ on line two may be used as an auxiliary verb meaning that an action of the main verb is designed for the future use, exactly like in Modern Japanese. woj potǝkɛ (保止氣) ‘Buddha’ on line four is a loanword from ok *putïkye ‘id.’, which is not otherwise attested, but cf. mk pùthyè ‘Buddha’ < *putïkye. woj nǝti-nǝ potǝkɛ ‘Buddha of the Future’ is Miroku (彌勒, Sk. Maitreya, lit. ‘Benevolent’). He is a Bodhisattva who will appear in this world to become the next Buddha 5,670,000,000 years after He ends his life in the Tuṣita Heaven (Tosotsuten, 兜率天) (Inagaki 1989: 206). oj tentative -am- ~ -m- may express intention, see Vovin (2020a.2: 715–719). Line six appears to be in the same or almost the same size characters as the previous five lines, but like in all previous poems is placed slightly to the right, see the Photographs 9, 10, 12, and 15 in the Appendix.

bs 10 本文 · Original Text (1) 己礼乃与波 (2) 宇都利佐留止毛 (3) 止己止婆尓 (4) 佐乃己利伊麻世 (5) 乃知乃与乃多米 (6) 麻多乃与乃 多米 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration

(1) こ₂れの₂よ₂は (2) うつりさると₂も₁ (3) と₂こ₂と₂ばに (4) さの₂こ₂りいませ (5) の₂ちの₂よ₂の₂ため₂ (6) またの₂よ₂の₂ ため₂

16

While Middle Korean had phonemic /s/ and /ś/ contrast, it probably was not present in Old Korean, although this might be debatable.

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Romanization (1) kǝre n-ǝ yǝ pa (2) utur-i sar-u tǝmo (3) tǝkǝtǝmba n-i (4) sa nǝkǝr-i-imas-e (5) nǝti-nǝ yǝ-nǝ tamɛ (6) mata-nǝ yǝ-nǝ tamɛ Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) this cop-attr world top (2) change-conv go.away-fin conj (3) eternal cop-conv (4) thus remain-conv-hon-imp (5) after-gen world-gen for (6) again-gen world-gen for . Translation (1/2) Even though this world changes and goes away (4) remain in this shape (3) eternally (5) for the next world (6) [and] for the following worlds! Commentary This is the first poem in the Bussokuseki-no uta poetic sequence that has no hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) lines. oj kǝre n-ǝ ‘this’ on line one has no apparent difference in meaning or function as compared to kǝnǝ ‘this’. The only difference is that it is extremely rare, occurring just three times in Western Old Japanese texts (once in the Man’yōshū (mys 3.245) and twice in the Bussokuseki-no uta (bs 10 and bs 20)) and once in Eastern Old Japanese texts in the Man’yōshū (mys 20.4420). The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line three is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 6 and 7 in the Appendix. woj tǝkǝtǝmba n-i is considered to mean either (1) ‘eternally’ or (2) ‘always’, ‘usually’ (there are no reliable phonographic examples for the second meaning). In the first meaning ‘eternally’ tǝkǝtǝmba n-i is attested in oj only in mys 2.183 (Omodaka et al. 1967: 491) and in a partial phonographic spelling 千代 常登婆尓. Since tǝkǝ means ‘eternal’ by itself and n-i is a converb of the copula n- that derives adverbs from nominals, the remaining part -tǝmba needs to be explained. I suspect that it is a grammatical loan from Korean i-te-n pa17 ‘copretr-past.attr place’ with a root of the copula i- that naturally elided in this environment according to Old Japanese phonotactic rules not allowing vowel clusters. Miller is as always at his best with his interpretation of tǝkǝtǝmba n-i ‘eternally’ on line three as tǝkǝtǝpa-ni (Miller’s tökötöFa—A.V.) ‘on the everlasting rock’, which he believes to be a contraction of tǝkǝ-tu ipa-ni (1975: 117–118, 120–

17

The expected mk form would be i-re-n pa, but it is innovative, with -t- > -r- in an intervocalic position.

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121) at the same time kicking Tsuchihashi’s explanation of tǝkǝtǝmba n-i as tǝkǝtǝ pa-ni ‘as eternal flower’ < tǝkǝ-tu pa, where he believes that -tǝ is from -tu (1957: 243, 247). woj tǝkǝ-tu (常都) ‘eternity-gen/loc’ is a hapax legomenon that is attested only in mys 2.174 in the phrase təkə-tu mikaⁿdo (常都御門) ‘eternal palace’. Both Tsuchihashi and even more so Miller’s hypotheses run into several unsurmountable difficulties. First, if the tǝkǝ-tu exists as a hapax legomenon, *tǝkǝ-tǝ is ghost. Second, *tǝkǝ-tǝ would be an impossible form, because *ǝ does not raise to /u/ in Western Old Japanese, only *o does. Third, for any person who, unlike Miller, has an extensive experience in reading Old Japanese texts in the original, and not just picking at random isolated poems, it is quite clear that ‘eternal rock’ is woj tǝk-ipa (note that even its original uncontracted form *tǝkǝ ipa is not attested, let alone its invented ghost form *tǝkǝ-tu ipa), therefore no genitive locative case marker -tu was ever necessary there. Fourth, we can see that here Miller abandons his ad absurdum fixed idea that all ongana man’yōgana signs with initial voiceless consonants always transcribe voiceless consonants, and those with initial prenasalized voiced consonants only voiced consonants, and reads /mba/ (婆) as /pa/ (Miller’s /Fa/—A.V.). Ironically, it does not work such way in this particular case, because /mba/ (婆) is confirmed by mys 2.183, too. Fifth, the context of mys 2.183 does not confirm any ‘eternal rock’ interpretation for tǝkǝtǝmba:

mys 2.183 本文 · Original Text (1) 吾御門 (2) 千代常登婆尓 (3) 將榮等 (4) 念而有之 (5) 吾志悲毛 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) わがみ₁かど₁ (2) ちよ₂と₂こ₂と₂ばに (3) さかえ₂むと₂ (4) おも₂ひ₁てありし (5) あれしかなしも₁

Romanization (1) mikaⁿdo (2) ti yə təkətǝmba n-i (3) sakaye-m-u tǝ (4) oməp-ite ar-i-si (5) are si kanasi-mo wa-ŋga

Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) we-poss imperial.palace (2) thousand age eternally dv-conv (3) flourishtent-fin dv (4) think-conv-sub exist-conv-past.attr (5) I ep be.sad-excl

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Translation (4) Having thought that (1) our imperial palace (3) would flourish (2) eternally for a thousand ages, (5) I am [so] sad! Commentary Therefore, we can conclude that the above notes have managed to rescue woj tǝkǝtǝmba n-i ‘eternally’ from Miller’s vivisection. Tsuchihashi interprets sanǝkǝr- on line four as sakaye-nǝkǝr- ‘to remain florishing’ (1957: 243). However, a contraction sakaye- to sa- is difficult to imagine from the standpoint of the Old Japanese phonology. Omodaka et al. believe that this sa- is a prefix (1967: 336), but they define this prefix as “practically meaningless” (1967: 317). This is, of course, an oxymoron, because there are no meaningless or functionless morphemes in any human language. There is a locative prefix sa- in Old Japanese, but it is added to noun phrases, and not to verbs, which comes as no wonder because nominal and verbal morphology normally do not mix in Old Japanese. I think that we are dealing here with a defective adjective sa ‘to be so’, ‘thus’, which often has an adverbial function (Vovin 2020a.1: 437–438). The last two characters on line six are irreparably lost due to a damage. However, given the general parallelism of lines five and six not only in this poem, but also in other Bussokuseki poems, I think it is safe to reconstruct them as 多米 . Tsuchihashi does not reconstruct these characters, leaving just two empty boxes, but provides their reconstructed kana reading ため (1957: 243). Due to the general damage to line six, it is difficult to say with certainty whether the characters on this line have the same or the smaller size, although it seems to me that they have the same size. Like all other sixth lines in the poems one to nine, the line six in this poem is also placed slightly to the right from the general vertical axis of the previous five lines. See the Photographs 12 and 15 in the Appendix.

bs 11 本文 · Original Text (1) 麻湏良乎能 (2) 美阿 止 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) ますらをの₂ (2) みあ と₂

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Romanization (1) masura wo-nǝ (2) mi-a tǝ Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) noble man-gen (2) hon-foot print Translation (2) The honorable foot prints (1) of the Noble Man … Commentary bs 11 is the poem that is in the worst state of preservation, as the left side of the inscription has suffered the most damage. Only line one and first two characters on line two survive, with the third character 止 being reconstructed. Line one can be best seen on the Photograph 14 in the Appendix. Unfortunately, I failed to produce a photograph with the legible beginning of line two, and there was also no such a photograph among those that I received from the Yakushiji temple. Therefore, in this publication I had to rely on the reading provided in Takahashi 1957 and Takeuchi 1962b editions of the text. The character 能 /nǝ/ on line one appears for the first time in the text of the inscription, as normally only the character 乃 is used for the same syllable. One may be tempted to view this as an additional proof of the secondary nature of the first line carving, especially since it is carved (or re-carved) on the damaged part of the stone, but not the original surface. However, it is not the only occurrence of 能, since it is found on line three of bs 18 as well: 乃利乃多能 nǝri-nǝ ta-nǝ. Whether this is an “elegant orthographic variation” (Miller 1975: 123), or not, is of no consequence here, as it is important that the same character 能 is used in bs 11 and bs 18. On woj masura wo ‘Noble Man’ on line one see the commentary to bs 6. On woj atǝ ‘footprint’, ‘trace’ on line two see the commentary to bs 1.

bs 12 本文 · Original Text (1) 佐伎波比乃 (2) 阿都伎止毛加羅 (3) 麻為多利弖 (4) 麻佐米尓弥祁牟 (5) 阿 止乃止毛志 久 (6) 宇礼志久毛阿留可 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration

(1) さき₁はひ₁の₂ (2) あつき₁と₂も₁がら (3) まゐたりて (4) まさめ₂にみ₁け₁む (5) あ と₂の₂と₂も₁し く (6) うれしくも₁あるか

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Romanization (1) sakipapi-nǝ (2) atu-ki tǝmoŋgara (3) mawi-tar-i-te (4) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (5) a tǝ-nǝ tǝmosi -ku (6) uresi-ku mo ar-u ka Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) luck-gen (2) be.thick-attr companion (3) go(hum)(conv)-perf.progconv-sub (4) right eye-loc see-past.tent-attr (5) footprint-gen be.attractive -conv (6) be.happy-conv fp exist-attr ep Translation (5) The foot prints, (2) which [my] comrades, who were extremely (1) lucky, (4) probably saw right by [their] eyes (3) after having gone [there], (5) are attractive, and (6) [I] am happy as well! Commentary We need to restore the text of this poem, as it suffered both the physical damage, especially on lines five and six, and Miller’s vivisection. On line two the character 羅 is uniquely used for the syllable /ra/, in all other cases we have the character 良 for /ra/. woj tǝmǝŋgara18 ‘companion, comrade’ on line two points out to the early Tang period Ambassador Wáng Xuán-cè (王玄策, emc jwaŋ γjwen tṣʰɛk) and other members of his embassy who went to Śrāvastī in India in 648ad (Tsuchihashi 1957: 243).19 For more details on the dramatic events that took place during this journey see the commentary to the inscription on the right side in the chinese inscriptions chapter. The first two characters 麻為 mawi on line three are badly eroded, but still legible. Japanese scholars usually analyze line three mawi-tar-i-te (麻為多利弖) as a contraction of mawi-itar-i-te ‘go(hum)(conv)-reach-conv-sub’. This is certainly possible, but nothing calls for the verb itar- ‘to reach’ in the given context, and placement of mawi- as a humble auxiliary before the main verb is certainly possible, but rare. I prefer to view this form as mawi- followed by perfectiveprogressive -tar-.

18

19

As I have noted above, Miller is unaware of the lack of consistent differentiation between voiceless and prenasalized voiced in the man’yōgana type A (see the commentaries to bs 3 and bs 4 above), therefore he reads this as *tǝmǝkara, but cf. tǝmǝŋgara in (Omodaka et al. 1967: 505), where at least one example demonstrates clear [ŋg]. Tsuchihasi mistakenly has Wáng Xuán-shù (王玄束, emc jwaŋ γjwen śjwok) instead of Wáng Xuán-cè (王玄策, emc jwaŋ γjwen tṣʰɛk) in his commentary (1957: 243).

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On line four the character 弥 is uniquely used for the syllable /mi/. In all other cases we have the character 美 for /mi/. On line four only the bottom part of the character 祁 ke has survived, but together with two flanking characters 弥 … 牟 mi … mu, it is sufficient for the reconstruction. Miller reads the first character on line five as 比 pi, and not as 阿 a, as usual followed by Mills-bashing and self-bragging about his own inspection of the text of inscription in situ (1975: 124–125). However, this controversy apparently goes back to Edo period, with Noro reading 阿 a (1752: 5b20), and Yamakawa reading 比 pi (1827: 6b), and the matter is much more complex than Miller would like to think. First of all, this first character on line five is re-carved on a damaged part. Tsuchihashi has already noted before that only the top part of 阝 on the left side can be seen with certainty (1957: 247). However, while he is right, it appears that on the right side something like 匕 resembling the right side of the character 比 pi can also be seen. Please consult the Photographs 19 and 20 in the Appendix. So, it looks we might have a 50/50 percent situation here, but I think there is a solution. Actually, both parts 阝 and the one that somewhat looks like 匕 may represent the character 阨, especially if the line 一 above 匕 is real. The character 阨 with its reading ai may really fit, but it also has go-on (呉音) aku, reflecting emc Ɂak. The final -k might be disregarded in the man’yōgana, but the problem is that, to the best of my knowledge, the character 阨 is not among the so far known man’yōgana signs. Yet, the man’yōgana remains an open list, as new signs are added every year, even from the texts like the Man’yōshū that are considered to be studied quite well, cf. gradually expanding man’yōgana lists in the introductions to Vovin (2016, 2017, 2018, 2020b). Still, the fact that in all other cases only 阿 is used for /a/ in the Bussokuseki-no uta, speaks strongly against 阨. Since the character in question represents a later re-carving, I think that the person who did this re-carving confused 阿 with 阨. I see no other solution, as the context of bs 12 implies that companions went to Śrāvastī to see the original carving of Buddha Śākyamuni footprints, not the Buddha himself, who has been in the Nirvana more than 1,000 years before this trip. But Miller surely knows how to circumvent his difficulties: he uses the meaning ‘to be envious’ for woj tǝmǝsi, which is not the case here, as tǝmǝsi can only mean here ‘to be attractive’ (Omodaka et al. 1967: 505) alongside with claiming that his *pitǝ ‘person’ on line five is the same as tǝmǝŋgara ‘companions’ on line two. Thus, Miller’s manipulations lead us to the vicious circle, where one thing justifies another and vice versa, but which turns

20

Pagination is mine, because Noro’s book has none.

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out to be eventually misleading for the understanding of the text of bs 12 as a whole. On line five the character 乃 although its top right corner is re-carved on the damaged part, this re-carving must be right, as it is also supported by the context. The last surviving character 志 on the same line is preserved only partially, with its right part mostly lost, but it is still recognizable. The last character on line five has completely disappeared, and usually it is reconstructed as 佐 sa (Tsuchihashi 1957: 243), (Miller 1975: 124). The adjectival nominalized form in -sa does exist in Old Japanese, although it is not very frequent and appears mostly in the Man’yōshū (Vovin 2020a.1: 425–426). However, morphosyntactically tǝmǝsi-sa ‘attractiveness’ makes no sense here, because it can only be the subject of uresi ‘be happy’. But, this would be highly unlikely, because a nominalized form in -sa is never used in Old Japanese as a function of a subject. Therefore, I restore here 久 -ku, an adjectival converb instead, which makes sense both grammatically and semantically: footprints are attractive, and I am happy. Many Japanese scholars, following Noro’s authority reconstruct the character 乎 wo as the final character on line five following the character 佐 sa (1752: 5b). As I have already mentioned above the character 志 is actually the last partially legible character on line five; therefore the question whether there was the character 乎 wo, or not is moot by definition. But let me note that in this position 乎 wo could be only an accusative case marker. If I am right about the last character on this line being 久, rendering an adjectival converb -ku, then we can rule out the accusative case marker 乎 -wo, because it is never found after a converb. Theoretically it is possible morphologically to have accusative case marker 乎 -wo, after the nominalizer -sa, although there are no examples of -sa-wo attested in either Western or Eastern Old Japanese, since this adjectival nominalizer is always found in a sentence-final position. Also, as I have already mentioned above, it does not make sense semantically to have tǝmǝsisa-wo, with -wo here being a marker of the absolutive case, as a subject of uresi ‘to be happy’. Strictly speaking, line six is no longer extant today. As the reader can see from the Photographs 20, 21, 22, 28, and 29 in the Appendix, there is nothing after the character 志 on line five. Therefore, for the reconstruction of this line we have to rely entirely on the Edo period scholarship, such as publications by Noro Genjō (1752) and Yamakawa Masanori (1827), when line six was still visible. It is not clear whether it has been carved on the part of the stele that is chipped off today, or it was carved or re-carved on this damaged part and simply gradually eroded. If it is the latter case, the 3D technology might help, but it was not available in 2008.

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If line six was in the form it is reconstructed, the ongana character 留 /ru/ was probably carved with its variant 㽞, like in the rest of the text of the Bussokuseki-no uta. Line six is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with eight syllables instead of seven, but this might be a graphic illusion since mo ar- could have been pronounced as [mar-]. See the commentary to bs 2 on this specific contraction.

bs 13 本文 · Original Text (1) 乎遅奈伎夜 (2) 和礼尓於止礼留 (3) 比止乎於保美 (4) 和多佐牟多米 止 (5) 宇都志麻都礼利 (6) 都加閇麻都礼利 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) をぢなき₁や (2) われにおと₂れる (3) ひ₁と₂をおほみ₁ (4) わたさむため₂ と₂ (5) うつしまつれり (6) つかへ₂まつれり

Romanization (1) woⁿdina-ki ya (2) ware-ni otǝr-er-u (3) pitǝ-wo opo-mi (4) watas-am-u tamɛ tǝ (5) utus-i-matur-er-i (6) tukapɛ-matur-er-i Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) be.infirm-attr ep (2) i-dat be.inferior-prog-attr (3) person-abs be. many-ger (4) take.across-tent-attr for cop (5) copy-conv-hum-prog-fin (6) serve(conv)-hum-prog-fin Translation (3) Because there are many people (2) who are inferior to me, (1) who is infirm [in my devotion], (4) in order to take [them] across (5) [I] have copied [the footprints]. (6) [I] have served [for this work]. Commentary Miller mistranslated this poem, but supplied his readers with several pages of imagined connections with the Man’yōshū poetry, which is not even worth discussing any further. So, Miller’s ‘translation’ (1975: 131) runs as follows: ₃ Since there are many ₁,₂ who are more infirm ₁,₂ than aging I,

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₄ so that may be saved ₅ I have copied [the footprints] for them: ₆ I have made the journey for them! Thus, Miller misunderstood and consequently mistranslated woj woⁿdina‘to be infirm’ as ‘to age’ and woj otǝr- ‘to be inferior’ as ‘to be infirm’, and woj tukapɛ- ‘to serve’, ‘to be obedient to’ as ‘to make the journey’. The word pitǝ ‘person’ completely disappeared from line three, probably going to the Great Void. The tentative form watas-am- on line four cannot be treated as ‘may be saved’ either, because a tentative has never a function of a potential. Miller further demonstrated his excellent knowledge of Old Japanese and its grammar, misanalysing adjectival attributive woⁿdina-ki as a converb woⁿdinaki of a non-existent verb *woⁿdinak- (1975: 132). But enough of Miller and his fantasies, as we have to deal with some other issues in this poem that really deserve at least some attention. Unlike the previous poem bs 12, bs 13 survived intact and without any damage, except that the right bottom corner of the character 礼 re on line six has disappeared, see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, and 29 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. oj ya on line one is an emphatic particle, not an interrogative particle. oj ware on line two is a collective ‘I’, on which see the commentary to bs 3. Namely, in this case it is not only ‘I’, but also other people like me who are infirm in their devotion or faith. Cf. also the same usage in bs 8. The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line two is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 19 and 20 in the Appendix. Line three is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five, but this might be a graphic illusion since pitǝ-wo opo-mi could have been pronounced as [pitǝwopomi]. oj case marker -wo in pitǝ-wo opo-mi ‘because there are many people’ on line three is an absolutive marker that sometimes marks subjects of inactive verbs (Vovin 2020a.1: 172–174). On the Buddhist concepts of crossing over or taking someone from this shore (sigan, 此岸) of the repeating circle of life, death and ignorance to that shore (higan, 彼岸) of the Enlightenment expressed by oj watas- on line four, see the commentary to bs 4. There is no functional difference between woj tamɛ n-i and tamɛ tǝ ‘for’ on line four, ‘in order to’, but the latter form is quite rare. For example, it appears in the Man’yōshū only seven times, with three examples (almost a half of all cases) concentrated in book seven. Both tamɛ n-i and tamɛ tǝ consist of pseudo-

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postposition tamɛ and a copula. The difference appears to be largely etymological: while n- is a native Japanese copula, tǝ appears to be an early loan from some variety of Old Korean prior to *-t- > -r- lenition in the copula ir- (Vovin 2009: 546–547; Vovin 2020a.2: 491–492). woj utus- ‘to copy’ on line five certainly refers to copying of Buddha’s footprints onto a rock. Cf. bs 8. oj matur- on lines five and six is a humble auxiliary verb that we have previously seen in bs 9. It can also be used independently as a humble verb meaning ‘to present (to a superior)’ (Vovin 2009: 1032–1036; Vovin 2020a.2: 929– 933). Line six is carved in smaller size characters, but unlike many other preceding poems it is placed directly under line five. See the Photograph 28 in the Appendix.

bs 14 本文 · Original Text (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 由伎米具利 (4) 宇夜麻比麻 都利 (5) 和我与波乎閇牟 (6) 己乃与波乎閇牟 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) さかの₂み₁あと₂ (2) いはにうつしおき₁ (3) ゆき₁め₂ぐり (4) うやまひ₁まつ り (5) わがよ₂はをへ₂む (6) こ₂の₂よ₂はをへ₂む

Romanization (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) yuk-i-mɛŋgur-i (4) uyamap-i-matur-i (5) wa-ŋga yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (6) kǝnǝ yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-place-conv (3) go-conv-go.around-conv (4) worship-conv-hum-conv (5) i-poss life top end-tent-fin (6) this life top end-tent-fin Translation (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of Śākya[muni], and (5) [I] want to end my life, (6) [I] want to end this life (3) circumambulating and (4) worshipping [them].

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Commentary bs 14 survived intact like bs 13 without any damage, see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, and 29 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. Line one is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. On Saka, ‘Śākya[muni]’ on line one see the commentary to bs 9. On woj utus- ‘to copy’ on line two see the commentary to bs 13 and bs 8. woj ok- ‘to place’, ‘to put’ on line two may be used as an auxiliary verb meaning that an action of the main verb is designed for the future use, exactly like in Modern Japanese. A circumambulation mentioned on line three is an act of worship, the fact being confirmed by the verb uyamap- ‘to worship’ on the following line four. The circumambulation in modern Japanese Buddhist temples is usually done clockwise, and this appears to be a historically correct one, at least in Mahāyāna, because the Tibetan Buddhist tradition also maintains the same direction. Meanwhile, I have personally observed both clockwise and counterclockwise circumambulations in different temples in China and Korea. On lines five and six the author speaks of his desire to end his life while worshipping the footprints of the Buddha Śākyamuni, and he is not asking for a permission to bring the apocalypse to this world, as it would follow from Miller’s mistranslation of these lines (1975: 135): ₅ Let me end my world: ₆ Let me end this world! This is followed by Miller’s usual verbal overflow on two large size pages each divided into two columns, from which one learns nothing significant, as has been so far the pattern throughout Miller 1975. Line six is carved in smaller size characters, but only first two characters 己 乃 rendering kǝnǝ ‘this’ are slightly tilted to the right, and the rest of the line is placed directly under line five. See the Photograph 28 in the Appendix.

bs 15 本文 · Original Text (1) 久湏理師波 (2) 都祢乃母阿礼等 (3) 麻良比止乃 (4) 伊麻乃久湏理師 (5) 多布止可理家利 (6) 米太志加利鶏利

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) くすりしは (2) つねの₂も₂あれど₂ (3) まらひ₁と₂の₂ (4) いまの₂くすりし (5) たふと₂かりけ₁り (6) め₂だしかりけ₁り

Romanization (1) kusuri si21 pa (2) tune n-ǝ mǝ ar-e-ⁿdǝ (3) marapitǝ n-ǝ (4) ima-nǝ kusuri si (5) taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i (6) mɛⁿdasi-k-ar-i-ker-i Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) medicine master top (2) usual cop-attr fp exist-ev-conc (3) guest copattr (4) now-gen medicine master (5) be.awesome-conv-exist-conv-retrfin (6) be.praiseworthy-conv-exist-conv-retr-fin Translation (2) Although there are usual (1) medicine masters, too, (5) it turned out that [He] is awesome, (4) the present medicine master, (3) who is a guest, (6) it turned out that [He] is praiseworthy. Commentary bs 15 survived intact without any damage like bs 13 and bs 14, see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 28, and 29 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. This is the second poem (another one is bs 10) in the Bussokuseki-no uta poetic sequence that has no hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) lines. Quite unusually, although the script used in the Bussokuseki-no uta, in most cases uses just one phonogram for a given syllable, we can see two new phonograms 家 and 鶏 for the syllable /ke/ that is normally carved with the character 祁. The character 師 ‘master’ in the word combination 久湏理師 kusuri si ‘medicine master’ on lines one and four can be probably treated as the case of a quasi-phonographic writing, because the character itself means ‘master’, while it is also used as a phonogram for the syllable /si/. Note also that in the text of the Bussokuseki-no uta the character appears as a phonogram for the syllable /si/ only in 久湏理師 kusuri si. In all other cases the syllable /si/ is written with the character 志 ‘intention’, as in 米太志 mɛⁿdasi ‘to be praiseworthy’ on line six.

21

I use italicized capital letters to indicate quasi-phonographic readings.

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Most likely, woj 久湏理師 kusuri si ‘medicine master’ is a calque of Yakushi (藥師) Buddha on whom I would like the reader to see the commentary to bs 5, since kun’yomi for the character 藥 ( yaku, emc yak) ‘medicine’ is kusuri, also because Buddha Yakushi is venerated as the Healer. On line two we have a rare case of the etymologically correct spelling for the focus particle mǝ as 母. woj marapitǝ ‘guest’ on line three is usually etymologized as a combination of the unextended stem mara- of the uninflected adjective mare ‘rare’ (< *maray) and pitǝ ‘person’ (Omodaka et al. 1967: 692). The semantic shift from ‘rare person’ to ‘guest’ is certainly possible, but there is one difficulty: there is no evidence for mara- being the unextended stem of mare, as it is not attested anywhere in Old Japanese except in marapitǝ ‘guest’. As usual, Miller is bashing Japanese scholars for spelling line five 多布止可 理家利 taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘it turned out that [He] is awesome’ with the character 止 tǝ, and is bragging about his own ‘inspection’ of the stone. Miller goes on telling his readers that the character 止 is re-carved on the damaged part of the inscription (1975: 137–138). The problem is that there is neither damaged part in this place, nor re-carving, like there was no ‘personal inspection’ by Miller. The character 止 is carved over an uneven surface of the stone, see the Photographs 19, 20, 21, and 22 in the Appendix. The fluctuation between 多布刀 taputo- and 多布止 taputǝ- is caused by the merger between /o/ and /ǝ/ after /t/ in the Nara dialect of Western Old Japanese circa 770ad, see also the commentary to bs 1. -k-ar- part of taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘it turned out that [He] is awesome’ and mɛⁿdasi-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘it turned out that [He] is praiseworthy’ on lines five and six represents a contraction of the adjectival converb -ku and the verb ar- ‘to exist’, which is also attested in its uncontracted form -ku ar- once in bs 18 below. In bs 20 we find another example of the contracted form -k-ar-. woj mɛⁿdasi ‘to be lovable’, ‘to be praiseworthy’ on line six is an inflected adjective derived from the verb mɛⁿde- ‘to love’ with the deverbal adjectivizer -asi. Line six is carved in smaller size characters and is placed slightly to the right under line five. See the Photograph 28 in the Appendix.

bs 16 本文 · Original Text (1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 麻婆利麻都礼婆 (3) 阿止奴志乃 (4) 多麻乃与曾保 比 (5) 於母保由留可母 (6) 美留期止毛阿留可

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) こ₂の₂み₁あと₂を (2) まはりまつれば (3) あと₂ぬしの₂ (4) たまの₂よ₂そ₂ ほひ₁ (5) おも₂ほゆるかも₂ (6) み₁るご₂と₂も₁あるか

Romanization (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) mapar-i-matur-e-mba (3) atǝ nusi-nǝ (4) tama-nǝ yǝsǝpopi (5) omǝp-oy-uru kamǝ (6) mi-ru ŋgǝtǝ mo ar-u ka Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) go.around-conv-hum-ev-con (3) footprint master-gen (4) jewel-comp adorned.appearance (5) think-pass-attr ep (6) see-attr like fp exist-attr ep

Translation (2) When [I] circumambulate (1) these honorable footprints (5) [I] suddenly think about (4) the jewel-like precious appearance (3) of the footprints’ Owner! (6) [It] is like [I] see [Him]! Commentary bs 16 survived practically intact without any damage like bs 13, bs 14, and bs 15 see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. The only slight damage is that the character 乃 on line three has lost its 丿 part on the left. See the Photographs 20 and 21 in the Appendix. Line one is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. The second syllable /pa/ in oj mapar-i (麻婆利) ‘go.around-conv’ on line two is written with the character 婆 /mba/, which has a prenasalized voiced initial consonant [mb], due to the lack of a consistent differentiation between voiceless and prenasalized voiced initials in the man’yōgana type A, see also the commentaries to bs 3 and bs 4. Miller missed his chance to find another dialect feature behind 婆 /mba/ this time, and surprisingly this time reads it correctly as /pa/ (Miller’s /Fa/—A.V.), but managed to make a mistake with the next 婆 /mba/ on the same line, which he against all evidence to the contrary also reads as /pa/ (1975: 145). Yet such a reading is plainly impossible, because we know both from the Old Japanese philology and comparative Japonic linguistics that the conjunctive converb marker could be only -mba, but not -pa. Thus, e.g., in the man’yōgana type B, which has a consistent differentiation between initial voiceless and prenasalized voiced consonants, we find -mba spelled with 磨 or 麼 /mba/: tatakap-ɛ-mba (多多介陪磨)22 ‘fight-ev-con’ (nk 12), imas-e-mba 22

The reader should keep in mind that the man’yōgana type B is based directly on Late Mid-

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(伊麻西麼) ‘exist(hon)-ev-con’ (nk 75), tat-as-e-mba (陁陁西麼) ‘rise-honev-con’ (nk 75), yuk-ɛ-mba (愈凱磨) ‘go-ev-con’ (nk 83), etc. There are also plenty of attestations of -ba form, which is a reflex of *-mba, in both Northern and Southern Ryukyuan languages as painstakingly documented by Nakamoto (1990: 503, 543) that includes many references to the previous literature on description of the Ryukyuan languages. These works should have been available to Miller at the time of writing of his book on Buddha’s footprints poems. However, Miller throughout his long academic career was never interested in real philological and linguistic facts, but opted instead for creating attractive theories that were completely ad hoc and served the only purpose to obscure these simple but much more prosaic facts. In this particular case Miller provided the following explanation: “The usual ‘reading’ with -ba would mean that the same phonogram is used twice in the same line with a different phonetic value each time, first for -Fa-, then a few syllables after for -ba” (1975: 147). With a statement like that, Miller managed to achieve only one purpose, namely to demonstrate his ignorance of the fact that all early syllabic writing systems tend to be polyphonic, where one and the same syllable may be rendered by different signs, and one and the same written sign may be used for different phonetic values. As for the same line, the notion of the line is a relative one, because the only obvious division between the lines on the stele is the division between line five and line six indicated as a rule by both the different size and position. On the other hand, lines from one to five are carved on the stone as one single line. Finally, although the phonographic script of the Bussokuseki-no uta similarly to the one used by Opo-nǝ Yasumarǝ in the Kojiki kayō represents an attempt to move away from the polyphonic principle and establish just one sign for each syllable, there are still vestiges of polyphony: thus, e.g., the character 等 is used to write both a syllable /tǝ/ (bs 2) and a syllable /ⁿdǝ/ (bs 15). The syllable /ke/ is usually carved with the character 祁, but the characters 家 and 鶏 are also used (bs 15). The character 曾 may stand for both /sǝ/ and /ⁿzǝ/ (both in the bs 17), and the syllable /ⁿzǝ/ can be also rendered by the character 叙 (also in bs 17). The syllable /ki/ is spelled mostly with the character 伎, but in three cases the character 岐 is used (once in bs 6, and twice in bs 20). The genitive case marker -nǝ is usually written with the character 乃, but in two cases it is carved with the character 能 (bs 11, bs 18). See more examples in the Chart 1 Man’yōgana signs. woj yǝsǝpopi on line four, contrary to Miller, does not mean ‘embellishments’ (1975: 145), but rather ‘adorned appearance’ or ‘clothing’ (Omodaka et dle Chinese readings of the Cháng’ān (長安) dialect, where the partial denasalization of emc initial nasals took place, namely, emc m-, n-, ń-, ŋ- > lmc mb-, ⁿd-, ńź-, ŋg-, in this case emc maC (磨) > lmc mbwaC.

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al. 1967: 798). Here it is clearly the first meaning, which is further supported by the comparison of this appearance with a jewel (Yamakawa 1827: 9a), (Tsuchihashi 1957: 244). Indeed, it is rather difficult to imagine a robe of a monk to be an ‘embellishment’. Historically woj yǝsǝpopi is a nominalization of the iterative form of the verb yǝsǝp- ‘to put on clothing’, ‘to wear’: yǝsǝp-op-i < *yǝsǝp-ap-i. Both the iterative -op- on line four and passive -oy- on line five are assimilations from -ap- and -aye- ~ -ay- respectively: yǝsǝp-op-i < *yǝsǝp-ǝp- < *yǝsǝpap- and omǝp-oy- < *ǝmǝp-ǝy- < *ǝmǝp-ay-. The allomorphs -uru and -ru of the attributive verbal suffix -u appear in our text for the first time on lines four and five respectively. Miller turns line five into a general question in his translation (1975: 145), but since emphatic particle kamǝ does not introduce questions23 except an embedded one in a construction ‘I wonder whether …’, it is not an interrogative, but an exclamative sentence here. Emphatic particles kamǝ on line five and ka on line six are the variants of the same particle. Generally, in Western Old Japanese texts (but not in the Bussokuseki-no uta) the first one is more frequent, but the second one is more archaic, because kamǝ is likely to be a combination of emphatic particles ka and mǝ. Note that in Classical (Middle) Japanese both ka and kamǝ were replaced by kana,24 which survived well into Modern Japanese. The ongana character 留 /ru/ on lines five and six is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 20, 21, 22, 27, and 28 in the Appendix. Line six is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with eight syllables instead of seven, but this might be a graphic illusion since mo ar- could have been pronounced as [mar-]. See the commentary to bs 2 on this specific contraction. Line six is carved in smaller size characters and is placed slightly to the right under line five. See the Photographs 21, 22, 27, and 28 in the Appendix.

bs 17 本文 · Original Text

(1) 於保美阿止乎 (2) 美尓久留比止乃 (3) 伊尓志加多 (4) 知与乃都美佐 閇 (5) 保呂夫止曾伊布 (6) 乃曾久止叙伎久

23

24

As I already noted above in the commentary to bs 5 even interrogative particle ka (which is just homophonous to the emphatic particle ka) for the most part introduces wh-questions, but not general questions. Kana is also historically a combination of emphatic particles ka and na.

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) おほみ₁あと₂を (2) み₁にくるひ₁と₂の₂ (3) いにしかた (4) ちよ₂の₂つみ₁ さへ₂ (5) ほろ₂ぶと₂そ₂いふ (6) の₂ぞ₂くと₂ぞ₂き₁く

Romanization (1) opomi-atǝ-wo (2) mi-ni k-uru pitǝ-nǝ (3) in-i-si kata (4) ti yǝ-nǝ tumi sapɛ (5) porǝmb-u tǝ sǝ ip-u (6) nǝⁿzǝk-u tǝ ⁿzǝ kik-u Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) hon-footprint-acc (2) see(nml)-loc come-attr person-gen (3) go-convpast.attr side (4) thousand life-gen sin rp (5) perish-fin dv fp say-attr (6) take.away-fin dv fp hear-attr

Translation (5) [They] say that (4) even the sins of one thousand lives (3) in the past (2) of a person who comes to see (1) the honorable footprints (5) will disappear. (6) [I] hear that [the veneration of these footprints] will take [those sins] away. Commentary bs 17 survived practically intact without any damage like bs 13, bs 14, bs 15, and bs 16; see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, and 28 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. The only slight damages are that the character 呂 /rǝ/ on line five has lost its top part 口 and the character 夫 on the same line /mbu/ lost the right stroke in its bottom element 𠆢. See the Photograph 27 in the Appendix. Line one is hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) with six syllables instead of five. woj opomi- on line one is a rare honorific prefix in Western Old Japanese, consisting of the grammaticalized uninflected adjective opo ‘big’, ‘great’ and an honorific prefix mi-. The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line two is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photographs 18, 19, and 20 in the Appendix. Its top part is slightly damaged, but still quite legible. Miller for the reasons unknown believes that it is Buddha who will take away the sins (1975: 151). But Buddha is not overtly mentioned in this poem, so most likely it is veneration of Buddha’s footprints that will take away the sins. woj nǝⁿzǝk- ‘to take away’ is a transitive verb, but there is an opinion that it also may be an intransitive (Omodaka et al. 1967: 565). Due to his ignorance of the man’yōgana type A writing conventions, Miller also manages to invent a non-existing woj verb nǝsǝk- ‘to take away’ (1975: 148, 151) on line six, further claiming that this verb is attested as nozok- only in Mod-

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ern Japanese. While phonographically spelled woj 乃曾久 /nǝⁿzǝk-u/ ‘will take away’ is a hapax legomenon attested only in bs 17, I am afraid I have bad news for Miller, since the verb in question is also attested in Middle Japanese as . ノ .. . ゾ ク with the accentual marking low-low(voiced)-high (Mochizuki 1974: 416) that can only reflect nòzòkú, but not the non-existent *nòsòkú. Line six is carved in smaller size characters and is placed slightly to the right under line five. See the Photographs 27 and 28 in the Appendix.

Preface to bs 18–21 本文 · Original Text

呵嘖生 死 Translation Blaming [the cycle of] birth [and] death Commentary Like the preface to bs 1–17, this preface does not look like the prefaces in the Man’yōshū, or other poetic anthologies. First, it is not placed to the right of the first poem, in this case bs 18. Second, the location is quite odd, because the first line is placed above the poem bs 18, and the second one above the poem bs 20, leaving the huge gap between them (see the Photograph 31 in the Appendix). Modern editions, such as Tsuchihashi (1957) and Takeuchi (1962) do not reflect these peculiarities, placing both lines before bs 18, and making them one line (Tsuchihashi 1957: 245; Takeuchi 1962b: 975), nor do they mention these peculiarities. Moreover, while Tsuchihasi leaves a gap in a wrong place between 呵嘖 ‘to blame’ and 生死 ‘birth and death’, Takeuchi does not. In addition, Takeuchi erroneously places the whole preface before bs 12, which is completely unwarranted by the original text as found on the stele (see the Photographs 15, 16, 17, and 31 in the Appendix). Shōji ‘birth and death’ (生死, emc ṣɐŋ siB) is a Buddhist term that is also used for the notion of the cycle of birth and death (Sk. Saṃsāra ‘the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth’), which is defined by one’s karma. The main goal of Buddhism is to break this cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The liberation from it leads to the attainment of the Nirvana. The woj calque of this term is iki-ⁿzini, attested in mys 16.3849, a poem with an apparent Buddhist background.

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bs 18 本文 · Original Text (1) 比止乃微波 (2) 衣賀多久阿礼婆 (3) 乃利乃多能 (4) 与湏加止奈礼利 (5) 都止米毛呂毛呂 (6) 湏々賣毛呂母呂 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) ひ₁と₂の₂み₂は (2) え₁がたくあれば (3) の₂りの₂たの₂ (4) よ₂すかと₂なれ り (5) つと₂め₂も₁ろ₂も₁ろ₂ (6) すすめ₁も₁ろ₂も₂ろ₂

Romanization (1) pitǝ-nǝ mï pa (2) e-ŋ-gata-ku ar-e-mba (3) nǝri-nǝ ta-nǝ (4) yǝsuka tǝ nar-er-i (5) tutǝmɛ morǝ-morǝ (6) susum-e morǝ-mǝrǝ Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) person-gen body top (2) obtain(nml)-gen be.difficult-conv exist-ev-con (3) Law-gen for-gen (4) cause.condition cop become-prog-fin (5) strive (imp) all-all (6) advance-imp all-all Translation (2) Because [it] is difficult to obtain (1) a human body, (4) [the rebirth] is conditioned (3) by the Law. (5) Strive, everybody! (6) Advance, everybody! Commentary bs 18 survived intact without any damage like bs 13, bs 14, bs 15, bs 16, and bs 17; see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. The are no damages that would impede a recognition of any characters. This is the third poem (other two are bs 10 and bs 15) in the Bussokuseki-no uta poetic sequence that has no hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) lines. oj -ŋ-gata- on line two is an auxiliary verb meaning ‘to be hard’ or ‘to be difficult’ to do an action expressed by the main lexical verb (Vovin 2020a.2: 990–991). Note that -ku ar- ‘-conv exist’ on line two is an uncontracted form, which also has the contracted form -k-ar- attested in bs 15 and bs 20. woj ta ‘for’ on line three is a variant of tamɛ ‘id.’ Besides the Bussokusekino uta oj ta ‘for’ is also attested in mys 5.808 and sm 13. Some scholars see it in mys 14.3431 as well, but it is located in a part of this poem, very difficult to analyze. Personally, I have an alternative analysis for this part of mys 14.3431, which does not involve ta ‘for’ (Vovin 2012: 121–122).

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woj yǝsuka (因縁) ‘cause and condition’25 on line four refers to the Buddhist notion of the cause and condition of the birth, death, and rebirh cycle. Etymologically this word probably consists of the attributive form yǝs-u of the verb yǝs- ‘to make approach’ and ka ‘place’ (Omodaka et al. 1967: 797). MdJ yosuga ‘means’, ‘help’ continued the phonetic development of woj yǝsuka (因 縁) ‘cause and condition’, but underwent semantic change. Miller translates this word as ‘refuge’ and suggests to analyze ta-nǝ yǝsuka on lines three and four as ‘refuge of the hand’ (1975: 155, 158) (sic!—A.V.). Thanks to Miller we know now that the Buddhist Law has hands. May be feet, too. woj tǝ nar- ‘cop become-’ on line four is an equivalent of much more frequent oj n-i nar- ‘cop-conv become-’, the only difference between the two being the copula tǝ, borrowed from Old Korean and native Japanese copula n(see also the commentary to bs 13). There is no need to view woj tǝ nar- ‘cop become-’ as “Sinicism”, as Miller does, without providing any linguistic Chinese parallel (1975: 156). The spelling tutǝmɛ- ‘to strive’ rather than tutomɛ- on line five is another piece of evidence for the merger of /ǝ/ and /o/ after /t/ around 750 ad, see also the commentaries to bs 1 and bs 15. The verb form like tutǝmɛ- ‘strive(imp)’ demonstrates in Western Old Japanese the root of vowel and vowel irregular verbs can be used as an imperative form. The following -yǝ is not obligatory as in Middle (Classical) Japanese (Shirafuji 1987: 140; Vovin 2009: 655–657; Vovin 2020a.2: 590–595). Note that out of four cases of mǝrǝ ‘all’ only the last one on line six is spelled etymologically correctly as 母呂. There is no need to view morǝ-mǝrǝ ‘all’ following the imperative verbal forms tutǝmɛ ‘strive(imp)’ susum-e ‘advance-imp’ as “un-Japanese” and Sinitic construction as Kobayashi (1967: 377–378) and Miller (1975: 156) do. As a matter of fact, placing the addressee of an imperative form after this form is the most frequent oj imperative construction that is attested in oj poetry:26 岐許志母知袁勢麻呂賀知 (kk script) 枳居之茂知塢勢摩呂餓智 (nk script)

kikǝs-i-mǝt-i-wos-e marǝ-ŋga ti drink(hon)-conv-hold-conv-hon-imp i-poss father Deign to drink [it], my father (kk 48, nk 39) 25 26

Omodaka et al. translate it as ‘place/thing to rely’, ‘connection’, ‘relation’ (1967: 797). In the Western Old Japanese prose such as the Senmyō, the addressee of an imperative is normally placed before the imperative. The examples from mys 14.3999 and mys 14.3445 are from Eastern Old Japanese.

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Yamasirǝ-ni i-sik-e Tǝriyama Yamasirǝ-loc dlf-follow-imp Tǝriyama To Yamasirǝ—go there, Tǝriyama! (kk 59) 柳之蘰為吾妹

yanaŋgï-nə kaⁿdura se wa-ŋg-imo willow-gen laurel do(imp) i-poss-beloved put on the willow laurel, my beloved (mys 10.1924) 事計吉為吾兄子相有時谷

kətə pakar-i yə-ku se wa-ŋga se-ko ap-er-u təki ⁿdani thing plan-nml good-conv do(imp) i-poss beloved-dim meet-progattr time rp just [at] the time when [we] meet, do the planning well, my beloved (mys 12.2949) 久都波氣和我世

kutu pak-ɛ wa-ŋga se shoe put.on-imp i-poss beloved Put on [your] shoes, my beloved (mys 14.3399) 多麻古須氣可利己和我西古

tama ko-suŋgɛ kar-i kǝ wa-ŋga se-ko jewel dim-sedge cut-conv come(imp) i-poss beloved-dim cut the jewel[-like] little sedge and come, my beloved (mys 14.3445) 和須礼我比与世伎弖於家礼於伎都之良奈美

wasure-ŋ-gapi yǝse-k-i-te ok-er-e oki-tu sira nami forget(nml)-gen-shell bring(conv)-come-conv-sub put-prog-imp offing-gen/loc white wave bring [to me] white waves of the offing, the shell of forgetfulness (mys 15.3629) 之呂多倍能安我之多其呂母宇思奈波受毛弖礼和我世故

sirǝ tapɛ-nǝ a-ŋga sita-ŋ-gǝrǝmǝ usinap-aⁿz-u mot-er-e wa-ŋga se-ko white mulberry.tree.bark.cloth-gen i-poss bottom-gen-garment loseneg-conv carry-prog-imp i-poss beloved-dim My beloved, carry [with you] my undergarment from white mulberry tree bark cloth without losing [it] (mys 15.3751)

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伊波敞和我勢古多太爾安布末低爾

ipap-e wa-ŋga se-ko taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni pray-imp i-poss beloved-dim direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc pray, my beloved, until [we] meet directly (mys 15.3778) 伊波敞神多智

ipap-e kamï-tati protect-imp deity-plur protect [him], oh deities! (mys 19.4240) In contrast, addressee preceding an imperative verbal form is used much less frequently. It is attested only three times in two examples, all of them in Western Old Japanese: 多比良氣久於夜波伊麻佐祢都々美奈久都麻波麻多世

tapirakɛ-ku oya pa imas-an-e tutumi na-ku tuma pa mat-as-e safe-conv parents top exist(hon)-des-imp obstacle no-conv spouse top wait-hon-imp Parents, please live safely! Wife, please wait [for me] without obstacles! (mys 20.4408) 波都由伎波知敞爾布里之家

patu yuki pa ti-pe n-i pur-i-sik-e first snow top thousand-cl cop-conv fall-conv-cover-imp First snow, fall in a thousand layers! (mys 20.4475) It is also noteworthy that in these two examples of an addressee preceding an imperative verbal form, the addressee is always topicalized with the topic particle pa. See also the commentary to bs 1. Line six is carved in smaller size characters and is placed slightly to the right under line five. See the Photographs 27 and 28 in the Appendix.

bs 19 本文 · Original Text (1) 与都乃閇美 (2) 伊都々乃毛乃々 (3) 阿都麻礼流 (4) 伎多奈伎微乎婆 (5) 伊止比湏都閇志 (6) 波奈礼湏都倍志

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仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) よ₂つの₂へ₂み₁ (2) いつつの₂も₁の₂の₂ (3) あつまれる (4) き₁たなき₁み₂を ば (5) いと₂ひ₁すつべ₂し (6) はなれすつべ₂し

Romanization (1) yǝ-tu n-ǝ pɛmi (2) itu-tu n-ǝ monǝ-nǝ (3) atumar-er-u (4) kitana-ki mïwomba (5) itǝp-i sut-umbɛ-si (6) panare sut-umbɛ-si Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) four-cl cop-attr snake (2) five-cl cop-attr demon-gen (3) gather-progattr (4) be.dirty-attr body-acc(emph) (5) loathe-conv discard-deb-fin (6) get.away(conv) discard-deb-fin

Translation (5) [I] loathe and must discard (4) [my] dirty body (1) where four snakes (2) [and] five demons (3) are gathering. (6) [I] must get away [from it] and discard [it]. Commentary bs 19 survived intact without any significant damage like bs 13, bs 14, bs 15, bs 16, bs 17, and bs 18; see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 and 27 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. There are no damages that would impede a recognition of any characters, in spite of Miller’s claim that 都々 [tutu] in 伊都々 ‘five’ on line two and 多 [ta] in 伎多奈伎 ‘dirty’ on line four have to be restored as indicated by his usage of square brackets […] (1975: 160). However, the real (and not imaginable) perusal of the text on the stele reveals that 都 in 都々 is absolutely intact, while 々 is slightly damaged, and 多 [ta] in 伎多奈伎 is only slightly eroded. Nevertheless, all three characters are perfectly legible. See the Photograph 19 in the Appendix. This is the fourth poem (other three are bs 10, bs 15, and bs 18) in the Bussokuseki-no uta poetic sequence that has no hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余 り) lines. The main point that is stressed in this poem is the Buddhist idea that the human flesh is impure (Tsuchihashi 1957: 245). The breaking away from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, which is the general topic for the poems bs 18– bs 21, certainly involves the liberation from one’s own physical form, or the body. Miller is at a loss how to reconcile woj pɛmi ‘snake’ on line one with oj mï ‘id.’ (as a ‘snake’ in the Twelve branches (十二支) animal cycle (1975: 163)). But no “reconciliation” is necessary, because while woj mï ‘snake’ appears to be a native Japanese word, woj pɛmi < *paymi is a loan from Korean, cf. mk pʌ́yyàm

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‘snake’ plus mk diminutive suffix -i. And basically all Miller’s comments on bs 19 are on the same level of scholarship, if not worse. For example, he claims that a title of the section in the Chinese Yìjīng (易經) ‘Book of Changes’ is “a rather free version of its Buddhist Sanskrit original” (1975: 161). How this might be possible, since the Yìjīng was compiled in ninth or eighth centuries bc, at least two centuries prior to Buddha’s birth, and more than one thousand years before any known Buddhist text? But, certainly, only Miller knows the ultimate truth … bs 19 provides us with two more numerals: woj yǝ ‘four’ and itu ‘five’ on lines one and two respectively. The suffix -tu is a classifier used for counting inanimate things, while humans are counted with -ri,27 and deities with -pasira ‘pillar’. Consequently, woj words pɛmi ‘snake’ and mǝnǝ ‘demon’ are inanimate nouns. Incidentally, woj mǝnǝ ‘thing’, which is used for ‘demon’ here is, in all likelihood, a euphemism. This is the only phonographic example of woj mǝnǝ ‘demon’ in Western Old Japanese, but the character 鬼 ‘demon’ is also used as a kungana for mǝnǝ in mys 4.547, mys 4.664, mys 7.1350, mys 7.1402, mys 11.2578, mys 11.2694, mys 11.2717, mys 11.2765, mys 11.2780, mys 12.2947, and mys 12.2989. On line four the character 流 is uniquely used for the syllable /ru/, in all other cases we have the character 留 for /ru/. The case marker -womba on line four is the emphatic accusative case. Unlike case marker -wo it never has a function of an absolutive case. The debitive suffix -umbɛ- on lines five and six is a grammaticalization of woj adverb umbɛ ‘really’, ‘indeed’, ‘necessarily’ and a subsequent adjectivization before the incorporation into a verbal paradigm. Line six is carved in smaller size characters and is placed slightly to the right under line five. See the Photograph 27 in the Appendix.

bs 20 本文 · Original Text

(1) 伊加豆知乃 (2) 比加利乃期止岐 (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (6) 於豆閇可良受夜 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration (1) いかづちの₂ (2) ひ₁かりの₂ご₂と₂き₁ (3) こ₂れの₂み₂は (4) しにの₂おほき₁ み₁ (5) つねにたぐへ₁り (6) おづべ₂からずや

27

Possibly a truncation of ari ‘being’, a nominalization ar-i of the verb ar- ‘to exist’.

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Romanization (1) ikaⁿduti-nǝ (2) pikari-nǝ ŋgǝtǝ-ki (3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (6) oⁿd-umbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ya Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) thunder-gen (2) lightning-gen be.like-attr (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (6) be.afraiddeb-conv-exist-neg-fin ip

Translation (1/2) Like a thunder [that follows] a lightning (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death. (6) Should [I] not be afraid? [—Certainly, I should!] Commentary bs 20 survived intact without any damage like bs 13, bs 14, bs 15, bs 16, bs 17, and bs 18; see the Photographs 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 and 27 in the Appendix for different fragments of this poem. This is the fifth poem (other four are bs 10, bs 15, bs 18, and bs 19) in the Bussokuseki-no uta poetic sequence that has no hypermetric ( ji amari, 字余り) lines. Miller graciously informs us that this poem has textual associations with the tenth and eleventh vows of Buddha Yakushi (1975: 164), which are: (10) to save all beings from the dangers of torture and harm by evil rulers, bandits, etc., (11) to assuage their hunger and thirst, see also the commentary to bs 5 above. One has, however, to have a boundless imagination to see any textual connection at all between bs 20 and these two vows. Lines one and two (1) ikaⁿduti-nǝ (2) pikari-nǝ ŋgǝtǝ-ki literally mean ‘like the lightning of the thunder’, but here I agree with Miller (1975: 164) that inserting ‘to follow’ into the translation makes the English text smoother. We have one case of graphic variation in bs 20. While in all other poems except bs 6 the syllable /ki/ is rendered by the character 伎, in this poem the character 岐 is used for the same syllable on both lines two and four like in bs 6. Both characters share the same phonetic element 支, which has a highly interesting history. emc value of 支 is tśje, which is reflected by its Sino-Japanese reading si and Sino-Korean reading ci. The velar value of the initial can only reflect lhc reading kie. But the borrowing of phonetically used characters directly from Late Han Chinese into Japanese would be highly improbable. We should not forget, however, that the writing system used in the Bussokusekino uta is the man’yōgana type A, which does not use the Chinese character readings directly, but is based on a Korean intermediary. As expected, the char-

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acter 支 is used in the Old Korean hyangchal (郷札) writing for the syllable /ke/. There are also grounds to suspect that the character 支 was used in the Paekche (百濟) system of writing for the same syllable. However, almost twenty years ago Bentley published an article on the connection of the man’yōgana with writing systems adopted in various states on the Korean peninsula, although the character 支 not being present in the Paekche writing (2001: 67) probably due to the limited materials he used, basically relying on Paekche words found exclusively in the Chinese chronicle Wei zhi (魏志, ca. 280–290 ad). In any case, the presence of the character 支 in the Old Korean hyangchal (郷札) writing is sufficient for our purposes. The discrepancy of the usage of this graph for ke in Korea and ki in Japan is easily explained by the e > i raising that took place in the Japanese language history sometimes before the end of the sixth century ad. On woj kǝre n-ǝ ‘this cop-attr’ instead of kǝnǝ see the commentary to bs 10 above. On the contracted adjectival form -k-ar- ‘-conv exist-’ on line six see the commentary to bs 15 above. oj opo kimi ‘Great Lord’ is usually used as a reference to an Emperor. It is certainly not a reference to a Prince or a King (王). Meanwhile, Yánwáng or Yánluówáng (閻王 or 閻羅王, emc jiäm wang or jiäm lâ wang28) who is believed by Miller to be the sin-i-nǝ opo kimi ‘Great Lord of Death’ (1975: 164–165) on line four is certainly the King of Hell, not the Emperor of Hell. Yánwáng presides over ten layers of Buddhist Hells (Dìyù, 地獄), and judges the fate of the dead. There is also another piece of evidence against this identification: woj verb taŋgup- means ‘to follow’, ‘to stand side by side’ (Omodaka et al. 1967: 416). Yánwáng certainly does not follow personally the souls of the dead, he has enough henchmen (or, to be more exact henchdemons) for that; nor does he stand side by side with them. woj oⁿde- ‘to be afraid’ on line six is a vowel verb, which is not immediately clear from the form used due to the elision of the final root vowel /e/ before the debitive suffix -umbɛ- in oⁿd-umbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ‘should not be afraid’. Due to his ignorance of the man’yōgana type A writing conventions concerning the distinction between voiceless and prenasalized voiced obstruents, Miller managed to invent a non-existing woj verbal debitive suffix *-upɛ- vs. the actual -umbɛ- (1975: 170) on line six. But fortunately enough, this time he spares

28

emc jiäm lâ (閻羅) is a transcription of Sk. Yama rāja. Cf. Japanese Enma (閻魔) or Enmaō (閻魔王).

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his readers from his fantasies about ‘dialectal non-standard’ language features in the Bussokuseki-no uta. Line six is carved in smaller size characters and is placed slightly to the right under line five. See the Photograph 27 in the Appendix.

bs 21 本文 · Original Text (1) □都□□□ (2) □□□□比多留 (3) 母呂 乃多尓 (4) 久湏理師毛止 牟 (5) 与伎比止毛止无 (6) 佐麻佐牟我多米尓 仮名の書き下し · Kana Transliteration

(1) □つ□□□ (2) □□□□ひ₁たる (3) も₂ろ₂ 乃₂多尓 (4) くすりしも₁と₂む (5) よ₂き₁ひ₁と₂も₁と₂む (6) さまさむがため₂に Romanization (1) □tu□□□ (2) □□□□p-i-tar-u (3) mǝrǝ? -nǝ ta n-i (4) kusuri si motǝm-u (5) yǝ-ki pitǝ motǝm-u (6) sam-as-am-u-ŋga tamɛ n-i Glossing with Morphemic Analysis (1) □□□□□ (2) □□□□v-conv-perf.prog-attr (3) all? -gen for cop-conv (4) Medicine Master seek-fin (5) be.good-attr person seek-fin (6) wake.up-caustent-attr-poss for cop-conv

Translation (1/2) [not translatable] (4) [I] will seek a Medicine Master (3) for everybody? (4) (5) [I] will seek a Good Person (6) in order to make [them] wake up. Commentary The first three lines of bs 21 are badly damaged; see the Photographs 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 30 in the Appendix for various surving fragments of this poem. Thus, the left part of the character 都 tu, the only surviving character on line one, has partially disappeared (Photographs 24 and 25), but the character is still legible. The three remaining characters 比多留 pitaru on line two are actually re-carved after the initial damage to the left part of the stele, but the left part of the last character 留 ru shows some minor loss due to the secondary damage (Photograph 26). Among the three surviving characters 乃多尓 nǝtani on line three the top of the character 多 ta is heavily eroded. All these three characters are re-carved (Photographs 20 and 21). All characters on line

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four except the right part of the right element 頁 of the character 湏 su are recarved (Photographs 19, 20, 21). Remaining lines five and six are also re-carved (Photographs 27 and 30). The ongana character 留 /ru/ on line two is actually carved with its variant 㽞. See the Photograph 26 in the Appendix. I think that first two missing characters on line three may be woj 母呂 mǝrǝ ‘all’, ‘everybody’ (I use the etymological spelling in this reconstruction), because of the context and also because this missing word is preceded by an attributive form of a verb on line two, and followed by a genitive case marker -nǝ, therefore it can only be a nominal. Certainly, this suggestion is just a mere speculation, which is not possible to prove or to disprove. woj ta ‘for’ on line three is a variant of tamɛ ‘id.’ See also the commentary to bs 18 above for more details. On kusuri si ‘Medicine Master’ on line four see the commentary to bs 15 above. We also come across a new graphic variation in this poem: on line four the syllable /mu/ is written with the character 牟 as in the rest of the text, but on line five for the first and only time the character 无 is used for the same syllable (Photograph 27). On woj 毛止米 motǝmɛ- ‘to seek’ on lines four and five see the commentary to bs 8 above. On yǝ-ki pitǝ ‘Good Person’ on line five see the commentary to bs 3 above. woj samɛ- ‘to wake up’ on line six is certainly a reference to reaching the Enligtenment. Line six is carved in smaller size characters and is placed slightly to the right under line five. See the Photographs 27 and 30 in the Appendix.

chapter 3

The Language of the Bussokuseki-no uta 1

Graphemics and Phonology

1.1 Graphemics There are no logograms in the Bussokuseki-no uta (with the only exception of the quasi-phonographic si 師 ‘master’ in bs 15 and 21), as this text utilizes exclusively phonograms. All phonograms belong to the man’yōgana type A used in the overwhelming number of Old Japanese texts except the Nihonshoki kayō that employs the man’yōgana type B. All phonograms from the Bussokuseki-no uta, are listed in the Chart 1 below. chart 1

Man’yōgana signs

Transcription

Man’yōgana signs

Frequency

a (y)ia (w)ub e o ka ki kï ku ke kɛ ko kǝ ŋga

阿 伊 宇 衣 於 加 伎

27 19 10 2 9 9 12 0 18 4 1 0 10 3

あ い う え₁ お か き₁ き₂ く け₁ け₂ こ₁ こ₂ が

可 岐

賀

家

鶏

我

加

– 久 祁 氣

– 己 賀

8 3

1

1

1

2

1

a It is impossible to tell for sure whether the character 伊 stands for woj /i/ or /yi/ in the Korean-filtered man’yōgana type A (Vovin 2020a.1: 49–51). See more below in the section on phonology. b In the Korean-filtered man’yōgana type A the character 宇 can be used for both /u/ and /wu/ (Vovin 2020a.1: 51–52). In the Bussokuseki-no uta 宇 is used for /wu/ just once: in the word mawus- ‘to say(hum)’ (bs 9.6). This can be deduced purely on linguistic grounds due to two reasons: a) vowel clusters are prohibited by Old Japanese phonotactic rules, and b) the more archaic (without the raising o > u) form mawos- not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta, but in other Western Old Japanese texts, demonstrates the existence of /-w-/ in this word. © Alexander Vovin, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004449848_005

89

the language of the bussokuseki-no uta chart 1

Man’yōgana signs (cont.)

Transcription

Man’yōgana signs

Frequency

ŋgi

– –

0 0 2 0 1 0 2 16 19 18 2 2 4 0 0 1 0 0 1 30 12 29 6 1 47 4 1 5 2 0 1 10 28

ŋgï ŋgu ŋge ŋgɛ ŋgo ŋgǝ

sa si su se so sǝ ⁿza ⁿzi ⁿzu ⁿze ⁿzo ⁿzǝ ta ti tu te to tǝ ⁿda ⁿdi ⁿdu ⁿde ⁿdo ⁿdǝ na ni

ぎ₁ ぎ₂ ぐ げ₁ げ₂ ご₁ ご₂ さ し す せ そ₁ そ₂ ざ じ ず ぜ ぞ₁ ぞ₂ た ち つ て と₁ と₂ だ ぢ づ で ど₁ ど₂ な に

具

– 義

– 期 佐 志 湏 世 蘇 曾

舎c 師d

– – 受

湏

– – 叙 多 知 都 弖 刀 止 太 遅 豆 弖

曾

等

– 等 奈 尓

止

c The character 舎 sa is used only in the name 舎加 Saka ‘Śākya’. d The character 師 si is used only as quasi-phonogram for the word si ‘master’.

2 3

1

1

1

1

90 chart 1

chapter 3 Man’yōgana signs (cont.)

Transcription

Man’yōgana signs

Frequency

nu ne no nǝ pa pi pï pu pe pɛ po mba mbi mbï mbu mbe mbɛ mbo ma mi mï mu me mɛ mo mǝ ya yu ye yo yǝ ra ri ru re ro

奴 祢

1 3 0 53 23 21 0 10 3 10 7 4 1 0 1 0 2 0 34 23 3 12 2 13 21 6 7 4 0 0 13 8 22 16 19 0

ぬ ね の₁ の₂ は ひ₁ ひ₂ ふ へ₁ へ₂ ほ ば び₁ び₂ ぶ べ₁ べ₂ ぼ ま み₁ み₂ む め₁ め₂ も₁ も₂ や ゆ え₂ よ₁ よ₂ ら り る れ ろ₁

– 乃 波 比

能 婆

– 布 覇 閇 保 婆 鼻

– 夫

– 閇

倍

– 麻 美 微 牟 賣 米 毛 母 夜 由

弥 无

– – 与 良 利 留 礼

–

羅 理 流

2 1

1

2 1

1 4 1

91

the language of the bussokuseki-no uta chart 1

Man’yōgana signs (cont.)

Transcription

Man’yōgana signs

Frequency

rǝ wa wi we wo

呂 和 為 惠 乎

13 6 2 2 16

ろ₂ わ ゐ ゑ を

胃

1

The most striking feature of the writing system used in the Bussokuseki-no uta is its distinct tendency for monophony. Only the Kojiki glosses and the Kojiki kayō have the same tendency, all other phonographic Old Japanese texts are clearly polyphonic. While the Western Old Japanese elements in the Kojiki are in the Asuka dialect, the Bussokuseki-no uta is written in the Nara dialect, and this monophony makes this short text priceless for our understanding of this dialect phonology ca. 770ad. Thus, for example, we can clearly see that the contrast between /o/ and /ǝ/ either started to disappear after dentals /t/ and /n/, or has been already lost in this phonological environment at this time. The polyphony in any writing system that uses it has two manifestations: first, one and the same phonetic sequence can be rendered by different written signs, and, the second, one and the same written sign may be used for different phonetic values. Thus, the first case in the Bussokuseki-no uta is represented by: (1) the syllable /ka/ that can be written with the characters 加, 可, and 賀; (2) the syllable /ki/ that is spelled with both characters 伎 and 岐; (3) the syllable /ke/ that is usually carved with the character 祁, but the characters 家 and 鶏 are also used; (4) the syllable /ŋga/ written by the characters 賀, 我, and 加; (5) the syllable /sa/ spelled by the characters 佐 and 舎; (6) the syllable /si/ carved with the characters 志 and 師; (7) the syllable /ⁿzu/ written with the characters 受 and 湏; (8) the syllable /ⁿzǝ/ spelled with the characters 叙 and 曾; (9) the syllables /tǝ/ and /ⁿdǝ/ both carved with the characters 止 and 等; (10) the syllable /nǝ/ written with the characters 乃 and 能; (11) the syllable /pa/ spelled with the characters 波 and 婆; (12) the syllable /mbɛ/ carved with the characters 閇 and 倍; (13) the syllable /mi/ written with characters 美 and 弥; (14) the syllable /mu/ spelled with the characters 牟 and 无; (15) the syllable /ra/ carved with the characters 良 and 羅; (16) the syllable /ri/ written with the characters 利 and 理; (17) the syllable /ru/ spelled with the characters 留 and 流; and (18) the syllable /wi/ carved with the characters 為 and 胃. The second case in the Bussokusekino uta is represented by: (a) the characters 加 and 賀 both rendering syllables

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/ka/ and /ŋga/; (b) the character 湏 used to write syllables /su/ and /ⁿzu/; (c) the character 曾 standing for both syllables /sǝ/ and /ⁿzǝ/; (d) the character 弖 rendering syllables /te/ and /ⁿde/; (e) the characters 止 and 等 used to write both syllables /tǝ/ and /ⁿdǝ/; (f) the character 婆 standing for both syllables /pa/ and /mba/; and (g) the character 閇 rendering both syllables /pɛ/ and /mbɛ/. While a single or even double occurrence of a given written sign for the same syllable is meaningless for establishing monophony, any higher occurrence is normally significant given the size of the text, and under the condition that there are no other phonograms with the same or higher frequency. The following chart provides all phonograms that occur in the Bussokuseki-no uta more than nine times organized in the order of frequency, accompanied with the competing phonograms if any. chart 2

The high frequency phonograms in the Bussokuseki-no uta

Transcription

Man’yōgana signs

Frequency

nǝ tǝ ma ta tu ni a pa mi ri pi mo (y)i si re ku su sa ru wo mɛ yǝ

乃 止 麻 多 都 尓 阿 波 美 利 比 毛 伊 志 礼 久 湏 佐 留 乎 米 与

53 47 34 30 29 28 27 23 23 22 21 21 19 19 19 18 18 16 16 16 13 13

の₂ と₂ ま た つ に あ は み₁ り ひ₁ も₁ い し れ く す さ る を め₂ よ₂

能 等

婆 弥 理

師

舎 流

2 1

1 2 4

3

2 1

93

the language of the bussokuseki-no uta chart 2

The high frequency phonograms in the Bussokuseki-no uta (cont.)

Transcription

Man’yōgana signs

Frequency

rǝ ki ti mu (w)u kǝ na pu pɛ

呂 伎 知 牟 宇 己 奈 布 閇

13 12 12 12 10 10 10 10 10

ろ₂ き₁ ち む う こ₂ な ふ へ₂

岐 无

3 1

As one can see from the chart above, the competing characters constitute just a tiny fraction in each case, and the monophony seems to be firmly established as a dominant tendency. If we exclude singular attestations, there seem to be only two cases of clear polyphony, both concerning the velars with the following /a/ vowel. Thus, the syllable /ka/ is rendered by a phonogram 加 nine times, and by a phonogram 可 eight times. But maybe this should be no wonder, since this syllable tends in general to be the most polyphonic one in the Old Japanese writing system. The syllable /ŋga/ is written as 賀 three times and as 我 two times. Unfortunately, not all possible Western Old Japanese syllables are present in the Bussokuseki-no uta; the following syllables are lacking: /kï/, /ko/, /ŋgi/, /ŋgï/, /ŋge/, /ŋgo/, /ⁿza/, /ⁿzi/, /ⁿze/, /ⁿzo/, /ⁿdo/, /no/, /pï/, /mbï/, /mbe/, /mbo/, /ye/, /yo/, and /ro/, altogether eighteen syllables. There are some abbreviated forms of characters that are used instead of full forms, such as遅 ⁿdi instead of 遲, 尓 ni instead of 爾, 祢 ne instead of 禰, 弥 mi instead of 彌, 与 yǝ instead of 與, 礼 re instead of 禮, and 為 wi instead of 爲. 1.2 Phonology There are no data on the suprasegmental phonology in the Bussokuseki-no uta, so we are in the position to describe the segmental phonology only. The following system of consonants can be established on the basis of this text as demonstrated below in the Chart 3. None of the consonants can occur in a word-final or even a syllable-final positions. Prenasalized voiced (with the exception of /ŋg/) and a flap never occur word-initially.

94 chart 3

chapter 3 The consonantal system

Labials Dentals Palatals Velars voiceless stops voiced prenasalized stops nasals voiceless fricatives voiced prenasalized fricatives glides flap

p mb m – – w –

t ⁿd n s ⁿz – r

– – – – – y –

k ŋg – – – – –

1.2.1 Labials /p/ is a voiceless bilabial stop [p]. It can occur in both initial and medial positions. Examples: papa ‘mother’ (波々, bs 1.5), pɛmi ‘snake’ (閇美, bs 19.1), taŋguper-i ‘follow-prog-fin’ (多 具 覇 利, bs 20.5), pikari ‘light’, ‘lightning’ (比 加 利, bs 20.2), pitǝ ‘person’ (比止, bs 1.6), puta ‘two’ (布多, bs 2.2), potǝkɛ ‘Buddha’ (保止氣, bs 9.4), ip-u ‘say-attr’ (伊布, bs 17.5), opo- ‘to be big’, ‘to be many’ (於 保, bs 13.3). /mb/ is a voiced bilabial prenasalized stop [mb]. It can occur only in the medial position. Examples: tǝkǝtǝmba n-i ‘eternally’ (止己止婆尓, bs 10.3), -mba, conjunctive gerund (婆, 16.2), pimbiki ‘echo’ (比鼻伎, bs 1.2), porǝmb-u ‘perishes’ (保呂夫, bs 17.5), -umbɛ-, debitive suffix (湏都閇志, sut-umbɛ-si ‘discard-debfin’, 19.5). /m/ is a voiced nasal [m]. It can occur in both initial and medial positions. Examples: mare ‘rare’ (麻礼, bs 2.6), mata ‘again’ (麻多, bs 10.6), mɛ ‘eye’ (米, bs 3.2), mɛⁿdasi ‘to be praiseworthy’, ‘to be lovable’ (米太志, bs 15.6), mi- ‘to see’, ‘to look’ (美, bs 3.2), miso ‘thirty’ (弥蘇, bs 2.1), mï ‘body’ (微, bs 18.1), monǝ ‘demon’ (毛乃, bs 19.2), morǝ ~ mǝrǝ ‘all’ (毛呂, 母呂, bs 1.6, 18.6), ima ‘now’ (伊麻, bs 7.4), tama ‘jade’, ‘jewel’, ‘pearl’ (多麻, 3.6), amɛ ‘Heaven’ (阿米, bs 1.3), tutǝmɛ‘to strive’ (都止米, 18.5), pɛmi ‘snake’ (閇美, bs 19.1), sinǝp-am-u ‘long.for-tentfin’ (志乃波牟, bs 6.4). /w/ is a voiced glide [w] or an approximant [ɰ]. It can occur in both initial and medial positions. Examples: ware ‘I’, ‘we’ (和礼, bs 3.4), watas-i ‘make.crossconv’ (和 多 志, bs 4.5), wer-i ‘carve-conv’ (惠 利, bs 3.5), wi- ‘to lead’ (為, bs 8.6), wo ‘man’, ‘male’ (乎, bs 6.1), woⁿdina- ‘to be infirm’ (乎遅奈, bs 13.1), wopɛ- ‘to end’, ‘to finish’ (tr.) (乎閇, bs 14.5), mawi- ‘to go’, ‘to come(hum)’ (麻 為, bs 12.3), mawus-am-u ‘say(hum)-tent-fin’ (麻 宇 佐 牟, bs 9.6), -womba, emphatic accusative case marker (乎婆, bs 19.4).

the language of the bussokuseki-no uta

95

1.2.2 Dentals /t/ is a voiceless dental stop [t]. It can occur in both initial and medial positions. Examples: tama ‘jade’, ‘jewel’, ‘pearl’ (多麻, 3.6), taputo- ‘to be awesome’ (多布刀, bs 5.6), mata ‘again’ (麻多, bs 10.6), puta ‘two’ (布多, bs 2.2), watas-i ‘make.crossconv’ (和多志, bs 4.5), ti ‘thousand’ (知, bs 17.4), titi ‘father’ (知々, bs 1.5), tǝkǝrǝ ‘place’ (止己呂, bs 2.5), tǝkǝtǝmba n-i ‘eternally’ (止己止婆尓, bs 10.3), pitǝ ‘person’ (比止, bs 1.6), potǝkɛ ‘Buddha’ (保止氣, bs 9.4), tumi ‘sin’ (都美, bs 17.4), tuti ‘Earth’ (都知, bs 1.4), tutǝmɛ- ‘to strive’ (都止米, 18.5), -te, subordinative gerund (弖, bs 3.4). /ⁿd/ is a voiced prenasalized dental stop [ⁿd]. It can occur only in the medial position. Examples: taⁿda ‘direct’ (多太, bs 6.5), mɛⁿdasi ‘to be praiseworthy’, ‘to be lovable’ (米太志, bs 15.6), iⁿdas-i ‘take.out-conv’ (伊太志, bs 4.3), sǝⁿdar-eru ‘be.complete-prog-attr’ (曾太礼留, bs 2.4), woⁿdina- ‘to be infirm’ (乎遅奈, bs 13.1), ikaⁿduti ‘thunder’ (伊加豆知, bs 20.1), taⁿdune- ‘to search for’ (多豆祢, bs 8.2), yǝrǝⁿdu ‘10,000’, ‘many’ (与呂豆, bs 4.2), -ⁿdǝ, concessive converb (等, bs 15.2). /n/ is a voiced nasal [n]. It can occur in both initial and medial positions. Examples: naŋga- ‘to be long’ (奈賀, bs 7.6), nar-u ‘be-attr’ (奈留, bs 5.1), kitana‘to be dirty’ (伎多奈, 19.4), kuni ‘land’ (久尓, 8.4), -ni, dative-locative case marker (尓, bs 1.3), nǝri, ‘Law’ (乃 利, bs 18.3), nǝti ‘after’, ‘later’ (乃 知, bs 9.4), monǝ ‘demon’ (毛乃, bs 19.2), sinǝp-am-u ‘long.for-tent-fin’ (志乃波牟, bs 6.4), nusi ‘master’, ‘owner’ (奴志, bs 16.3), taⁿdune- ‘to search for’ (多豆祢, bs 8.2). /s/ is a voiceless fricative [s]. It can occur in both initial and medial positions. Examples: saki ‘front’, ‘ahead’ (佐岐, bs 6.2), sasaŋgɛ- ‘to present’, ‘to offer(hum)’ (佐々義, bs 9.6), kusa ‘type’ (久佐, 2.3), sin-i ‘die-nml’ (志尓, bs 20.4), sinǝp-amu ‘long.for-tent-fin’ (志乃波牟, bs 6.4), isi ‘stone’ (伊志, bs 1.2), nusi ‘master’, ‘owner’ (奴志, bs 16.3), sura, restrictive particle (湏良, bs 3.3), susum-i ‘advanceconv’ (湏々美, bs 6.2), sut-umbɛ-si ‘discard-deb-fin’ (湏都閇志, bs 19.5), kusuri si ‘medicine master’ (久湏理師, bs 15.1), masura ‘noble’, ‘brave’ (麻湏良, 6.1), sǝ, focus particle (曾, bs 17.5), sǝⁿdar-er-u ‘be.complete-prog-attr’ (曾太礼留, bs 2.4), miso ‘thirty’ (弥蘇, bs 2.1), yaso ‘eighty’ (夜蘇, bs 2.3). /ⁿz/ is a voiced prenasalized fricative [ⁿz]. It can occur only in the medial position and has a very limited distribution in the Bussokuseki-no uta. Here I provide all examples of its attestation: nǝⁿzǝk-u ‘takes away’ (乃曾久, bs 17.6), oⁿd-umbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ‘be.afraid-deb-conv-exist-neg-fin’ (於 豆 閇 可 良 受, bs 20.6), e-mi-ⁿz-u-te ‘cannot see and’ (衣美湏弖, bs 3.4), ⁿzǝ, focus particle (叙, bs 17.6). /r/ is a flap [ɾ]. It can occur only in the medial position. Examples: sura, restrictive particle (湏良, bs 3.3), masura ‘noble’, ‘brave’ (麻湏良, 6.1), marapitǝ ‘guest’ (麻良比止, bs 15.3), mare ‘rare’ (麻礼, bs 2.6), ware ‘I’, ‘we’ (和礼, bs 3.4),

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kǝre ‘this’ (己礼, bs 10.1), nǝri ‘Law’ (乃利, bs 18.3), pikari ‘light’, ‘lightning’ (比加 利, bs 20.2), kusuri ‘medicine’ (久湏理, bs 15.1), sǝⁿdar-er-u ‘be.complete-progattr’ (曾太礼留, bs 2.4), otǝr-er-u ‘be.inferior-prog-attr’ (於止礼留, bs 13.2), morǝ ~ mǝrǝ ‘all’ (毛呂, 母呂, bs 1.6, 18.6), porǝmb-u ‘perishes’ (保呂夫, bs 17.5), yǝrǝⁿdu ‘10,000’, ‘many’ (与呂豆, bs 4.2), tǝkǝrǝ ‘place’ (止己呂, bs 2.5). 1.2.3 Palatals /y/ is the only palatal present in the Old Japanese language. It is a glide [j] that in general in Old Japanese can occur in both initial and medial positions, but in the Bussokuseki-no uta it is found in the medial position only in one word uyamap- ‘to worship’. Examples: yaso ‘eighty’ (夜蘇, bs 2.3), ya, interrogative particle (夜, 20.6), ya, emphatic particle (夜, bs 4.1), uyamap-i-te ‘worship-conv-sub’ (宇夜麻比弖, 9.3), yǝrǝⁿdu ‘10,000’, ‘many’ (与呂豆, bs 4.2), yǝ ‘world’, ‘life’ (与, bs 10.1), yǝ ‘four’ (与, bs 19.1), yǝ- ‘to be good’ (与, bs 3.1), yuki ‘go-conv’ (由伎, bs 14.3), yuⁿdur-i ‘pass.on-conv’ (由豆利, bs 9.5), yusur-e ‘shake-ev’ (由湏礼, bs 1.4). 1.2.4 Velars /k/ is a voiceless velar stop [k]. It can occur in both initial and medial positions. Examples: kata ‘direction’ (加多, bs 17.3), katati ‘mark’, ‘appearance’ (加多 知, bs 2.2), ika ‘how’, ‘what’ (伊可, bs 5.1), ikaⁿduti ‘thunder’ (伊加豆知, bs 20.1), pikari ‘light’, ‘lightning’ (比加利, bs 20.2), kitana- ‘to be dirty’ (伎多奈, 19.4), kiku ‘hears’ (伎久, bs 17.6), kimi ‘lord’ (岐美, bs 20.4), saki ‘front’, ‘ahead’ (佐岐, bs 6.2), pimbiki ‘echo’ (比鼻伎, bs 1.2), potǝkɛ ‘Buddha’ (保止氣, bs 9.4), mi-kemu ‘see-past/FIN.tent-attr’ (美祁牟, bs 3.2), taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘be.awesomeconv-exist-conv-retr-fin’ (多布止可理家利, bs 15.5), kuni ‘land’ (久尓, 8.4), kusa ‘type’ (久佐, 2.3), kusuri ‘medicine’ (久湏理, bs 15.1), tukur-u ‘make-attr’ (都久留, bs 1.1), kǝnǝ ‘this’ (己乃, bs 4.1), kǝre ‘this’ (己礼, bs 10.1), tǝkǝtǝmba n-i ‘eternally’ (止己止婆尓, bs 10.3), tǝkǝrǝ ‘place’ (止己呂, bs 2.5). /ŋg/ is a voiced prenasalized velar stop [ŋg]. As a rule, it can occur only in the medial position, but there is one exception: it is attested word-initially in the word ŋgǝtǝ ‘[to be] like’. Examples: ŋgǝtǝ[-] ‘[to be] like’ (期止, bs 16.6), naŋga‘to be long’ (奈賀, bs 7.6), tǝmoŋgara ‘companion’, ‘comrade’ (止毛加羅, bs 12.2), -ŋga, possessive case marker (賀, bs 1.5), -ŋgata- auxiliary verb ‘to be hard’, ‘to be difficult’ (賀多, bs 18.2), sasaŋgɛ- ‘to present’, ‘to offer(hum)’ (佐々義, bs 9.6), taŋgup-er-i ‘follow-prog-fin’ (多具覇利, bs 20.5), mɛŋgur-i ‘circumambulateconv’ (米具利, bs 14.3). The following system of vowels can be established for the language of the Bussokuseki-no uta:

the language of the bussokuseki-no uta chart 4

The vowel system

Front high mid-high mid-low low

97

Central

i

Back

ï e

u o

ɛ

ǝ a

It must be noted that there is not much reliable evidence for the phonemic contrast between /o/ and /ǝ/ if we rely entirely on the Bussokuseki-no uta, because this contrast is lost after dentals except /s/, and also because there are no morphemes that contain /o/ after /k/, /ŋg/, and /y/, while there are syllables /kǝ/, /ŋgǝ/, and /yǝ/. Yet since we know that the phonemic contrast between /o/ and /ǝ/ after velars survived until the early tenth century, the inclusion of both /o/ and /ǝ/ into the Chart 4 above seems to be justified. The only not-quiteperfect minimal pair that can be found is -so ‘ten’ in mi-so ‘thirty’ and ya-so ‘eighty’ and sǝ, a focus particle, since -so ‘ten’ is a bound morpheme. Due to various mergers, such as /i/ X /ï/ = /i/, /e/ X /ɛ/ = /e/, and /o/ X /ǝ/ = /o/, only five vowels can be found in the absolute initial position: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/. Vowels /ï/, /ɛ/, and /ǝ/ are restricted to word-medial and word-final positions. 1.2.5 Central Vowels After coronals, glides, and in the word-initial position, the phonemic contrast between /i/ and /ï/ is neutralized. I use /i/ for the notation of this neutralization. It is not quite clear whether vowel /a/ is phonetically a low central vowel /a/, or a low back vowel /ɑ/. It can occur in all positions in a word. Examples: amɛ ‘Heaven’ (阿米, bs 1.3), atǝ ‘footprint’ (阿止, bs 1.1), atu- ‘to be thick’ (阿都, bs 12.2), papa ‘mother’ (波々, bs 1.5), saki ‘front’, ‘ahead’ (佐岐, bs 6.2), sasaŋgɛ‘to present’, ‘to offer(hum)’ (佐々義, bs 9.6), kusa ‘type’ (久佐, 2.3), kata ‘direction’ (加多, bs 17.3), sura, restrictive particle (湏良, bs 3.3). /ï/ is a high central vowel [ï]. Its distribution in theory is restricted to the word-medial and the word-final positions, but in the Bussokuseki-no uta it is attested just in one word: mï ‘body’ (微, bs 18.1), which constitutes a minimal pair with mi- ‘to see’, ‘to look’ (imperative mi). /ǝ/ is a mid-low central vowel [ǝ]. Its distribution is restricted to the wordmedial and the word-final positions. Examples: kǝre ‘this’ (己 礼, bs 10.1),

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tǝkǝtǝmba n-i ‘eternally’ (止己止婆尓, bs 10.3), tǝkǝrǝ ‘place’ (止己呂, bs 2.5), ‘[to be] like’ (期止, bs 16.6), atǝ ‘footprint’ (阿止, bs 1.1), yǝ ‘world’, ‘life’ (与, bs 10.1), yǝ ‘four’ (与, bs 19.1), nǝⁿzǝk-u ‘takes away’ (乃曾久, bs 17.6), sinǝpam-u ‘long.for-tent-fin’ (志 乃 波 牟, bs 6.4), nǝri, ‘Law’ (乃 利, bs 18.3), nǝti ‘after’, ‘later’ (乃知, bs 9.4), monǝ ‘demon’ (毛乃, bs 19.2), sǝ, focus particle (曾, bs 17.5).

ŋgǝtǝ[-]

1.2.6 Front Vowels After coronals, glides, and in the word-initial position the phonemic contrast between /e/ and /ɛ/ is neutralized. I use /e/ for the notation of this neutralization. /i/ is a high unrounded front vowel [i]. It can occur in any position in a word: initial, medial, or final. Examples: isi ‘stone’ (伊志, bs 1.2), ima ‘now’ (伊 麻, bs 7.4), ikaⁿduti ‘thunder’ (伊加豆知, bs 20.1), iⁿdas-i ‘take.out-conv’ (伊太 志, bs 4.3), kimi ‘lord’ (岐美, bs 20.4), saki ‘front’, ‘ahead’ (佐岐, bs 6.2), pimbiki ‘echo’ (比鼻伎, bs 1.2), taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘be.awesome-conv-exist-conv-retrfin’ (多布止可理家利, bs 15.5), woⁿdina- ‘to be infirm’ (乎遅奈, bs 13.1), kuni ‘land’ (久尓, 8.4), nusi ‘master’, ‘owner’ (奴志, bs 16.3), pɛmi ‘snake’ (閇美, bs 19.1). /e/ is a mid-high unrounded front vowel [e]. It can occur in any position in a word: initial, medial, or final, although its occurrence in the absolute initial position is far and between. Examples: e- ‘to get’, ‘to obtain’ (衣, bs 18.2), e-, potential prefix (衣, bs 3.4), taŋgup-er-i ‘follow-prog-fin’ (多具覇利, bs 20.5), pum-er-u ‘step-prog-attr’ (布賣留, bs 6.3), wer-i ‘carve-conv’ (惠利, bs 3.5), taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘be.awesome-conv-exist-conv-retr-fin’ (多布止可理家利, bs 15.5), sǝⁿdar-er-u ‘be.complete-prog-attr’ (曾太礼留, bs 2.4), taⁿdune- ‘to search for’ (多豆祢, bs 8.2), susum-e ‘advance-imp’ (湏々賣, bs 18.6), -te, subordinative gerund (弖, bs 3.4). /ɛ/ is a mid-low unrounded vowel [ɛ].1 It is restricted to the word-medial and the word-final-positions. Examples: pɛmi ‘snake’ (閇美, bs 19.1), mɛ ‘eye’ (米, bs 3.2), amɛ ‘Heaven’ (阿米, bs 1.3), tutǝmɛ- ‘to strive’ (都止米, 18.5), mɛⁿdasi ‘to be praiseworthy’, ‘to be lovable’ (米太志, bs 15.6), mɛŋgur-i ‘circumambulateconv’ (米具利, bs 14.3), potǝkɛ ‘Buddha’ (保止氣, bs 9.4), sasaŋgɛ- ‘to present’, ‘to offer(hum)’ (佐々義, bs 9.6), -umbɛ-, debitive suffix (湏都閇志, sut-umbɛ-si ‘discard-deb-fin’, 19.5).

1 There is a certain controversy over the exact phonetic value of /ɛ/. Miyake, for example, believes that it was a falling diphthong [ǝy] (2003: 244–250).

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1.2.7 Back Vowels After coronals (except /s/), glides, and in the word-initial position the phonemic contrast between /o/ and /ǝ/ is neutralized. I use /o/ for the notation of this neutralization. /u/ is a high rounded back vowel [u]. It can occur in any position in a word: initial, medial, or final. Examples: upɛ ‘top’ (宇閇, bs 5.3,) uresi ‘to be happy’, ‘to be glad’ (宇礼志, bs 12.6), uyamap-i-te ‘worship-conv-sub’ (宇夜麻比弖, 9.3), kusuri ‘medicine’ (久湏理, bs 15.1), taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘be.awesome-conv-existconv-retr-fin’ (多布止可理家利, bs 15.5), kusa ‘type’ (久佐, 2.3), sura, restrictive particle (湏良, bs 3.3), yuⁿdur-i ‘pass.on-conv’ (由豆利, bs 9.5), yusur-e ‘shake-imp’ (由湏礼, bs 1.4), tukur-u ‘make-attr’ (都久留, bs 1.1), nǝⁿzǝk-u ‘takes away’ (乃曾久, bs 17.6), mi-kem-u ‘see-past/FIN.tent-attr’ (美祁牟, bs 3.2). /o/ is a mid-high rounded back vowel [o]. It can occur in any position in a word: initial, medial, or final. Examples: opo- ‘to be big’, ‘to be many’ (於保, bs 13.3), otǝr-er-u ‘be.inferior-prog-attr’ (於止礼留, bs 13.2), ok- ‘to place’, ‘to put’ (於祁留, ok-er-u ‘place-prog-attr’ bs 7.2), omǝp- ‘to think’ (於母保由留, omǝp-oy-uru ‘think-pass-attr’ bs 16.5), oⁿde- ‘to be afraid’ (於豆閇可良受, oⁿdumbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ‘be.afraid-deb-conv-exist-neg-fin’ bs 20.6), potǝkɛ ‘Buddha’ (保 止 氣, bs 9.4), porǝmb-u ‘perishes’ (保 呂 夫, bs 17.5), monǝ ‘demon’ (毛 乃, bs 19.2), wo ‘man’, ‘male’ (乎, bs 6.1), woⁿdina- ‘to be infirm’ (乎遅奈, bs 13.1), wopɛ- ‘to end’, ‘to finish’ (tr.) (乎閇, bs 14.5), taputo- ‘to be awesome’ (多布刀, bs 5.6), miso ‘thirty’ (弥蘇, bs 2.1)

2

Grammar

The following sketch of grammar is based solely on the Bussokuseki-no uta. As it would be expected from a sketch based on a short text, there are many gaps. For a detailed and complete description of the Western Old Japanese grammar, as well as for any in-depth discussion the reader should consult Vovin (2020a.1 and 2020a.2). 2.1 Parts of Speech Only the following parts of speech are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: nominals, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, and particles. 2.1.1 Nominals Nominals have three subclasses of nouns, pronouns, and numerals.

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2.1.1.1 Nouns Nouns in general can take prefixes and suffixes, but there are no diminutive prefixes and suffixes, as well as plural suffixes in the Bussokuseki-no uta. 2.1.1.1.1

Honorific Prefixes

There are two honorific prefixes attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: mi- and opomi-. The second occurs only once and may be alternatively analyzed as opo ‘great’ + mi-, honorific prefix. Examples: (1) 美阿止都久留 (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎 (1) mi-atǝ tukur-u (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i (1) hon-footprint make-attr (2) stone-gen echo-nml (2) The echo of the stone (1) where I carved the [Buddha’s] honorable footprints (bs 1) (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-cnv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) (1) 於保美阿止乎 (2) 美尓久留比止 (1) opomi-atǝ-wo (2) mi-ni k-uru pitǝ (1) hon-footprint-acc (2) see(nml)-loc come-attr person (2) a person who comes to see (1) the honorable footprints (bs 17) 2.1.1.1.2

Case Markers

Only the following case markers are attested in the text of the Bussokuseki-no uta: possessive -ŋga, genitive -nǝ, dative-locative -ni, accusative-absolutive -wo, emphatic accusative -womba, comitative -tǝ, terminative -maⁿde, and comparative -nǝ. 2.1.1.1.2.1

Possessive Case Marker -ŋga

The possessive case marker -ŋga occurs three times in the Bussokuseki-no uta in two functions: (a) possessive case marker after the personal pronoun wa- ‘I’, (b) as a linker before tamɛ ‘for’, ‘in order to’. Examples: (5) 和我与波乎閇牟 (5) wa-ŋga yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (5) i-poss life top end-tent-fin (5) [I] want to end my life (bs 14)

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(4) 都知佐閇由湏礼 (5) 知々波々賀多米尓 (4) tuti sapɛ yusur-e (5) titi papa-ŋga tamɛ n-i (4) earth rp shake-ev (5) father mother-poss for cop-conv (4) [it] shakes the Earth as well (5) for father and mother (bs 1) (6) 佐麻佐牟我多米尓 (6) sam-as-am-u-ŋga tamɛ n-i (6) wake.up-caus-tent-attr-poss for cop-conv (6) in order to make [them] wake up (bs 21) 2.1.1.1.2.2

Genitive Case Marker -nǝ

The genitive case marker -nǝ is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta thirty-two times in four different functions: (a) a genitive case marker, (b) a subject marker in the dependent clause, (c) a subject marker in the main clause, and (d) a linker before tamɛ or ta ‘for’, ‘in order to’, ‘for the sake of’. In the order of frequency these functions should be arranged as (a), (b), (d), and (c) (only one example). Examples: (a) genitive case marker: (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎 (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i (2) stone-gen echo-nml (2) The echo of the stone (bs 1) (3) 伊波乃宇閇乎 (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-wo (3) rock-gen top-acc (3) on the top of the rock (bs 5) (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (1) the honorable footprints of [Buddha] Śākya[muni] (bs 9) (b) subject marker in a dependent clause: (4) … 比止乃 (5) 布美志阿止々己呂 (4) … pitǝ-nǝ (5) pum-i-si atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (4) … person-gen (5) step-conv-past.attr footprint place (5) the place [of] the footprints left (4) by a Person … (bs 2)

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(1) 与伎比止乃 (2) 麻佐米尓美祁牟 (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (1) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (2) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (1) be.good-attr person-gen (2) right eye-loc see(conv)-past.tentattr (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (1) that Good Persons (2) probably saw right by [their] eyes (bs 3) (c) subject marker in a main clause: (1) 麻湏良乎乃 (2) 湏々美佐岐多知 (1) masura wo-nǝ (2) susum-i saki tat-i (1) noble man-gen (2) advance-conv front depart-conv (1) The Noble Man (2) went forward and departed first (bs 6) (d) linker before tamɛ or ta ‘for’, ‘in order to’: (6) 毛呂比止乃多米尓 (6) morǝ pitǝ-nǝ tamɛ n-i (6) all person-gen for cop-conv (6) for all sentient beings (bs 1) (3) 乃利乃多能 (3) nǝri-nǝ ta-nǝ (3) Law-gen for-gen (3) for the sake of the Law (bs 18) 2.1.1.1.2.3

Dative-Locative Case Marker -ni

The dative-locative case marker -ni is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta fourteen times in three different functions: (a) a dative case marker, (b) a locative case marker, (c) a directive case marker. The first function is rare, being attested only once. Examples: (a) dative case marker: (2) 和礼尓於止礼留 (3) 比止乎於保美 (2) ware-ni otǝr-er-u (3) pitǝ-wo opo-mi (2) i-dat be.inferior-prog-attr (3) person-abs be.many-ger (3) Because there are many people (2) who are inferior to me (bs 13)

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(b) locative case marker: (1) 与伎比止乃 (2) 麻佐米尓美祁牟 (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (1) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (2) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (1) be.good-attr person-gen (2) right eye-loc see(conv)-past.tentattr (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (1) that Good Persons (2) probably saw right by (lit.: in) [their] eyes (bs 3) (5) 伊波尓惠利都久 (5) ipa-ni wer-i-tuk-u (5) rock-loc carve-conv-attach-fin (5) [I] carve [them] on a rock (bs 3) (2) 布美於祁留阿止波 (3) 伊波乃宇閇尓 (4) 伊麻毛乃己礼利 (2) pum-i-ok-er-u atǝ pa (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-ni (4) ima mo nǝkǝr-er-i (2) step-conv-place-attr footprint top (3) rock-gen top-loc (4) now fp remain-prog-fin (2) The footprints that were left (4) even now have remained (3) on the top of the rock (bs 7) (c) directive case marker: (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎波 (3) 阿米尓伊多利 (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i pa (3) amɛ-ni itar-i (2) stone-gen echo-nml top (3) Heaven-loc reach-conv (2) The echo of the stone (3) reaches (to) the Heaven, and … (bs 1) (5) 多太尓阿布麻弖尓 (5) taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (5) direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc (5) until [we] meet directly (bs 6) (4) … 久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (4) … kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (4) … land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also go (4) to the Land … (bs 8)

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2.1.1.1.2.4

Accusative-Absolutive Case Marker -wo

The accusative-absolutive case marker -wo is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta nine times in two different functions: (a) an accusative case marker, (b) an absolutive case marker. The second function is rare, being attested only once. Examples: (a) accusative case marker: (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-cnv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) Note that in this example the accusative case marker -wo is separated from the preceding noun atǝ ‘footprint’ by a restrictive particle sura. (1) 己乃美阿止夜 (2) 与呂豆比賀利乎 (3) 波奈知伊太志 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ ya (2) yǝrǝⁿdu pikari-wo (3) panat-i-iⁿdas-i (1) this hon-footprint ep (2) ten.thousand light-acc (3) radiate-convbring.out-conv (1) Oh, these honorable footprints (3) radiate (2) myriad of lights (bs 4) (1) 於保美阿止乎 (2) 美尓久留比止 (1) opomi-atǝ-wo (2) mi-ni k-uru pitǝ (1) hon-footprint-acc (2) see(nml)-loc come-attr person (2) person who comes to see (1) the honorable footprints (bs 17) (b) absolutive case marker. In this function -wo marks the subject of an inactive verb: (2) 和礼尓於止礼留 (3) 比止乎於保美 (2) ware-ni otǝr-er-u (3) pitǝ-wo opo-mi (2) i-dat be.inferior-prog-attr (3) person-abs be.many-ger (3) Because there are many people (2) who are inferior to me (bs 13)

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Emphatic Accusative Case Marker -womba

The emphatic accusative case marker -womba is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta only once: (4) 伎多奈伎微乎婆 (5) 伊止比湏都閇志 (4) kitana-ki mï-womba (5) itǝp-i sut-umbɛ-si (4) be.dirty-attr body-acc(emph) (5) loathe-conv discard-deb-fin (5) [I] loathe and must discard (4) [my] dirty body (bs 19) 2.1.1.1.2.6

Comitative Case Marker -tǝ

The comitative case marker -tǝ is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta only once: (3) 夜蘇久佐等 (4) 曾太礼留比止 (3) yaso kusa-tǝ (4) sǝⁿdar-er-u pitǝ (3) eighty type-com (4) be.complete-prog-attr person (4) a Person, who is complete (3) with eighty [lesser sign] types (bs 2) 2.1.1.1.2.7

Terminative Case Marker -maⁿde

The terminative case marker -maⁿde is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta only twice, but in the same context and in the same poem. In both cases it is followed by a directive-locative case marker -ni: (5) 多太尓阿布麻弖尓 (6) 麻佐尓阿布麻弖尓 (5) taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (6) masa n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (5) direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc (6) real cop-conv meetattr-term-loc (5) until [we] meet directly, (6) until [we] really meet (bs 6) 2.1.1.1.2.8

Comparative Case Marker -nǝ

The comparative case marker -nǝ is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta only once: (4) 多麻乃与曾保比 (4) tama-nǝ yǝsǝpopi (4) jewel-comp adorned.appearance (4) the jewel-like precious appearance (bs 16)

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2.1.1.2 Pronouns Only personal, demonstrative, interrogative, and collective pronouns are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. There are no reflexive pronouns. Western Old Japanese pronouns cannot be followed by plural suffixes, only by case markers. The personal pronoun wa- ~ ware and the demonstrative pronoun kǝ- ~ kǝre have two stems: unextended wa- and kǝ- and extended ware and kǝre. The personal pronoun wa- ~ ware never occurs in combination with the genitive case marker -nǝ, as its unextended stem wa- can be followed only by the possessive case marker -ŋga. On the other hand, the demonstrative pronoun kǝ- ~ kǝre never combines with the possessive case marker -ŋga. The modifier forms of the demonstrative pronoun kǝ- ~ kǝre are derived by the addition of the attributive form n-ǝ of the copula n- to both stems, resulting in the forms kǝnǝ < kǝ n-ǝ and kǝre n-ǝ. 2.1.1.2.1

Personal Pronouns

Among Western Old Japanese personal pronouns, only first person pronoun wa- ~ ware ‘I’, ‘we’ is attested, but not any other first, second, or third person pronouns. 2.1.1.2.1.1

First Person Pronoun wa- ~ ware

In the Bussokuseki-no uta first person wa- ~ ware is always a singular ‘I’, it never refers to a plural ‘we’. On the exact meaning of oj wa- ~ ware ‘I’, ‘we’ see the detailed commentary to bs 3. oj wa- ~ ware ‘I’ is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta four times. Among those the unextended stem wa- occurs only once with the following possessive case marker -ŋga, and in the remaining three cases we have the extended stem ware. Certainly it would be dangerous to make any far-fetching conclusion just on these four examples, especially when the unextended stem wa- appears only once, but in general this distribution of wa- and ware is more reminiscent of Middle (Classical) Japanese than of Old Japanese. It could be possibly due to the fact that the Bussokuseki-no uta is a relatively late Western Old text, although due to the paucity of the extant examples, this will remain no more than a speculation. (5) 和我与波乎閇牟 (5) wa-ŋga yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (5) i-poss life top end-tent-fin (5) [I] want to end my life (bs 14) (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te

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(3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-cnv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) (4) … 久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (4) … kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (4) … land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also go (4) to the Land … (bs 8) (2) 和礼尓於止礼留 (3) 比止乎於保美 (2) ware-ni otǝr-er-u (3) pitǝ-wo opo-mi (2) i-dat be.inferior-prog-attr (3) person-abs be.many-ger (3) Because there are many people (2) who are inferior to me (bs 13) 2.1.1.2.2

Demonstrative Pronouns

Only the proximal demonstrative pronouns kǝnǝ and kǝre are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. There are no other forms of proximal pronouns, or neither mesial nor distal demonstrative pronouns. 2.1.1.2.2.1

Proximal Demonstrative Pronouns kǝnǝ and kǝre

Both proximal demonstrative pronouns kǝnǝ and kǝre are used in the Bussokuseki-no uta as modifiers of a following nominal (the latter in the form kǝre n-ǝ ‘this cop-attr’). There is no apparent difference in a meaning or a function between kǝnǝ and kǝre n-ǝ. The proximal demonstrative pronoun kǝnǝ is attested three times in the Bussokuseki-no uta and the proximal demonstrative pronoun kǝre two times. Examples: (1) 己乃美阿止夜 (2) 与呂豆比賀利乎 (3) 波奈知伊太志 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ ya (2) yǝrǝⁿdu pikari-wo (3) panat-i-iⁿdas-i (1) this hon-footprint ep (2) ten.thousand light-acc (3) radiate-convbring.out-conv (1) Oh, these honorable footprints (3) radiate (2) myriad of lights (bs 4) (1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 多豆祢毛止米弖 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) taⁿdune motǝmɛ-te (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) search.for(conv) seek(conv)-sub (2) Searching and seeking for (1) these honorable footprints (bs 8) (6) 己乃与波乎閇牟 (6) kǝnǝ yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u

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(6) this life top end-tent-fin (6) [I] want to end this life (bs 14) (1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 麻婆利麻都礼婆 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) mapar-i-matur-e-mba (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) go.around-conv-hum-ev-con (2) When [I] circumambulate (1) these honorable footprints (bs 16) (1) 己礼乃与波 (2) 宇都利佐留止毛 (1) kǝre n-ǝ yǝ pa (2) utur-i sar-u tǝmo (1) this cop-attr world top (2) change-conv go.away-fin conj (1/2) Even though this world changes and goes away (bs 10) (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death (bs 20) 2.1.1.2.3

Interrogative Pronouns

Among all Western Old Japanese interrogative pronouns, only the interrogative pronoun ika ‘what’, ‘how’ is attested once: (1) 伊可奈留夜 (2) 比止尓伊麻世可 (1) ika nar-u ya (2) pitǝ n-i imas-e ka (1) what be-attr ep (2) person cop-conv exist(hon)-ev ip (1) What kind of (2) a person is [He]? (bs 5) 2.1.1.2.4

Collective Pronouns

Among two Western Old Japanese collective pronouns mïna ‘all’ and morǝ ~ mǝrǝ ‘id.’ only morǝ ~ mǝrǝ is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta, with the second form mǝrǝ in etymologically correct spelling appearing only once out of the total of nine attestations. Examples: (6) 毛呂比止乃多米尓 (6) morǝ pitǝ-nǝ tamɛ n-i (6) all person-gen for cop-conv (6) for all sentient beings (bs 1)

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(4) 毛呂毛呂湏久比 (5) (4) morǝ-morǝ sukup-i (5) watas-i-tamap-ana (4) all-all save-conv (5) take.across-conv-hon-des (4/5) [I] want [them] to save all [sentient beings], and to take [them] across (bs 4) (6) 毛呂毛呂乎為弖 (6) morǝ-morǝ-wo wi-te (6) all-all-acc lead(conv)-sub (6) leading [there] all [sentient beings] (bs 8) (5) 都止米毛呂毛呂 (6) 湏々賣毛呂母呂 (5) tutǝmɛ morǝ-morǝ (6) susum-e morǝ-mǝrǝ (5) strive(imp) all-all (6) advance-imp all-all (5) Strive, everybody! (6) Advance, everybody! (bs 18) 2.1.1.3 Numerals Only cardinal numerals are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. 2.1.1.3.1

Cardinal Numerals

Only the following cardinal numerals are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: – puta (布多) ‘two’ – mi (弥) ‘three’ in mi-so ‘thirty’ (lit. ‘three-ten’) – yǝ (与) ‘four’ – itu (伊都) ‘five’ – ya (夜) ‘eight’ in ya-so ‘eighty’ – -so (蘇) ‘ten’ in mi-so ‘thirty’ and ya-so ‘eighty’ – miso (弥蘇) ‘thirty’ – miso-ti amari puta-tu (弥蘇知阿麻利布多都) ‘thirty-two’ – yaso (夜蘇) ‘eighty’ – ti (知) ‘thousand’ – yǝrǝⁿdu (与呂豆) ‘ten thousand’ Examples: (1) 弥蘇知阿麻利 (2) 布多都乃加多知 (3) 夜蘇久佐等 (4) 曾太礼留 比止

(1) miso-ti amar-i (2) puta-tu n-ǝ katati (3) yaso kusa-tǝ (4) sǝⁿdar-er-u pitǝ (1) thirty-cl exceed-conv (2) two-cl cop-attr mark (3) eighty typecom (4) be.complete-prog-attr person

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(4) a Person, who is complete (1/2) with thirty-two marks (3) [and] eighty [lesser sign] types (bs 2) (1) 与都乃閇美 (2) 伊都々乃毛乃 (1) yǝ-tu n-ǝ pɛmi (2) itu-tu n-ǝ monǝ (1) four-cl cop-attr snake (2) five-cl cop-attr demon (1) four snakes (2) [and] five demons (bs 19) (4) 知与乃都美 (4) ti yǝ-nǝ tumi (4) thousand life-gen sin (4) the sins of one thousand lives (bs 17) (2) 与呂豆比賀利 (2) yǝrǝⁿdu pikari (2) ten.thousand light (2) myriad of lights (bs 4) 2.1.1.3.2

Classifiers

Only two Old Japanese classifiers are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: -tu and -ti. Both are used to count inanimate things, but there is a difference: while -tu is used with digits, -ti is used with decades and hundreds (there are no examples of numerals for hundreds in the Bussokuseki-no uta). Note that a digit numeral with a classifier -tu used before a counted noun, the attributive form n-ǝ of the copula n- is required between -tu and a noun. (1) 弥蘇知阿麻利 (2) 布多都乃加多知 (3) 夜蘇久佐等 (4) 曾太礼留比止 (1) miso-ti amar-i (2) puta-tu n-ǝ katati (3) yaso kusa-tǝ (4) sǝⁿdar-er-u pitǝ (1) thirty-cl exceed-conv (2) two-cl cop-attr mark (3) eighty typecom (4) be.complete-prog-attr person (4) a Person, who is complete (1/2) with thirty-two marks (3) [and] eighty [lesser sign] types (bs 2) (1) 与都乃閇美 (2) 伊都々乃毛乃 (1) yǝ-tu n-ǝ pɛmi (2) itu-tu n-ǝ monǝ (1) four-cl cop-attr snake (2) five-cl cop-attr demon (1) four snakes (2) [and] five demons (bs 19)

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2.1.2 Adjectives In Old Japanese, adjectives are a transitional part of speech between nominals and verbs. They have two subclasses: uninflected adjectives and inflected adjectives. Uninflected adjectives behave morphosyntactically like nouns and inflected adjectives like verbs. However, the adjective inflection is different from verbal, because the primary adjectival inflected forms are limited to converb in -ku, final in -si or -Ø, attributive in -ki, gerund in -mi, and exclamative in -mo. All other adjectival forms are derived by suffixation of certain morphemes to the attributive -ki, or by adding different suffixes and auxiliaries to verb ar‘to exist’ which follows the converb -ku, frequently resulting in the secondary contracted form -k-ar-. 2.1.2.1 Uninflected Adjectives Unlike inflected adjectives, uninflected adjectives modify a following nominal in their bare root form, and require a following copula when used as a predicate. This subclass of adjectives probably was on a brink of extinction in late Western Old Japanese (there are none in Middle (Classical) Japanese except those remaining in petrified compounds). Only four uninflected adjectives are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: mare ‘rare’, masa ‘right’, ‘true’, ‘real’, opo ‘great’, and tune ‘usual’. Examples: (5) … 阿止々己呂 (6) 麻礼 尓母阿留可毛 (5) … atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (6) mare n-i mǝ ar-u kamo (5) … footprint place (6) rare cop-conv fp exist-attr ep (6) Is [not it] rare, too, (5) the place [of] the footprints … ? (bs 2) (1) 与伎比止乃 (2) 麻佐米尓美祁牟 (1) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (2) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (1) be.good-attr person-gen (2) right eye-loc see-past.tent-attr (1) Good Persons (2) probably saw right by [their] eyes (bs 3) (3) 麻為多利弖 (4) 麻佐米尓弥祁牟 (3) mawi-tar-i-te (4) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) go(hum)(conv)-perf.prog-conv-sub (4) right eye-loc seepast.tent-attr (4) [they] probably saw right by [their] eyes (3) after having gone [there] (bs 12) (1) 久湏理師波 (2) 都祢乃母阿礼等 (1) kusuri si pa (2) tune n-ǝ mǝ ar-e-ⁿdǝ

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(1) medicine master top (2) usual cop-attr fp exist-ev-conc (2) Although there are also usual (1) medicine masters (bs 15) (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death (bs 20) Uninflected adjectives can be also adverbialized by a converb n-i of the copula n-: thus, both masa ‘right’, ‘true’, ‘real’ and tune ‘usual’ appearing as adjectives above and taⁿda ‘direct’ (not used by itself as an uninflected adjective in the Bussokuseki-no uta) are attested as adverbs masa n-i ‘really’, tune n-i ‘always’, and taⁿda n-i ‘directly’: (5) 多太尓阿布麻弖尓 (6) 麻佐尓阿布麻弖尓 (5) taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (6) masa n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (5) direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc (6) real cop-conv meetattr-term-loc (5) until [we] meet directly, (6) until [we] really meet (bs 6) (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death (bs 20) 2.1.2.2 Inflected Adjectives In Old Japanese, in general, inflected adjectives are numerous, but given the size of Bussokuseki-no uta, only a handful of them are attested in the text: atu‘to be thick’, kitana- ‘to be dirty’, mɛⁿdasi ‘to be praiseworthy’, ‘to be lovable’, naŋga- ‘to be long’, ŋgǝtǝ- ‘to be like’, opo- ‘to be many’, taputo- ~ taputǝ- ‘to be awesome’, tǝmosi ‘to be attractive’, uresi ‘to be happy’, ‘to be glad’, yǝ- ‘to be good’, and woⁿdina- ‘to be infirm’. There are two subclasses of inflected adjectives: one with a root ending in the syllable -si, and another one ending in all other possible syllables. The adjectival subclass in -si has a final form in -Ø due to the haplology -si-si > -si, while the other one has the final form in -si. The primary inflectional forms of inflected adjectives are converb -ku, final -si or -Ø, attribu-

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tive -ki, and gerund -mi, while all the secondary forms are derived by adding suffixes and auxiliaries to verb ar- ‘to exist’, which follows the converb -ku. The resulting construction -ku ar- often appears in its contracted form -k-ar-. Note also that a focus particle mǝ can be placed between the converb -ku and ar- ‘to exist’. Some verbal suffixes and auxiliaries, such as debitive -umbɛ- or -ŋgata- ‘to be difficult’ exhibit the adjectival paradigm. Examples: (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2-attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp existattr ep (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints (bs 5) (5) 美都々志乃覇止 (6) 奈賀久志乃覇止 (5) mi-tutu sinǝp-e tǝ (6) naŋga-ku sinǝp-e tǝ (5) look(conv)-coor long.for-imp dv (6) be.long-conv long.forimp dv (5) [I] say: “Long for [the Buddha] while looking [at them]”, (6) [I] say: “Long [for Him] for a long [time]”! (bs 7) (5) 阿 止乃止毛志 久 (6) 宇礼志久毛阿留可 (5) a tǝ-nǝ tǝmosi -ku (6) uresi-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint-gen be.attractive -conv (6) be.happy-conv fp exist-attr ep (5) The foot prints are attractive, and (6) [I] am happy as well! (bs 12) (4) 伎多奈伎微乎婆 (5) 伊止比湏都閇志 (4) kitana-ki mï-womba (5) itǝp-i sut-umbɛ-si (4) be.dirty-attr body-acc(emph) (5) loathe-conv discard-deb-fin (5) [I] loathe and must discard (4) [my] dirty body (bs 19) (1) 伊加豆知乃 (2) 比加利乃期止岐 (1) ikaⁿduti-nǝ (2) pikari-nǝ ŋgǝtǝ-ki (1) thunder-gen (2) lightning-gen be.like-attr (1/2) Like a thunder [that follows] a lightning (bs 20) (2) 和礼尓於止礼留 (3) 比止乎於保美 (2) ware-ni otǝr-er-u (3) pitǝ-wo opo-mi

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(2) i-dat be.inferior-prog-attr (3) person-abs be.many-ger (3) Because there are many people (2) who are inferior to me (bs 13) (1) 比止乃微波 (2) 衣賀多久阿礼婆 (1) pitǝ-nǝ mï pa (2) e-ŋgata-ku ar-e-mba (1) person-gen body top (2) obtain(nml)-be.difficult-conv exist-evcon (2) Because [it] is difficult to obtain (1) a human body (bs 18) (4) 伊麻乃久湏理師 (5) 多布止可理家利 (6) 米太志加利鶏利 (4) ima-nǝ kusuri si (5) taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i (6) mɛⁿdasi-k-ar-i-ker-i (4) now-gen medicine master (5) be.awesome-conv-exist-convretr-fin (6) be.praiseworthy-conv-exist-conv-retr-fin (5) it turned out that [He] is awesome, (4) the present medicine master, (6) it turned out that [He] is praiseworthy (bs 15) 2.1.3 Verbs Western Old Japanese verbs have the following categories: 1) Mode (affirmative or negative); 2) Aspect (imperfective, perfective, progressive); 3) Tense (present-future and past); 4) Mood (indicative, imperative, tentative, negative tentative, second tentative, debitive, potential, negative potential, subjunctive, suppositional, optative, desiderative, benefactive, and exclamatory); 5) Voice (active, passive, causative, and reciprocal-cooperative); 6) Retrospective; 7) Reported action; 8) Iterative; 9) Predication (final and non-final); 10) Honorification. However, not all categories can be found in the Bussokuseki-no uta. 2.1.3.1 Verbal Classes There are the following verbal classes in Western Old Japanese: 1) Consonant verbs (verbs with a root ending in a consonant), for example: ip- ‘to say’, kik- ‘to listen’, ‘to hear’, nas- ‘to make’, nǝkǝr- ‘to remain’, ok- ‘to place’, ‘to put’, omǝp- ‘to think’, panat- ‘to separate from’, porǝmb- ‘to perish’, pum- ‘to step’, ‘to tread’, sukup- ‘to save’, tat- ‘to stand’, ‘to depart’, yuk‘to go’, yusur- ‘to shake’, watas- ‘to bring across’, ‘to take across’, ‘to make cross’.

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2) Vowel verbs (weak vowel verbs with a root ending in vowels /ɛ/ or /ï/) that lose the final vowel of the root before final predication suffix -u, attributive suffix -uru, and evidential marker -ure and some other suffixes like debitive -umbɛ- or negative potential -umasiⁿzi. For example: motǝmɛ- ‘to seek’, oⁿde‘to be afraid’, wopɛ- ‘to end’, ‘to finish’ (tr.). There is also a special case in this class of an ‘empty’ verb e- ‘to get’, ‘to receive’ that loses its root before final predication suffix -u, attributive suffix -uru, and evidential marker -ure, thus, e-u > u, e-uru > uru, e-ure > ure. In the Bussokuseki-no uta only weak vowel verbs with a root ending in a vowel /ɛ/ are attested. The following list includes all weak vowel verbs that appear in this text: motǝmɛ- ‘to seek’, oⁿde- ‘to be afraid’, panare- ‘to get away’, ‘to separate [oneself]’, samɛ- ‘to wake up’, sasaŋgɛ- ‘to present’, ‘to offer’ (humble), sute- ‘to discard’, taⁿdune‘to search for’, tukapɛ- ‘to serve’, tutǝmɛ- ‘to strive’, wopɛ- ‘to end’, ‘to finish’ (tr.). 3) Irregular verbs with the following subclasses: a. Strong vowel verbs (mostly monosyllabic verbs with a root ending in a vowel /i/ or /ï/). Only two strong vowel verbs with /i/ are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: mi- ‘to see’, ‘to look’ and mawi- ‘to go’, ‘to come’ (humble). b. Verbs kǝ- ‘to come’ and se- ~ sǝ[-] ‘to do’. Only kǝ- ‘to come’ is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. c. Verbs ar- ‘to exist’, wor- ‘to exist’, ‘to sit’, ‘to dwell’, and all the derivatives of ar-, such as, for example, nar- ‘to be’, the progressive suffix -er-, the perfective-progressive auxiliary -tar-, and the retrospective auxiliary -ker-. Among those, wor- ‘to exist’, ‘to sit’, ‘to dwell’ is not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. d. Verbs in- ‘to go [away]’, sin- ‘to die’, and the perfective auxiliary -n-, a grammaticalization of the verb in- ‘to go’, all exhibiting a mixed consonant and vowel verbs paradigm. e. Defective verbs that do not have full verbal paradigm and only a very limited and mostly highly irregular set of forms. In the Bussokusekino uta only copulas n- and tǝ, as well as defective verb tǝ ‘to say’ are attested. 2.1.3.2 Verbal Prefixes Only one verbal prefix is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: the potential prefix e-: (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te

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(3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-cnv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) 2.1.3.3 Verbal Suffixes Only the following verbal suffixes are attested, which can be divided morphosyntactically into sentence-final verbal suffixes, sentence-non-final verbal suffixes, and word-non-final verbal suffixes. 2.1.3.3.1

Sentence-Final Suffixes

The following sentence-final verbal suffixes are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: final predication suffix -u ~ -i, attributive -u ~ -uru ~ -ru ~ -ǝ, evidential -ɛ ~ -e ~ -ure ~ -re, imperative -e ~ -Ø, and desiderative -ana. 2.1.3.3.1.1

Final Predication Suffix -u ~ -i

The allomorph -i is found after ar- ‘to exist’ and all its derivatives, and the allomorph -u after all other verbs except strong vowel verbs where the final form coincides with the root due to the elision of -u after the strong vowel according to the rules of Old Japanese phonotactics that do not allow vowel clusters, thus *mi-u > mi. Examples from the Bussokuseki-no uta: (5) 伊波尓惠利都久 (5) ipa-ni wer-i-tuk-u (5) rock-loc carve-conv-attach-fin (5) [I] carve [them] on a rock (bs 3) (2) 布美於祁留阿止波 (3) 伊波乃宇閇尓 (4) 伊麻毛乃己礼利 (2) pum-i-ok-er-u atǝ pa (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-ni (4) ima mo nǝkǝr-er-i (2) step-conv-place-attr footprint top (3) rock-gen top-loc (4) now fp remain-prog-fin (2) The footprints that were left (4) even now have remained (3) on the top of the rock (bs 7) (4) … 久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (4) … kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (4) … land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also go (4) to the Land … (bs 8) (5) 和我与波乎閇牟 (5) wa-ŋga yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u

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(5) i-poss life top end-tent-fin (5) [I] want to end my life (bs 14) 2.1.3.3.1.2

Attributive Suffix -u ~ -uru ~ -ru ~ -ǝ

The distribution of these allomorphs is as follows: -u is used after consonantal verbs as well as after consonant-final suffixes and auxiliaries, -uru after weak vowel verbs and irregular verbs kǝ- ‘to come’, in- ‘to go’, and sin- ‘to die’ as well as after vowel-final auxiliaries, -ru after strong vowel verbs, and -ǝ after copula n-. Not all these forms are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. Attributive can be used in different functions: a modifier, a nominalized form, and as a final predicate with and without kakari-musubi,2 which is a grammar rule that requires the change of a final form into attributive if there are preceding focus particles sǝ ~ ⁿzǝ or namo, interrogative particles ya or ka, and emphatic particle ka ~ kamǝ that triggers this change irrespective of its location before or after the predicate. Again, not all these particles are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta, and especially not all of them are found in the syntactic position to trigger the replacement of a final form by an attributive. Examples: 1) modifier: (1) 美阿止都久留 (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎 (1) mi-atǝ tukur-u (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i (1) hon-footprint make-attr (2) stone-gen echo-nml (2) The echo of the stone (1) where [I] carved the [Buddha’s] honorable footprints (bs 1) (3) 夜蘇久佐等 (4) 曾太礼留比止 (3) yaso kusa-tǝ (4) sǝⁿdar-er-u pitǝ (3) eighty type-com (4) be.complete-prog-attr person (4) a Person, who is complete (3) with eighty [lesser sign] types (bs 2) (1) 伊可奈留夜 (2) 比止尓伊麻世可 (1) ika nar-u ya (2) pitǝ n-i imas-e ka (1) what be-attr ep (2) person cop-conv exist(hon)-ev ip (1) What kind of (2) a person is [He]? (bs 5)

2 The attributive as a final predicate without kakari particles is not attested in the Bussokusekino uta.

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(3) 与伎比止乃 (4) 伊麻湏久尓 (3) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (4) imas-u kuni (3) be.good-attr person-gen (4) exist(hon)-attr land (3/4) the Land where the Good Person resides (bs 8) (1) 己礼乃与波 (2) 宇都利佐留止毛 (1) kǝre n-ǝ yǝ pa (2) utur-i sar-u tǝmo (1) this cop-attr world top (2) change-conv go.away-fin conj (1/2) Even though this world changes and goes away (bs 10) (1) 於保美阿止乎 (2) 美尓久留比止 (1) opomi-atǝ-wo (2) mi-ni k-uru pitǝ (1) hon-footprint-acc (2) see(nml)-loc come-attr person (2) a person who comes to see (1) the honorable footprints (bs 17) 2) nominalized form: (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2-attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp existattr ep (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints (bs 5) (5) 多太尓阿布麻弖尓 (6) 麻佐尓阿布麻弖尓 (5) taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (6) masa n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (5) direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc (6) real cop-conv meetattr-term-loc (5) until meeting directly, (6) until meeting in reality (bs 6) (6) 美留期止毛阿留可 (6) mi-ru ŋgǝtǝ mo ar-u ka (6) see-attr like fp exist-attr ep (6) [It] is like [I] see [Him]! (bs 16) (6) 佐麻佐牟我多米尓 (6) sam-as-am-u-ŋga tamɛ n-i (6) wake.up-caus-tent-attr-poss for cop-conv (6) in order to make [them] wake up (bs 21)

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3) final predicate with kakari-musubi: (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2-attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp existattr ep (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints! (bs 5) (5) … 阿止々己呂 (6) 麻礼尓母阿留可毛 (5) … atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (6) mare n-i mǝ ar-u kamo (5) … footprint place (6) rare cop-conv fp exist-attr ep (6) Is [not it] rare, too, (5) the place [of] the footprints … ? (bs 2) (4) 多麻乃与曾保比 (5) 於母保由留可母 (4) tama-nǝ yǝsǝpopi (5) omǝp-oy-uru kamǝ (4) jewel-comp adorned.appearance (5) think-pass-attr ep (5) [I] suddenly think about (4) the jewel-like precious appearance (bs 16) (4) 知与乃都美佐閇 (5) 保呂夫止曾伊布 (6) 乃曾久止叙伎久 (4) ti yǝ-nǝ tumi sapɛ (5) porǝmb-u tǝ sǝ ip-u (6) nǝⁿzǝk-u tǝ ⁿzǝ kik-u (4) thousand life-gen sin rp (5) perish-fin dv fp say-attr (6) take.away-fin dv fp hear-attr (5) [They] say that (4) even the sins of one thousand lives (5) will disappear. (6) [I] hear that [the veneration of these footprints] will take [those sins] away (bs 17) 2.1.3.3.1.3

Evidential Suffix -ɛ ~ -e ~ -ure ~ -re

The distribution pattern of the allomorphs of the evidential suffix is the same as for the allomorphs of the attributive suffix, with the following minor differences to be kept in mind: first, both -ɛ and -e occur after consonant verbs, with -e appearing in the phonological environment where the contrast between /ɛ/ and /e/ was lost, see the section on phonology above. Second, there is no special allomorph for a copula n-, because it has no evidential form. Among the numerous allomorphs of the woj evidential suffix, only -e is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. The evidential form appears in two functions: as an emphatic final predicate meaning ‘it is obvious that’, ‘it is indeed that’ with and without the preceding focus particle kǝsǝ, and as a base for adding certain verbal suffixes, such as conjunctive -mba and concessive -ⁿdǝ. In the Busso-

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kuseki-no uta evidential as a final predicate marker occurs only without the preceding kǝsǝ: 1) final predicate: (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎波 (3) 阿米尓伊多利 (4) 都知佐閇由湏礼 (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i pa (3) amɛ-ni itar-i (4) tuti sapɛ yusur-e (2) stone-gen echo-nml top (3) Heaven-loc reach-conv (4) earth rp shake-ev (2) The echo of the stone (3) reaches the Heaven, and (4) shakes the Earth as well (bs 1) (1) 伊可奈留夜 (2) 比止尓伊麻世可 (1) ika nar-u ya (2) pitǝ n-i imas-e ka (1) what be-attr ep (2) person cop-conv exist(hon)-ev ip (1) What kind of (2) a person is [He] indeed? (bs 5) 2) as a base for the following conjunctive suffix -mba and concessive suffix -ⁿdǝ: (1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 麻婆利麻都礼婆 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) mapar-i-matur-e-mba (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) go.around-conv-hum-ev-con (2) When [I] circumambulate (1) these honorable footprints (bs 16) (1) 比止乃微波 (2) 衣賀多久阿礼婆 (1) pitǝ-nǝ mï pa (2) e-ŋgata-ku ar-e-mba (1) person-gen body top (2) obtain(nml)-be.difficult-conv exist-evcon (2) Because [it] is difficult to obtain (1) a human body (bs 18) (1) 久湏理師波 (2) 都祢乃母阿礼等 (1) kusuri si pa (2) tune n-ǝ mǝ ar-e-ⁿdǝ (1) medicine master top (2) usual cop-attr fp exist-ev-conc (2) Although there are usual (1) medicine masters, too (bs 15)

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Imperative Suffix -e ~ -ǝ ~ -Ø ~ -yǝ

Among various allomorphs of the imperative -e ~ -ǝ ~ -Ø ~ -yǝ only -e and -Ø are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta.3 The former occurs after consonant verbs, and the latter after vowel verbs. Thus, in Old Japanese the imperative of vowel verbs coincides with the root. This situation is cardinally different from all the following history of the language, when a woj suffix -yǝ4 (eoj -rǝ) becomes obligatory in the imperative, while it is still optional in Old Japanese. (5) 美都々志乃覇止 (6) 奈賀久志乃覇止 (5) mi-tutu sinǝp-e tǝ (6) naŋga-ku sinǝp-e tǝ (5) look(conv)-coor long.for-imp dv (6) be.long-conv long.forimp dv (5) [I] say: “Long for [the Buddha] while looking [at them]”, (6) [I] say: “Long for [Him] for a long [time]”! (bs 7) (3) 止己止婆尓 (4) 佐乃己利伊麻世 (3) tǝkǝtǝmba n-i (4) sa nǝkǝr-i-imas-e (3) eternal cop-conv (4) thus remain-conv-hon-imp (4) remain in this shape (3) eternally (bs 10) (5) 都止米毛呂毛呂 (6) 湏々賣毛呂母呂 (5) tutǝmɛ-Ø morǝ-morǝ (6) susum-e morǝ-mǝrǝ (5) strive-imp all-all (6) advance-imp all-all (5) Strive, everybody! (6) Advance, everybody! (bs 18) 2.1.3.3.1.5

Desiderative Suffix -ana ~ -na

The desiderative suffix -ana is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta only twice in the same poem after a consonantal verb in the function expressing the desire of a speaker for someone else to perform an action. Other functions of -ana (Vovin 2020a.2: 599) and its allomorph -na after vowel verbs are not found in the Bussokuseki-no uta. (4) 毛呂毛呂湏久比 (5) 和多志多麻波奈 (6) 湏久比多麻波奈 (4) morǝ-morǝ sukup-i (5) watas-i-tamap-ana (6) sukup-i-tamap-ana (4) all-all save-conv (5) take.across-conv-hon-des (6) save-convhon-des 3 See the detailed description of all the allomorphs of the imperative in Vovin (2009: 647–660) or (2020a.2: 583–595). 4 Historically probably going back to the emphatic particle yǝ.

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(4/5) [I] want [them] to save all [sentient beings], and to take [them] across, (6) [I] want [them] to save [all sentient beings] (bs 4) 2.1.3.3.2

Sentence-non-Final Verbal Suffixes

Sentence-non-final suffixes are converbs and nominalizers. 2.1.3.3.2.1

Converb -i

The converb has two allomorphs: an allomorph -i is used after consonant and irregular verbs, and an allomorph -Ø after vowel verbs (including strong vowel), with -i being suppressed after the final vowel of the stem, e.g.: *kopï-i > kopï-Ø ‘longs for and’. In word-to-word translation I place such suppressed converbs in parentheses: (conv). However, the converb -i itself suppresses the final vowel of the stem in irregular verbs, resulting in *kǝ-i > k-i ‘comes and’ and *se-i > s-i ‘does and’. In isolation it has the function of a non-final predicate. The converb -i is also used to form verbal compounds, including those that consist of a main verb and an auxiliary. If several auxiliaries are used, the converb almost always appears between them, functioning as a kind of glue that keeps a verbal form together. Thus, the converb -i marks the non-final members of a verbal compound. Sometimes a non-final predicate in the converb form may be used as an adverbial modifier of a following predicate. Examples: 1) non-final predicate: (4) 都知佐閇由湏礼 (5) 知々波々賀多米尓 (4) tuti sapɛ yusur-e (5) titi papa-ŋga tamɛ n-i (4) earth rp shake-ev (5) father mother-poss for cop-conv (4) [it] shakes the Earth as well (5) for father and mother (bs 1) (1) 麻湏良乎乃 (2) 湏々美佐岐多知 (1) masura wo-nǝ (2) susum-i saki tat-i (1) noble man-gen (2) advance-conv front depart-conv (1) The Noble Man (2) went forward and departed first, and … (bs 6) (4) 伎多奈伎微乎婆 (5) 伊止比湏都閇志 (4) kitana-ki mï-womba (5) itǝp-i sut-umbɛ-si (4) be.dirty-attr body-acc(emph) (5) loathe-conv discard-deb-fin (5) [I] loathe and must discard (4) [my] dirty body (bs 19)

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2) in verbal compounds: (4) … 比止乃 (5) 布美志阿止々己呂 (4) … pitǝ-nǝ (5) pum-i-si atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (4) … person-gen (5) step-conv-past.attr footprint place (5) the place [of] the footprints left (4) by a Person … (bs 2) (5) 伊波尓惠利都久 (5) ipa-ni wer-i-tuk-u (5) rock-loc carve-conv-attach-fin (5) [I] carve [them] on a rock (bs 3) (1) 己乃美阿止夜 (2) 与呂豆比賀利乎 (3) 波奈知伊太志 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ ya (2) yǝrǝⁿdu pikari-wo (3) panat-i-iⁿdas-i (1) this hon-footprint ep (2) ten.thousand light-acc (3) radiate-convbring.out-conv (1) Oh, these honorable footprints (3) radiate (2) myriad of lights (bs 4) In this example the converb -i has the function of the glue (after panat-) and the function of a non-final predicate (after iⁿdas-). 2.1.3.3.2.2

Converb -u

The converb -u has the same function as the converb -i, but they are morphologically complimentary distributed: -u occurs only after the negative suffix -aⁿz~ -ⁿz-, and -i elsewhere. It is attested only once in the Bussokuseki-no uta before the subordinative converb -te, which is an auxiliary, therefore we have here the second function of a glue in verbal compounds. (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-conv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) 2.1.3.3.2.3

Conjunctive Converb -mba

The conjunctive converb -mba (not to be confused with the conditional -amba ~ -mba) has just one allomorph. It always follows the evidential form of a verb. In a diachronic perspective this probably means that it was once a bound noun that became a converb suffix through a process of grammaticalization, although we can no longer recover the exact meaning of this bound noun.

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In traditional grammar -mba is considered to have three meanings: (1) reason; (2) realis condition; (3) temporal connection of two actions (‘when X, then Y ’) (Yamada 1954: 480–482). However, in Western Old Japanese the conjunctive converb-mba does not indicate the realis condition unless it is a temporal condition. I therefore view this temporal condition as a particular case of the temporal connection function. General conditions are expressed by the conditional converb -amba ~ -mba or by other means, such as a combination of the subordinative converb -te or the negative converb -aⁿz-u with the following topic particle pa. Both reason and temporal connection functions of the conjunctive converb -mba are each attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta in a single example: (1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 麻婆利麻都礼婆 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) mapar-i-matur-e-mba (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) go.around-conv-hum-ev-con (2) When [I] circumambulate (1) these honorable footprints (bs 16) (1) 比止乃微波 (2) 衣賀多久阿礼婆 (1) pitǝ-nǝ mï pa (2) e-ŋ-gata-ku ar-e-mba (1) person-gen body top (2) obtain(nml)-gen-be.difficult-conv exist-ev-con (2) Because [it] is difficult to obtain (1) a human body (bs 18) 2.1.3.3.2.4

Concessive Converb -ⁿdǝ

The concessive converb -ndǝ always follows the evidential form of a verb and has only one function: introducing a concessive clause. Its variant -ⁿdǝmǝ is not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta, where -ⁿdǝ appears just once: (1) 久湏理師波 (2) 都祢乃母阿礼等 (1) kusuri si pa (2) tune n-ǝ mǝ ar-e-ⁿdǝ (1) medicine master top (2) usual cop-attr fp exist-ev-conc (2) Although there are usual (1) medicine masters, too (bs 15) 2.1.3.3.2.5

Nominalizer -i

The nominalizer -i must be distinguished from the converb -i: although they look identical, they have different accent patterns (Martin 1987: 211), not to mention their completely different syntactic functions. There is, however, a morphonological similarity between the two: like the converb -i, the nominalizer -i has an allomorph -Ø after both weak and strong vowel verbs, -i being suppressed after the final vowel of the stem, e.g.: *kopï-i > kopï-Ø ‘love,

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longing’, *mi-i > mi-Ø ‘seeing, looking’. In the word-for-word glosses I give such suppressed nominalizers in parentheses: (nml). However, the nominalizer itself suppresses the final vowel of the stem in irregular verbs, resulting in *kǝ-i > k-i ‘coming’ and *se-i > s-i ‘doing’. In the Bussokuseki-no uta, there are just two examples of nominalizer -i: one after the consonantal verb pimbik- ‘to echo’, and another one after the irregular sin- ‘to die’. There are no other Western Old Japanese nominalizers attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎波 (3) 阿米尓伊多利 (4) 都知佐閇由湏礼 (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i pa (3) amɛ-ni itar-i (4) tuti sapɛ yusur-e (2) stone-gen echo-nml top (3) Heaven-loc reach-conv (4) earth rp shake-ev (2) The echo of the stone (3) reaches the Heaven, and (4) shakes the Earth as well (bs 1) (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death (bs 20) 2.1.3.3.3

Word-non-Final Verbal Suffixes

Unlike sentence-final and sentence-non-final verbal suffixes, word-non-final verbal suffixes cannot conclude a verbal form and always require another suffix to follow them. 2.1.3.3.3.1

Negative -aⁿz- ~ -ⁿz-

Interestingly enough, no allomorphs -an- ~ -n- of the negative suffix are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. Both -aⁿz- and -ⁿz- appear just once. The allomorph -aⁿz- is used after consonant verbs and auxiliaries, and after r-irregular and nirregular verbs, and the allomorph -ⁿz- after vowel verbs (including irregular verbs) and auxiliaries. The choice between the allomorphs -an- ~ -n- on the one hand and the allomorphs -aⁿz- ~ -ⁿz- depends on the following morpheme: -aⁿz- ~ -ⁿz- appear only before the final -u, the converb -u, and the nominalizer -u (not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta). Before all other suffixes -an- ~ -n- are used. The negative suffix -(a)ⁿz- represents a contraction of a negative nominalized form -an-i plus the verb se- ‘to do’. Examples:

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(3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-conv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (6) 於豆閇可良受 夜

(3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (6) oⁿdumbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ya (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (6) be.afraid-deb-conv-exist-neg-fin ip (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death. (6) Should [I] not be afraid? [—Certainly, I should!] (bs 20) 2.1.3.3.3.2

Tentative -am- ~ -m-

The tentative suffix has two allomorphs: -am and -m. The allomorph -am- is used after consonant verbs, r-irregular verbs, n-irregular verbs, and consonantfinal auxiliaries and suffixes, and the allomorph -m- after vowel verbs, other irregular verbs, and vowel-final auxiliaries and suffixes. In the Bussokuseki-no uta the allomorph -am- occurs five times and the allomorph -m- just once. The tentative suffix -am- ~ -m- is attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta in the function expressing intention. There are no suggestion or supposition functions. Examples: (3) 布賣留阿止乎 (4) 美都々志乃波牟 (3) pum-er-u atǝ-wo (4) mi-tutu sinǝp-am-u (3) step-prog-attr footprint-acc (4) look(conv)-coor long.fortent-fin (4) [I] will be longing for [Him] while looking (3) at the footprints [He] has left (bs 6) (3) 与伎比止乃 (4) 伊麻湏久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (3) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (4) imas-u kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (3) be.good-attr person-gen (4) exist(hon)-attr land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also go (3/4) to the Land where the Good Person resides (bs 8)

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(1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 宇夜麻比弖 (4) 乃知乃保止氣 尓 (5) 由豆利麻都良牟 (6) 佐々義麻宇佐牟 (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) uyamap-i-te (4) nǝti-nǝ potǝkɛ-ni (5) yuⁿdur-i-matur-am-u (6) sasaŋgɛ-mawus-am-u (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-placeconv (3) worship-conv-sub (4) after-gen Buddha-dat (5) pass.onconv-hum-tent-fin (6) present(conv)-hum-tent-fin (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of [Buddha] Śākya[muni], and (3) [I] revere [them]. (5) [I] would pass [them] (4) to the Buddha of the Future, (6) [I] would present [them] to [Him] (bs 9) (4) 和多佐牟多米止 (5) 宇都志麻都礼利 (4) watas-am-u tamɛ tǝ (5) utus-i-matur-er-i (4) take.across-tent-attr for cop (5) copy-conv-hum-prog-fin (4) in order to take [them] across (5) [I] have copied [the footprints] (bs 13) (6) 佐麻佐牟我多米尓 (6) sam-as-am-u-ŋga tamɛ n-i (6) wake.up-caus-tent-attr-poss for cop-conv (6) in order to make [them] wake up (bs 21) 2.1.3.3.3.3

Tentative -uram-

Although there is also an allomorph -ram- in Western Old Japanese, it is not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. The distinction between -am- and -uram- is not quite clear. Previously I have defined it as a non-past tentative, but this definition is contradicted by the following example from the Bussokuseki-no uta. There is just one example in this text: (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2-attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp existattr ep (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints (bs 5) 2.1.3.3.3.4

Passive -oy-

The passive -oy- is an assimilated form of the passive -aye- ~ -ay-. Among the many functions of a passive, only the spontaneous action is found in the Bussokuseki-no uta. There is just one example:

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(4) 多麻乃与曾保比 (5) 於母保由留可母 (4) tama-nǝ yǝsǝpopi (5) omǝp-oy-uru kamǝ (4) jewel-comp adorned.appearance (5) think-pass-attr ep (5) [I] suddenly think about (4) the jewel-like precious appearance (bs 16) 2.1.3.3.3.5

Causative -as-

The causative suffix -as- is attested only once in the Bussokuseki-no uta. Neither its variant (but not an allomorph, see Vovin (2020a.2: 776–778)) -ase-, nor the competing causative form -asimɛ- ~ -simɛ- occur in the Bussokuseki-no uta. (6) 佐麻佐牟我多米尓 (6) sam-as-am-u-ŋga tamɛ n-i (6) wake.up-caus-tent-attr-poss for cop-conv (6) in order to make [them] wake up (bs 21) 2.1.3.3.3.6

Debitive -umbɛ-

The debitive suffix has two allomorphs: -umbɛ- and -mbɛ-. The allomorph -mbɛoccurs only after strong vowel verbs, but in Western Old Japanese texts only one vowel verb mi- ‘to see, to look’ is attested with a following -mbɛ-: mi-mbɛ- ‘should look’. In the Bussokuseki-no uta the -mbɛ- is not attested, and -umbɛ- appears only three times, with two cases among three after the verb sute- ‘to discard’. Among its two functions of debitive and strong probability, -umbɛ- in the Bussokusekino uta is attested only in the debitive function. (4) 伎多奈伎微乎婆 (5) 伊止比湏都閇志 (6) 波奈礼湏都倍志 (4) kitana-ki mï-womba (5) itǝp-i sut-umbɛ-si (6) panare sut-umbɛsi (4) be.dirty-attr body-acc(emph) (5) loathe-conv discard-deb-fin (6) get.away(conv) discard-deb-fin (5) [I] loathe and must discard (4) [my] dirty body (6) [I] must get away [from it] and discard [it] (bs 19) (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (6) 於豆閇可良受 夜

(3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (6) oⁿdumbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ya (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (6) be.afraid-deb-conv-exist-neg-fin ip

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(3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death. (6) Should [I] not be afraid? [—Certainly, I should!] (bs 20) 2.1.3.3.3.7

Progressive -er-

The progressive suffix has only one allomorph -er-. It is usually believed that in Western Old Japanese it is found only after consonant verbs and the irregular verb se- ‘to do’ (Saeki 1959: 162–163). However, Yoshida Kanehiko pointed out that although -er- is not attested after vowel verbs per se, it is found after the potential (1973: 606), with the expected loss of the final vowel of the auxiliary: -ŋ-gat-er. In addition, -er- is also attested after the irregular form kǝ- ‘to come’ and the strong vowel verb ki- ‘to wear’, which both result in an irregular form ker- ‘come(prog)’ or ‘wear(prog)’ (see examples in mys 17.3957 and mys 15.3667).5 Historically -er- represents a monophthongization of the converb -i with the following verb ar- ‘to exist’ that is used as an auxiliary (Yamada 1954: 325). This is supported by the fact that after [-coronal] consonants it has the shape -er- < *-i + ar- with the kō-rui vowel /e/ < *ia, and also by the fact that there is a contracted form -ar- in Eastern Old Japanese, which represents a different line of development of the sequence *-i + ar-. It is necessary to note that unlike other uncontracted forms that are amply attested in Western Old Japanese, such as -(a)ⁿz-u ar- ‘-neg-conv exist-’, -te ar- ‘-sub exist’, and -ku ar- ‘-conv exist’, the uncontracted form *-i ar- does not present itself. The progressive suffix -er- has two functions: (1) progressive and (2) perfective. It seems that the progressive function is the original one, as it appears more frequently not only in general, but also in the earliest texts. The perfective function probably developed from the progressive. In the Bussokuseki-no uta perfective function is slightly more frequent, being attested in six cases, and progressive function only in four. Examples: 1) Progressive: (3) 夜蘇久佐等 (4) 曾太礼留比止 (3) yaso kusa-tǝ (4) sǝⁿdar-er-u pitǝ (3) eighty type-com (4) be.complete-prog-attr person (4) a Person, who is complete (3) with eighty [lesser sign] types (bs 2)

5 Eastern Old Japanese has k-ar- ‘wear-prog’, see mys 20.4431.

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(2) 和礼尓於止礼留 (3) 比止乎於保美 (2) ware-ni otǝr-er-u (3) pitǝ-wo opo-mi (2) i-dat be.inferior-prog-attr (3) person-abs be.many-ger (3) Because there are many people (2) who are inferior to me (bs 13) (3) 乃利乃多能 (4) 与湏加止奈礼利 (3) nǝri-nǝ ta-nǝ (4) yǝsuka tǝ nar-er-i (3) Law-gen for-gen (4) cause.condition cop become-prog-fin (4) [the rebirth] is conditioned (3) by the Law (bs 18) (3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death (bs 20) 2) Perfective: (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2-attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp existattr ep (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints (bs 5) (3) 布賣留阿止乎 (4) 美都々志乃波牟 (3) pum-er-u atǝ-wo (4) mi-tutu sinǝp-am-u (3) step-prog-attr footprint-acc (4) look(conv)-coor long.fortent-fin (4) [I] will be longing for [Him] while looking (3) at the footprints [He] has left (bs 6) (2) 布美於祁留阿止波 (3) 伊波乃宇閇尓 (4) 伊麻毛乃己礼利 (2) pum-i-ok-er-u atǝ pa (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-ni (4) ima mo nǝkǝr-er-i (2) step-conv-place-attr footprint top (3) rock-gen top-loc (4) now fp remain-prog-fin (2) The footprints that were left (4) even now have remained (3) on the top of the rock (bs 7)

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(4) 和多佐牟多米止 (5) 宇都志麻都礼利 (6) 都加閇麻都礼利 (4) watas-am-u tamɛ tǝ (5) utus-i-matur-er-i (6) tukapɛ-matur-er-i (4) take.across-tent-attr for cop (5) copy-conv-hum-prog-fin (6) serve(conv)-hum-prog-fin (4) in order to take [them] across (5) [I] have copied [the footprints]. (6) [I] have served [for this work] (bs 13) 2.1.3.4 Auxiliaries The common formal feature of auxiliaries is that they all follow a converb form of a verb or of a verbal form. There are two basic types of auxiliaries in Western Old Japanese: bound auxiliaries that have no meaning of their own and cannot function as independent verbs by themselves, and lexical auxiliaries that have lexical meaning when they function as independent verbs. 2.1.3.4.1

Bound Auxiliaries

Bound auxiliaries can be divided into word-final auxiliaries and word-non-final auxiliaries. Some of word-final bound auxiliaries can also be sentence-final auxiliaries, but since the distinction between sentence-final and word-final is much more blurred than in the case of suffixes, I separate them only into two formal classes: word-final and word-non-final. 2.1.3.4.1.1

Word-Final Bound Auxiliaries

There are three word-final bound auxiliaries in Western Old Japanese: the subordinative gerund -te, the coordinative gerund -tutu, and the past tense marker -ki ~ -si ~ -sika. 2.1.3.4.1.1.1

Subordinative Gerund -te

The subordinative gerund has just one allomorph -te. It follows converbs: -i, and -u, as well as -ku, but it is not attested after -ku in the Bussokuseki-no uta. Sometimes the function of -te is defined as describing an action that is over before the action of the following predicate starts. This definition is not precise, because -te rather indicates that the first action (marked with -te) started to occur earlier than the next action. (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-cnv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3)

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(1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 多豆祢毛止米弖 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) taⁿdune motǝmɛ-te (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) search.for(conv) seek(conv)-sub (2) Searching and seeking for (1) these honorable footprints (bs 8) (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (6) 毛呂毛呂乎為弖 (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (6) morǝ-morǝ-wo wi-te (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (6) all-all-acc lead(conv)sub (5) I would also go (6) leading [there] all [sentient beings] (bs 8) (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 宇夜麻比弖 (4) 乃知乃保止氣 尓 (5) 由豆利麻都良牟 (6) 佐々義麻宇佐牟 (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) uyamap-i-te (4) nǝti-nǝ potǝkɛ-ni (5) yuⁿdur-i-matur-am-u (6) sasaŋgɛ-mawus-am-u (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-placeconv (3) worship-conv-sub (4) after-gen Buddha-dat (5) pass.onconv-hum-tent-fin (6) present(conv)-hum-tent-fin (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of [Buddha] Śākya[muni], and (3) [I] worship [them], and (5) [I] would pass [them] (4) to the Buddha of the Future, (6) [I] would present [them] to [Him] (bs 9) (3) 麻為多利弖 (4) 麻佐米尓弥祁牟 (3) mawi-tar-i-te (4) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) go(hum)(conv)-perf.prog-conv-sub (4) right eye-loc seepast.tent-attr (4) [they] probably saw right by [their] eyes (3) after having gone [there] (bs 12) 2.1.3.4.1.1.2

Coordinative Gerund -tutu

The coordinative gerund has just one allomorph -tutu. It always follows the converb -i ~ -Ø, but in contrast to the subordinative gerund -te it is never found after the converbs -u and -ku. In the Bussokuseki-no uta the coordinative gerund -tutu is attested only twice in the identical context and both times after the verb mi- ‘to look’, ‘to see’. In both cases it has a function of a parallel action. Examples: (3) 布賣留阿止乎 (4) 美都々志乃波牟 (3) pum-er-u atǝ-wo (4) mi-tutu sinǝp-am-u

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(3) step-prog-attr footprint-acc (4) look(conv)-coor long.fortent-fin (4) [I] will be longing for [Him] while looking (3) at the footprints [He] has left (bs 6) (5) 美都々志乃覇止 (6) 奈賀久志乃覇止 (5) mi-tutu sinǝp-e tǝ (6) naŋga-ku sinǝp-e tǝ (5) look(conv)-coor long.for-imp dv (6) be.long-conv long.forimp dv (5) [I] say: “Long for [the Buddha] while looking [at them]”, (6) [I] say: “Long [for Him] for a long [time]”! (bs 7) 2.1.3.4.1.1.3

Past Attributive -si

In Western Old Japanese past auxiliary is a suppletive one, with a final form -ki, an attributive -si, and an evidential -sika. Among these three, only the attributive -si is attested twice in the Bussokuseki-no uta.6 Examples: (4) … 比止乃 (5) 布美志阿止々己呂 (4) … pitǝ-nǝ (5) pum-i-si atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (4) … person-gen (5) step-conv-past.attr footprint place (5) the place [of] the footprints left (4) by a Person … (bs 2) (3) 伊尓志加多 (4) 知与乃都美佐閇 (3) in-i-si kata (4) ti yǝ-nǝ tumi sapɛ (3) go-conv-past.attr side (4) thousand life-gen sin rp (4) even the sins of one thousand lives (3) in the past (bs 17) 2.1.3.4.1.2

Word-non-Final Bound Auxiliaries

There are four Western Old Japanese word-non-final auxiliaries attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: the perfective -te-, perfective-progressive -tar-, the retrospective -ker-, and the past tentative -kem-. 2.1.3.4.1.2.1

Perfective -te-

In Western Old Japanese the perfective auxiliary has two allomorphs: -te- and -t-. The first allomorph -te- is found before consonant-initial and weak vowelinitial suffixes as well as before auxiliaries. The second allomorph -t- appears before strong vowel-initial suffixes. But only the allomorph -te- is attested once in the Bussokuseki-no uta: 6 Final -ki is found only as a part of the word-non-final past tentative -kem- < *-ki-am-.

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(4) … 久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (4) … kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (4) … land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also be gone (4) to the Land … (bs 8) 2.1.3.4.1.2.2

Perfective-Progressive -tar-

The perfective-progressive -tar- is attested twice in the Bussokuseki-no uta, but in the last example from bs 21.2 the preceding verb is not legible except its last consonant -p. In the remaining example -tar- is used in its perfective function: (3) 麻為多利弖 (4) 麻佐米尓弥祁牟 (3) mawi-tar-i-te (4) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) go(hum)(conv)-perf.prog-conv-sub (4) right eye-loc seepast.tent-attr (4) [they] probably saw right by [their] eyes (3) after having gone [there] (bs 12) The uncontracted version -te ar- of the perfective-progressive -tar- is not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. 2.1.3.4.1.2.3

Retrospective -ker-

The retrospective -ker- occurs twice in the same poem in a function of sudden realization of a fact: (4) 伊麻乃久湏理師 (5) 多布止可理家利 (6) 米太志加利鶏利 (4) ima-nǝ kusuri si (5) taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i (6) mɛⁿdasi-k-ar-i-ker-i (4) now-gen medicine master (5) be.awesome-conv-exist-convretr-fin (6) be.praiseworthy-conv-exist-conv-retr-fin (5) it turned out that [He] is awesome, (4) the present medicine master, (6) it turned out that [He] is praiseworthy (bs 15) 2.1.3.4.1.2.4

Past Tentative -kem-

The past tentative -kem- is attested twice in the Bussokuseki-no uta in the same context after the verb mi- ‘to look’, ‘to see’: (1) 与伎比止乃 (2) 麻佐米尓美祁牟 (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (1) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (2) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (1) be.good-attr person-gen (2) right eye-loc see(conv)-past.tentattr (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc

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(3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (1) that Good Persons (2) probably saw right by [their] eyes (bs 3) (3) 麻為多利弖 (4) 麻佐米尓弥祁牟 (3) mawi-tar-i-te (4) masa mɛ-ni mi-kem-u (3) go(hum)(conv)-perf.prog-conv-sub (4) right eye-loc seepast.tent-attr (4) [they] probably saw right by [their] eyes (3) after having gone [there] (bs 12) 2.1.3.4.2

Lexical Auxiliaries

In contrast to bound auxiliaries described above, lexical auxiliaries can be used as independent verbs and consequently have their own lexical meaning. It is convenient to divide all lexical auxiliaries into honorific and humble on the one hand and the rest on the other. 2.1.3.4.2.1

Honorific and Humble Auxiliaries

The most striking difference between Western Old Japanese and Middle (Classical) Japanese is that the former in contrast to the latter does not have the category of politeness expressed by special polite auxiliaries. Only honorific and humble auxiliaries are present in Western Old Japanese. 2.1.3.4.2.1.1

Honorific Auxiliaries

There are two Western Old Japanese honorific auxiliaries attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: tamap- and imas-. 2.1.3.4.2.1.1.1

Honorific Auxiliary tamap-

In most cases of its usage tamap- is an honorific auxiliary referring to actions of deities, emperors, members of imperial family, and objects of worship, such as the footprints of the Buddha in the example below. In the speech of deities and emperors it can refer to their own actions. However, its usage is certainly not limited to deities, emperors, etc., as in some rare cases it can be also found in reference to other people, although certainly only to those who are in a relatively higher position than the speaker him/herself. (4) 毛呂毛呂湏久比 (5) 和多志多麻波奈 (6) 湏久比多麻波奈 (4) morǝ-morǝ sukup-i (5) watas-i-tamap-ana (6) sukup-i-tamapana (4) all-all save-conv (5) take.across-conv-hon-des (6) save-convhon-des

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(4/5) [I] want [them] to save all [sentient beings], and to take [them] across, (6) [I] want [them] to save [all sentient beings] (bs 4) 2.1.3.4.2.1.1.2

Honorific Auxiliary imas-

In contrast to the honorific auxiliary tamap- that is used predominantly with actions of exalted beings like emperors or deities, the honorific auxiliary imasis much broader in scope: while it can be applied to deities, emperors, and objects of worship as well, it frequently appears to be used in reference to ordinary people, including such situations when a child uses it in reference to his parents or a wife to her husband. Still, in the Bussokuseki-no uta usage imas- is limited to the contexts involving the Buddha or his footprints: (1) 伊可奈留夜 (2) 比止尓伊麻世可 (1) ika nar-u ya (2) pitǝ n-i imas-e ka (1) what be-attr ep (2) person cop-conv exist(hon)-ev ip (1) What kind of (2) a person is [He] indeed? (bs 5) (3) 止己止婆尓 (4) 佐乃己利伊麻世 (3) tǝkǝtǝmba n-i (4) sa nǝkǝr-i-imas-e (3) eternal cop-conv (4) thus remain-conv-hon-imp (4) remain in this shape (3) eternally (bs 10) The honorific auxiliary imas- is also attested once in the Bussokuseki-no uta as an independent lexical verb: (3) 与伎比止乃 (4) 伊麻湏久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (3) yǝ-ki pitǝ-nǝ (4) imas-u kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (3) be.good-attr person-gen (4) exist(hon)-attr land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also go (3/4) to the Land where the Good Person resides (bs 8) 2.1.3.4.2.1.2

Humble Auxiliaries

There are two Western Old Japanese honorific auxiliaries attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: matur- and mawus-.

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Humble Auxiliary matur-

Although in most cases in Western Old Japanese matur- as an auxiliary is found after the verb tukapɛ- ‘to serve’, this is not the case in the Bussokuseki-no uta: (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 宇夜麻比弖 (4) 乃知乃保止氣 尓 (5) 由豆利麻都良牟 (6) 佐々義麻宇佐牟 (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) uyamap-i-te (4) nǝti-nǝ potǝkɛ-ni (5) yuⁿdur-i-matur-am-u (6) sasaŋgɛ-mawus-am-u (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-placeconv (3) worship-conv-sub (4) after-gen Buddha-dat (5) pass.onconv-hum-tent-fin (6) present(conv)-hum-tent-fin (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of [Buddha] Śākya[muni], and (3) [I] worship [them], and (5) [I] would pass [them] (4) to the Buddha of the Future, (6) [I] would present [them] to [Him] (bs 9) (4) 和多佐牟多米止 (5) 宇都志麻都礼利 (6) 都加閇麻都礼利 (4) watas-am-u tamɛ tǝ (5) utus-i-matur-er-i (6) tukapɛ-matur-er-i (4) take.across-tent-attr for cop (5) copy-conv-hum-prog-fin (6) serve(conv)-hum-prog-fin (4) in order to take [them] across (5) [I] have copied [the footprints]. (6) [I] have served [for this work] (bs 13) (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 由伎米具利 (4) 宇夜麻比麻都 利 (5) 和我与波乎閇牟 (6) 己乃与波乎閇牟 (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa ni utus-i-ok-i (3) yuk-i-mɛŋgur-i (4) uyamap-imatur-i (5) wa-ŋga yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (6) kǝnǝ yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-placeconv (3) go-conv-go.around-conv (4) worship-conv-hum-conv (5) i-poss life top end-tent-fin (6) this life top end-tent-fin (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of Śākya[muni], and (5) [I] want to end my life, (6) [I] want to end this life (3) circumambulating and (4) worshipping [them] (bs 14) (1) 己乃美阿止乎 (2) 麻婆利麻都礼婆 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ-wo (2) mapar-i-matur-e-mba (1) this hon-footprint-acc (2) go.around-conv-hum-ev-con (2) When [I] circumambulate (1) these honorable footprints (bs 16)

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2.1.3.4.2.1.2.2

Humble Auxiliary mawus-

The humble auxiliary mawus- is attested just once in the Bussokuseki-no uta: (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 宇夜麻比弖 (4) 乃知乃保止氣 尓 (5) 由豆利麻都良牟 (6) 佐々義麻宇佐牟 (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) uyamap-i-te (4) nǝti-nǝ potǝkɛ-ni (5) yuⁿdur-i-matur-am-u (6) sasaŋgɛ-mawus-am-u (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-placeconv (3) worship-conv-sub (4) after-gen Buddha-dat (5) pass.onconv-hum-tent-fin (6) present(conv)-hum-tent-fin (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of [Buddha] Śākya[muni], and (3) [I] worship [them], and (5) [I] would pass [them] (4) to the Buddha of the Future, (6) [I] would present [them] to [Him] (bs 9) 2.1.3.4.2.2

Other Auxiliaries

Other auxiliaries in the Bussokuseki-no uta include the directive auxiliaries iⁿdas- and tukɛ-, the resultative auxiliary ok-, and the negative potential auxiliary -ŋgata- indicating that an action is difficult to perform or to obtain. 2.1.3.4.2.2.1

Directive Auxiliaries

Directive auxiliaries denote the directionality of an action expressed by the main lexical verb. There are two Western Old Japanese directive auxiliaries attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: iⁿdas- and tukɛ-. 2.1.3.4.2.2.1.1

Directive Auxiliary iⁿdas-

The verb iⁿdas- ‘to take out’ used as directive auxiliaries indicates that the movement of an action is carried from inside of one area to another area. It is attested only once in the Bussokuseki-no uta: (1) 己乃美阿止夜 (2) 与呂豆比賀利乎 (3) 波奈知伊太志 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ ya (2) yǝrǝⁿdu pikari-wo (3) panat-i-iⁿdas-i (1) this hon-footprint ep (2) ten.thousand light-acc (3) radiate-convbring.out-conv (1) Oh, these honorable footprints (3) radiate (2) myriad of lights (bs 4)

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Directive Auxiliary tukɛ-

The verb tukɛ- ‘to attach’ used as a directive auxiliary indicates that the action expressed by the main verb comes close to a certain object, person, or state. There are just two examples of it in the Bussokuseki-no uta found in the identical context after the main lexical verb wer- ‘to carve’. (5) 伊波尓惠利都久 (6) 多麻尓惠利都久 (5) ipa-ni wer-i-tuk-u (6) tama-ni wer-i-tuk-u (5) rock-loc carve-conv-attach-fin (6) jade-loc carve-conv-attachfin (5) [I] carve [them] on a rock, (6) [I] carve [them] on a jade (bs 3) 2.1.3.4.2.2.2

Resultative Auxiliary ok-

The verb ok- ‘to put, to place’ used as a resultative auxiliary indicates that the action of a main lexical verb is done for a future use, or that the action done will have an effect afterwards. It is attested three times in the Bussokuseki-no uta, two of them being in the identical environment after the verb utus- ‘to copy’. (2) 布美於祁留阿止波 (3) 伊波乃宇閇尓 (4) 伊麻毛乃己礼利 (2) pum-i-ok-er-u atǝ pa (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-ni (4) ima mo nǝkǝr-er-i (2) step-conv-place-attr footprint top (3) rock-gen top-loc (4) now fp remain-prog-fin (2) The footprints that were left (4) even now have remained (3) on the top of the rock (bs 7) (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 宇夜麻比弖 (4) 乃知乃保止氣 尓 (5) 由豆利麻都良牟 (6) 佐々義麻宇佐牟 (1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) uyamap-i-te (4) nǝti-nǝ potǝkɛ-ni (5) yuⁿdur-i-matur-am-u (6) sasaŋgɛ-mawus-am-u (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-placeconv (3) worship-conv-sub (4) after-gen Buddha-dat (5) pass.onconv-hum-tent-fin (6) present(conv)-hum-tent-fin (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of [Buddha] Śākya[muni], and (3) [I] worship [them], and (5) [I] would pass [them] (4) to the Buddha of the Future, (6) [I] would present [them] to [Him] (bs 9) (1) 舎加乃美阿止 (2) 伊波尓宇都志於伎 (3) 由伎米具利 (4) 宇夜麻比麻都 利 (5) 和我与波乎閇牟 (6) 己乃与波乎閇牟

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(1) Saka-nǝ mi-atǝ (2) ipa-ni utus-i-ok-i (3) yuk-i-mɛŋgur-i (4) uyamap-imatur-i (5) wa-ŋga yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (6) kǝnǝ yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (1) Śākya[muni]-gen hon-footprint (2) rock-loc copy-conv-placeconv (3) go-conv-go.around-conv (4) worship-conv-hum-conv (5) i-poss life top end-tent-fin (6) this life top end-tent-fin (2) [I] copy on the rock (1) the honorable footprints of Śākya[muni], and (5) [I] want to end my life, (6) [I] want to end this life (3) circumambulating and (4) worshipping [them] (bs 14) 2.1.3.4.2.2.3

Auxiliary -ŋgata-

The auxiliary -ŋgata- ‘to be hard, to be difficult’ indicates that an action or a state is difficult to obtain or to achieve. It is the only auxiliary that follows not the converb but the nominalized form. It is also technically bimorphemic, including the special compressed form - ŋ- of the genitive -nǝ and the adjectival -kata‘to be hard, to be difficult’. This auxiliary has an adjectival paradigm. There is only one example of -ŋgata- in the Bussokuseki-no uta, which also happens to be one of the two examples attested in the Western Old Japanese in the phonographic writing. (1) 比止乃微波 (2) 衣賀多久阿礼婆 (1) pitǝ-nǝ mï pa (2) e-ŋgata-ku ar-e-mba (1) person-gen body top (2) obtain(nml)-be.difficult-conv exist-evcon (2) Because [it] is difficult to obtain (1) a human body (bs 18) 2.1.4 Adverbs All adverbs in the Bussokuseki-no uta are adverbs derived from uninflected adjectives by adding converb n-i of the copula n-. Those of them that function as adjectives as well have been already described in the section on uninflected adjectives above. The only one of uninflected adjectives that functions exclusively as an adverb is taⁿda n-i that is attested just once in the Bussokuseki-no uta. (5) 多太尓阿布麻弖尓 (6) 麻佐尓阿布麻弖尓 (5) taⁿda n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (6) masa n-i ap-u-maⁿde-ni (5) direct cop-conv meet-attr-term-loc (6) real cop-conv meetattr-term-loc (5) until [we] meet directly, (6) until [we] really meet (bs 6)

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2.1.5 Conjunctions There is only one conjunction attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: tǝmo7 ‘even if’, ‘even though’. (1) 己礼乃与波 (2) 宇都利佐留止毛 (1) kǝre n-ǝ yǝ pa (2) utur-i sar-u tǝmo (1) this cop-attr world top (2) change-conv go.away-fin conj (1/2) Even though this world changes and goes away (bs 10) 2.1.6 Particles Among five subclasses of Western Old Japanese particles only focus particles, interrogative particles, emphatic particles, and restrictive particles are attested. 2.1.6.1 Focus Particles There are three focus particles attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: pa, mǝ, and sǝ ~ ⁿzǝ. Their primary function is to indicate different types of focus within a sentence. 2.1.6.1.1

Topic Particle pa

Like its Modern Japanese counterpart wa, or its Classical Japanese counterpart fa, the Western Old Japanese topic particle pa shifts the focus away from the part of the sentence it follows to the rest of the sentence (Martin 1988: 52). The topic particle pa can combine with a number of preceding forms, not only nominal, but also verbal. It can also follow certain other focus particles, although this last usage is not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. Examples: (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-cnv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) (2) 布美於祁留阿止波 (3) 伊波乃宇閇尓 (4) 伊麻毛乃己礼利 (2) pum-i-ok-er-u atǝ pa (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-ni (4) ima mo nǝkǝr-er-i (2) step-conv-place-attr footprint top (3) rock-gen top-loc (4) now fp remain-prog-fin (2) The footprints that were left (4) even now have remained (3) on the top of the rock (bs 7) 7 Unetymological spelling of tǝmǝ.

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(4) … 久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (4) … kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (4) … land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also go (4) to the Land … (bs 8) (5) 和我与波乎閇牟 (5) wa-ŋga yǝ pa wopɛ-m-u (5) i-poss life top end-tent-fin (5) [I] want to end my life (bs 14) (1) 比止乃微波 (2) 衣賀多久阿礼婆 (1) pitǝ-nǝ mï pa (2) e-ŋgata-ku ar-e-mba (1) person-gen body top (2) obtain(nml)-be.difficult-conv exist-evcon (2) Because [it] is difficult to obtain (1) a human body (bs 18) 2.1.6.1.2

Focus Particle mǝ ~ mo

The focus particle mǝ (frequently misspelled as mo in post-Kojiki texts) is the opposite of pa like in Modern and Classical Japanese: it is used for highlighting a preceding word or a phrase (Martin 1988: 52). Unlike the modern colloquial usage, mǝ in Western Old Japanese can follow the accusative case marker -wo (not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta). The focus particle mǝ can combine with a number of preceding forms, not only nominal, but also verbal. It can also follow certain other particles (not attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta). (5) … 阿止々己呂 (6) 麻礼尓母阿留可毛 (5) … atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (6) mare n-i mǝ ar-u kamo (5) … footprint place (6) rare cop-conv fp exist-attr ep (6) Is [not it] rare, too, (5) the place [of] the footprints … ? (bs 2) (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2-attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp existattr ep (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints! (bs 5) (2) 布美於祁留阿止波 (3) 伊波乃宇閇尓 (4) 伊麻毛乃己礼利 (2) pum-i-ok-er-u atǝ pa (3) ipa-nǝ upɛ-ni (4) ima mo nǝkǝr-er-i (2) step-conv-place-attr footprint top (3) rock-gen top-loc (4) now fp remain-prog-fin

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(2) The footprints that were left (4) even now have remained (3) on the top of the rock (bs 7) (4) … 久尓々波 (5) 和礼毛麻胃弖牟 (4) … kuni-ni pa (5) ware mo mawi-te-m-u (4) … land-loc top (5) I fp go(hum)(conv)-perf-tent-fin (5) I would also go (4) to the Land … (bs 8) (1) 久湏理師波 (2) 都祢乃母阿礼等 (1) kusuri si pa (2) tune n-ǝ mǝ ar-e-ⁿdǝ (1) medicine master top (2) usual cop-attr fp exist-ev-conc (2) Although there are also usual (1) medicine masters (bs 15) 2.1.6.1.3

Focus Particle sǝ ~ ⁿzǝ

The focus particle sǝ ~ ⁿzǝ emphasizes the preceding word or phrase. It triggers a change of the final form of the following verb or the inflected adjective into the attributive. The difference between the two phonetic variants sǝ and ⁿzǝ is not clear, as they can occur in identical contexts within the same text as in the example below. (4) 知与乃都美佐閇 (5) 保呂夫止曾伊布 (6) 乃曾久止叙伎久 (4) ti yǝ-nǝ tumi sapɛ (5) porǝmb-u tǝ sǝ ip-u (6) nǝⁿzǝk-u tǝ ⁿzǝ kik-u (4) thousand life-gen sin rp (5) perish-fin dv fp say-attr (6) take.away-fin dv fp hear-attr (5) [They] say that (4) even the sins of one thousand lives (5) will disappear. (6) [I] hear that [the veneration of these footprints] will take [those sins] away (bs 17) 2.1.6.2 Interrogative Particles There are two interrogative particles: ya and ka. Each of them is attested just once in the Bussokuseki-no uta. 2.1.6.2.1

Interrogative Particle ya

The interrogative particle ya introduces a general question, and is never used in wh- questions. It can be found in both sentence final and sentence non-final positions. In the latter the interrogative particle ya always triggers the change of the final verbal form to the attributive. However, in the Bussokuseki-no uta it is attested only in the final position.

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(3) 己礼乃微波 (4) 志尓乃於保岐美 (5) 都祢尓多具覇利 (6) 於豆閇可良受 夜

(3) kǝre n-ǝ mï pa (4) sin-i-nǝ opo kimi (5) tune n-i taŋgup-er-i (6) oⁿdumbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ya (3) this cop-attr body top (4) die-nml-gen Great Lord (5) always cop-conv follow-prog-fin (6) be.afraid-deb-conv-exist-neg-fin ip (3) this body (5) is always followed (4) [by] the Great Lord of Death. (6) Should [I] not be afraid? [—Certainly, I should!] (bs 20) 2.1.6.2.2

Interrogative Particle ka

In contrast to the interrogative particle ya, the main function of the interrogative particle ka is to introduce wh- questions, namely the questions where an interrogative pronoun is used in a given sentence. It triggers the change of the final form into attributive irrespective to whether it is found before or after the verb. However, in the Bussokuseki-no uta it is attested only in the final position after an evidential. (1) 伊可奈留夜 (2) 比止尓伊麻世可 (1) ika nar-u ya (2) pitǝ n-i imas-e ka (1) what be-attr ep (2) person cop-conv exist(hon)-ev ip (1) What kind of (2) a person is [He]? (bs 5) 2.1.6.3 Emphatic Particles Among the rich set of Western Old Japanese emphatic particles only two are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta: ka ~ kamǝ and ya. 2.1.6.3.1

Emphatic Particle ka ~ kamǝ

The emphatic particle kamǝ (frequently misspelled as kamo) has two functions: it can be either used as an exclamation particle, or as a particle introducing an inquiry arising from uncertainty (‘I wonder’). The emphatic particle kamǝ triggers the change of the final form into attributive irrespective to whether it is found before or after the verb. This is the peculiarity it shares with the interrogative particle ka. Therefore, it is likely that historically kamǝ represents a combination of the interrogative particle ka with the emphatic particle mǝ, although on the synchronic level it clearly represents a single unit, since its usage as an exclamation particle cannot be analyzed as a combination of the interrogative particle ka and emphatic particle mǝ. The variant ka is probably an older version of kamǝ. Care must be taken to differentiate the emphatic particle ka from the homophonous interrogative particle ka.

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1) exclamation: (5) 阿止乃祁留良牟 (6) 多布刀久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ nǝk-er-uram-u (6) taputo-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint leave-prog-tent2-attr (6) be.awesome-conv fp existattr ep (6) Oh, how awesome is (5) [He] who has left [his] footprints! (bs 5) (5) 阿止乃止毛志久 (6) 宇礼志久毛阿留可 (5) atǝ-nǝ tǝmosi-ku (6) uresi-ku mo ar-u ka (5) footprint-gen be.attractive-conv (6) be.happy-conv fp exist-attr ep (5) The footprints are attractive, and (6) [I] am happy as well! (bs 12) (4) 多麻乃与曾保比 (5) 於母保由留可母 (6) 美留期止毛阿留可 (4) tama-nǝ yǝsǝpopi (5) omǝp-oy-uru kamǝ (6) mi-ru ŋgǝtǝ mo ar-u ka (4) jewel-comp adorned.appearance (5) think-pass-attr ep (6) seeattr like fp exist-attr ep (5) [I] suddenly think about (4) the jewel-like precious appearance! (6) [It] is like [I] see [Him]! (bs 16) 2) inquiry arising from uncertainty: (5) … 阿止々己呂 (6) 麻礼尓母阿留可毛 (5) … atǝ tǝkǝrǝ (6) mare n-i mǝ ar-u kamo (5) … footprint place (6) rare cop-conv fp exist-attr ep (6) Is [not it] rare, too, (5) the place [of] the footprints … ? (bs 2) 2.1.6.3.2

Emphatic Particle ya

Care must be taken to differentiate the emphatic particle ya from the homophonous interrogative particle ya. In addition to contextual meaning there are several combinatorial hints (not all of them applicable to the Bussokusekino uta). The emphatic particle ya in contrast to the interrogative particle ya does not trigger the change of the final verbal form to the attributive. The emphatic particle ya always follows the emphatic particle mǝ, while the interrogative particle ya always precedes it. The emphatic particle ya rarely occurs in the sentence final position, where the interrogative ya appears rather frequently. In the sentence non-final position, where confusion between two different ya particles is more likely, the emphatic particle ya frequently appears

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after attributive clauses. Only the interrogative ya is used after the restrictive particles nǝmï, ⁿdani, and sapɛ. (1) 己乃美阿止夜 (2) 与呂豆比賀利乎 (3) 波奈知伊太志 (1) kǝnǝ mi-atǝ ya (2) yǝrǝⁿdu pikari-wo (3) panat-i-iⁿdas-i (1) this hon-footprint ep (2) ten.thousand light-acc (3) radiate-convbring.out-conv (1) Oh, these honorable footprints (3) radiate (2) myriad of lights (bs 4) (1) 伊可奈留夜 (2) 比止尓伊麻世可 (1) ika nar-u ya (2) pitǝ n-i imas-e ka (1) what be-attr ep (2) person cop-conv exist(hon)-ev ip (1) What kind of (2) a person is [He]? (bs 5) (1) 乎遅奈伎夜 (2) 和礼尓於止礼留 (3) 比止乎於保美 (1) woⁿdina-ki ya (2) ware-ni otǝr-er-u (3) pitǝ-wo opo-mi (1) be.infirm-attr ep (2) i-dat be.inferior-prog-attr (3) person-abs be.many-ger (3) Because there are many people (2) who are inferior to me, (1) who is infirm [in my devotion] (bs 13) 2.1.6.4 Restrictive Particles Among Western Old Japanese restrictive particles only sura and sapɛ are attested in the Bussokuseki-no uta. 2.1.6.4.1

Restrictive Particle sura

The restrictive particle sura shows the maximum representation, being an exact opposite of the restrictive particle ⁿdani. There is also a variant sora that occurs much more rarely than the variant sura and probably represents the relic pre-raised form. Neither ⁿdani nor sora are attested in the Bussokusekino uta. The particle sura can be rendered approximately into English as ‘even’, ‘even as much as’, ‘just’, ‘just as much as’. (3) 美阿止湏良乎 (4) 和礼波衣美湏弖 (3) mi-atǝ-sura-wo (4) ware pa e-mi-ⁿz-u-te (3) hon-footprint-rp-acc (4) I top pot-see-neg-cnv-sub (4) Because I am not able to see (3) even [as much as] the honorable footprints [of Buddha] (bs 3) Note that in this example the restrictive particle sura separates the accusative case marker -wo from the preceding noun atǝ ‘footprint’.

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Restrictive Particle sapɛ

The restrictive particle sapɛ indicates that the word it follows is an addition to something else of the same kind. It can be rendered in English as ‘even … as well’, ‘even as much as’, ‘even … in addition to’. (2) 伊志乃比鼻伎波 (3) 阿米尓伊多利 (4) 都知佐閇由湏礼 (2) isi-nǝ pimbik-i pa (3) amɛ-ni itar-i (4) tuti sapɛ yusur-e (2) stone-gen echo-nml top (3) Heaven-loc reach-conv (4) earth rp shake-ev (2) The echo of the stone (3) reaches the Heaven, and (4) shakes the Earth as well (bs 1) (4) 知与乃都美佐閇 (5) 保呂夫止曾伊布 (4) ti yǝ-nǝ tumi sapɛ (5) porǝmb-u tǝ sǝ ip-u (4) thousand life-gen sin rp (5) perish-fin dv fp say-attr (5) [They] say that (4) even the sins of one thousand lives (5) will disappear (bs 17)

3

Vocabulary

amar- ‘to exceed’ (阿麻利, amar-i ‘exceed-conv’). 2.1 amɛ ‘Heaven’ (阿米). 1.3 ap- ‘to meet’ (阿布, ap-u ‘meet-attr’). 6.5, 6.6 ar- ‘to exist’ (阿留, ar-u ‘exist-attr’). 2.6, 5.6, 12.6, 15.2, 16.6, 20.6 atǝ ‘footprint’ (阿止). 1.1, 2.5, 3.3, 4.1, 5.5, 6.3, 7.2, 8.1, 9.1, 11.2, 12.5, 14.1, 16.1, 16.3, 17.1 atu- ‘to be thick’ (阿都). 12.2 atumar- ‘to gather’ (intr.) (阿都麻礼流, atumar-er-u ‘gather-prog-attr’). 19.3 e- ‘to get’, ‘to obtain’ (衣). 18.2 ika ‘how’, ‘what’ (伊可). 5.1 ikaⁿduti ‘thunder’ (伊加豆知). 20.1 ima ‘now’ (伊麻). 7.4, 15.4 imas- ‘to exist (honorific)’, also a honorific auxiliary verb (伊 麻 世, imas-e ‘be(hon)-ev’). 5.2, 8.4, 10.4 iⁿdas- ‘to take out’ ‘to bring out’, ‘to make exit’, here a directive auxiliary verb (伊太志, iⁿdas-i ‘take.out-conv’). 4.3 in- ‘to go’, ‘to go away’ (伊尓志, in-i-si ‘go-conv-past.attr’). 17.3 ip- ‘to say’ (伊布, ip-u ‘say-attr’). 17.5 ipa ‘rock’ (伊波). 3.5, 5.3, 7.3, 9.2, 14.2

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isi ‘stone’ (伊志). 1.2 itar- ‘to reach’ (伊多利, itar-i ‘reach-conv’). 1.3 itǝp- ‘to loathe’, ‘to detest’, ‘to hate’, ‘to dislike’ (伊止比, itǝp-i ‘loathe-conv’). 19.5 itu ‘five’ (伊都). 19.2 kata ‘direction’ (加多). 17.3 katati ‘mark’, ‘appearance’ (加多知). 2.2 kǝ- ‘to come’ (久留, k-uru ‘come-attr’). 17.2 kǝnǝ ‘this’ (己乃). 4.1, 8.1, 16.1 kǝre ‘this’ (己礼). 10.1, 20.3 kik- ‘to listen’, ‘to hear’ (伎久, kik-u ‘hear-attr’). 17.6 kimi ‘lord’ (岐美). 20.4 kitana- ‘to be dirty’ (伎多奈). 19.4 kuni ‘land’ (久尓). 8.4 kusa ‘type’ (久佐). 2.3 kusuri ‘medicine’ (久湏理). 15.1, 15.4. 21.4 kusuri si ‘medicine master’ (久湏理師). 15.1, 15.4. 21.4 mapar- ‘to go around’ (麻婆利, mapar-i ‘go.around-conv’). 16.2 marapitǝ ‘guest’ (麻良比止). 15.3 mare ‘rare’ (麻礼). 2.6 masa ‘right’, ‘correct’, ‘real’ (麻佐). 3.2, 6.6, 12.4 masura ‘noble’, ‘brave’ (麻湏良). 6.1, 7.1, 11.1 mata ‘again’ (麻多). 10.6 matur- ‘to present’, ‘to offer’ (humble), also a humble auxiliary verb (麻都良牟, matur-am-u ‘present-tent-fin’). 9.5, 13.5, 13.6, 14.4, 16.2 mawi- ‘to go’, ‘to come’ (humble) (麻胃, 麻為). 8.5, 12.3 mawus- ‘to say’ (humble), also a humble auxiliary verb (麻宇佐牟, mawus-amu ‘say-tent-fin’). 9.6 mɛ ‘eye’ (米). 3.2, 12.4 mɛⁿdasi ‘to be praiseworthy’, ‘to be lovable’ (米太志). 15.6. mɛŋgur- ‘to go around’, ‘to circumambulate’ (米具利, mɛŋgur-i ‘circumambulate-conv’). 14.3 mi- ‘to see’, ‘to look’ (美). 3.2, 3.4, 6.4, 7.5, 12.4, 17.2 miso ‘thirty’ (弥蘇). 2.1 mï ‘body’ (微). 18.1, 19.4, 20.3 monǝ ‘demon’ (毛乃). 19.2 morǝ ~ mǝrǝ ‘all’ (毛呂, 母呂). 1.6, 4.4 (twice), 8.6 (twice), 18.5 (twice), 18.6 (twice) motǝmɛ- (misspelling of mǝtǝmɛ-) ‘to seek’ (毛止米). 8.2, 21.4, 21.5 naŋga- ‘to be long’ (奈賀). 7.6

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nar- ‘to be’ (奈留, nar-u ‘be-attr’). 5.1 nar- ‘to become’ (奈礼利, nar-er-i ‘become-prog-fin’). 18.4 nas- ‘to make’ (奈志, nas-i ‘make-conv’). 5.4 nǝk- ‘to leave’ (乃祁留良牟, nǝk-er-uram-u ‘leave-prog-tent2-attr’). 5.5 nǝkǝr- ‘to remain’ (乃己礼利, nǝkǝr-er-i ‘remain-prog-fin’). 7.4, 10.4 nǝⁿzǝk- ‘to take away’ (乃曾久, nǝⁿzǝk-u ‘take.away-fin’). 17.6 nǝri, ‘Law’ (乃利). 18.3. nǝti ‘after’, ‘later’ (乃知). 9.4, 10.5 nusi ‘master’, ‘owner’ (奴志). 16.3 ŋgǝtǝ[-] ‘[to be] like’ (期止). 16.6, 20.2 ok- ‘to place’, ‘to put’, also an auxiliary verb indicating that an action is done for the future use (於祁留, ok-er-u ‘place-prog-attr’). 7.2, 9.2, 14.2 omǝp- ‘to think’ (於母保由留, omǝp-oy-uru ‘think-pass-attr’). 16.5 oⁿde- ‘to be afraid’ (於豆閇可良受, oⁿd-umbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ‘be.afraid-deb-convexist-neg-fin’). 20.6 opo[-] ‘[to be] big’, ‘great’, ‘[to be] many’ (於保). 13.3, 20.4 otǝr- ‘to be inferior’ (於止礼留, otǝr-er-u ‘be.inferior-prog-attr’). 13.2 panare- ‘to get away’, ‘to separate [oneself]’ (波奈礼). 19.6 panat- ‘to separate from’, here: ‘to radiate’ (波奈知, panat-i ‘radiate-conv’). 4.3 papa ‘mother’ (波々). 1.5 pɛmi ‘snake’ (閇美). 19.1 pikari ‘light’, ‘lightning’ (比賀利, 比加利), a nominalization of pikar- ‘to shine’. 4.2, 20.2 pimbiki ‘echo’ (比鼻伎), a nominalization of pimbik- ‘to echo’. 1.2 pitǝ ‘person’ (比止). 1.6, 2.4, 3.1, 5.2, 8.3, 13.3, 18.1, 21.5 porǝmb- ‘to perish’ (保呂夫, porǝmb-u ‘perish-fin’). 17.5 potǝkɛ ‘Buddha’ (保止氣). 9.4 pum- ‘to step’, ‘to tread’ (布美志, pum-i-si ‘step-conv-past.attr’). 2.5, 5.4, 6.3, 7.2 puta ‘two’ (布多). 2.2 sa ‘to be so’, ‘thus’ (佐). 10.4 Saka ‘Śākya’ (舎加). 9.1, 14.1 saki ‘front’, ‘ahead’ (佐岐). 6.2 sakipapi ‘happiness’, ‘luck’ (佐伎波比). 12.1 samɛ- ‘to wake up’ (佐麻佐牟, sam-as-am-u ‘wake.up-caus-tent-attr’). 21.6 sar- ‘to go away’ (佐留, sar-u ‘go.away-fin’). 10.2 sasaŋgɛ- ‘to present’, ‘to offer’ (humble) (佐々義). 9.6 sǝⁿdar- ‘be complete’ (曾太礼留, sǝⁿdar-er-u ‘be.complete-prog-attr’). 2.4 si ‘master’ (師). 15.1, 15.4. 21.4 sin- ‘to die’ (志尓, sin-i ‘die-nml’). 20.4

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sinǝp- ‘to long for’ (志乃波牟, sinǝp-am-u ‘long.for-tent-fin’). 6.4, 7.5, 7.6 sukup- ‘to save’ (湏久比, sukup-i ‘save-conv’). 4.4, 4.6 susum- ‘to advance’ (湏々美, susum-i ‘advance-conv’). 6.2, 18.6 sute- ‘to discard’ (湏都閇志, sut-umbɛ-si ‘discard-deb-fin’). 19.5, 19.6 tama ‘jade’, ‘jewel’, ‘pearl’ (多麻). 3.6, 16.4 tamap- honorific auxiliary, ‘to grant’ (多麻波奈, tamap-ana ‘hon-des’). 4.5, 4.6 taⁿda ‘direct’ (多太). 6.5 taⁿdune- ‘to search for’ (多豆祢). 8.2 taŋgup- ‘to follow’, ‘to stand side by side’ (多具覇利, taŋgup-er-i ‘follow-progfin’). 20.5 taputo- ~ taputǝ- ‘to be awesome’ (多布刀, 多布止). 5.6, 15.5 tat- ‘to stand’, ‘to depart’ (多知, tat-i ‘depart-conv’). 6.2 ti ‘thousand’ (知), 17.4 titi ‘father’ (知々). 1.5 tǝkǝrǝ ‘place’ (止己呂). 2.5 tǝkǝtǝmba n-i ‘eternally’ (止己止婆尓). 10.3 tǝmoŋgara ‘companion’, ‘comrade’ (止毛加羅). 12.2 tǝmosi- ‘to be attractive’ (止毛志). 12.5 tukapɛ- ‘to serve’ (都加閇). 13.6 tukɛ- ‘to attach’, directive auxiliary (惠利都久, wer-i-tuk-u ‘carve-conv-attachfin’). 3.5, 3,6. tukur- ‘to make’ (都久留, tukur-u ‘make-attr’). 1.1 tumi ‘sin’ (都美). 17.4 tune ‘usual’, ‘always’ (都祢). 15.2, 20.5 tuti ‘Earth’ (都知). 1.4, 5.4 tutǝmɛ- ‘to strive’ (都止米, tutǝmɛ ‘strive(imp)’). 18.5 upɛ ‘top’ (宇閇). 5.3, 7.3 uresi ‘to be happy’, ‘to be glad’ (宇礼志). 12.6 utur- ‘to change (of the time)’ (宇都利, utur-i ‘change-conv’). 10.2 utus- ‘to copy’ (宇都志, utus-i ‘copy-conv’). 9.2, 13.5, 14.2 uyamap- ‘to worship’, ‘to revere’ (宇夜麻比弖, uyamap-i-te ‘worship-convsub’). 9.3, 14.4 yaso ‘eighty’ (夜蘇). 2.3 yǝ ‘world’, ‘life’ (与). 10.1, 10.5, 10.6, 14.5, 14.6, 17.4 yǝ ‘four’ (与). 19.1 yǝ- ‘to be good’ (与). 3.1, 8.3, 21.5 yǝrǝⁿdu ‘10,000’, ‘many’ (与呂豆). 4.2 yǝsǝpopi ‘adorned appearance’ (与曾保比). 16.4 yǝsuka ‘cause and condition’ (与湏加). 18.4

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yuk- ‘to go’ (由伎, yuk-i ‘go-conv’). 14.3 yuⁿdur- ‘to pass on’ (由豆利, yuⁿdur-i ‘pass.on-conv’). 9.5 yusur- ‘to shake’ (由湏礼, yusur-e ‘shake-ev’). 1.4 wa- ~ ware ‘I’ (和礼). 3.4, 8.5, 13.2, 14.5 watas- ‘to bring across’, ‘to take across’, ‘to make cross’ (和多志, ‘make.crossconv’). 4.5, 13.4 wer- ‘to carve’ (惠利都久, wer-i-tuk-u ‘carve-conv-attach-fin’). 3.5, 3,6 wi- ‘to lead’ (為). 8.6 wo ‘man’, ‘male’ (乎). 6.1, 7.1, 11.1 woⁿdina- ‘to be infirm’ (乎遅奈). 13.1 wopɛ- ‘to end’, ‘to finish’ (tr.) (乎閇). 14.5, 14.6

4

List of Grammatical Morphemes

-am- ~ -m-, tentative verbal suffix (志乃波牟, sinǝp-am-u ‘long.for-tent-fin’). 6.4, 8.5, 9.5, 9.6, 13.4, 14.5, 14.6, 21.6 -ana, desiderative verbal suffix (多麻波奈, tamap-ana ‘hon-des’). 4.5, 4.6 -aⁿz- ~ -ⁿz-, negative verbal suffix (於 豆 閇 可 良 受, oⁿd-umbɛ-k-ar-aⁿz-u ‘be.afraid-deb-conv-exist-neg-fin’; 衣美湏弖, e-mi-ⁿz-u-te ‘pot-see-negconv-sub’). 3.4, 20.6 -as-, causative verbal suffix (佐麻佐牟, sam-as-am-u ‘wake.up-caus-tentattr’). 21.6 e-, potential prefix (衣). 3.4 -e, imperative (志乃覇, sinǝp-e ‘long.for-imp’). 7.5, 7.6, 10.4, 18.6 -e, evidential, e.g. in imas-e ‘exist(hon)-ev’ (伊麻世). 1.4, 5.2, 15.2, 16.2, 18.2 -er-, progressive, e.g. in sǝⁿdar-er-u ‘be.complete-prog-attr’ (曾太礼留). 2.4, 5.5, 6.3, 7.2, 7.4, 13.2, 13.5, 13.6, 19.3, 20.5 -ǝ, attributive form of a copula n- (乃, n-ǝ ‘cop-attr’). 10.1, 15.2, 15.3, 19.1, 19.2, 20.3 -i, final verbal form, e.g. in nǝkǝr-er-i ‘remain-prog-fin’ (乃己礼利). 7.4, 13.5, 13.6, 15.5, 15.6, 19.5, 20.5 -i, converb, e.g. in itar-i ‘reaches and’ (伊多利, itar-i ‘reach-conv’). 1.3, 2.1, 2.5, 2.6, 5.2, 6.2, 7.2, 9.2 (twice), 9.3, 9.5, 10.2, 10.4, 12.3, 13.5, 14.2 (twice), 14.3 (twice), 14.4 (twice), 16.2, 2o.5, 21.2, 21.3, 21.6 -i, nominalizer, in pimbik-i ‘echo’ (比鼻伎 ‘echo-nml’). 1.2, 20.4 -k-ar-, contracted form of -ku ar-, ‘conv-exist’ (多布止可理家利, taputǝ-k-ar-iker-i ‘be.awesome-conv-exist-conv-retr-fin’). 15.5, 15.6, 20.6 ka, interrogative particle (可). 5.2 ka, emphatic particle (可). 5.6, 12.6, 16.6

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kamo ~ kamǝ, emphatic particle (可毛, 可母). 2.6, 16.5 -kem-, past tentative (美祁牟, mi-kem-u ‘see-past/fin.tent-attr’). 3.2, 12.4 -ker-, retrospective (多布止可理家利, taputǝ-k-ar-i-ker-i ‘be.awesome-convexist-conv-retr-fin’). 15.5, 15.6 -ki, adjectival attributive (伎, 岐). 3.1, 8.3, 12.2, 13.1, 19.4, 20.2, 21.5 -ku, adjectival converb (久). 5.6, 7.6, 12.5, 12.6, 18.2 -m-, tentative verbal suffix, see -am- ~ -m-maⁿde, terminative case marker (麻弖). 6.5, 6.6 -mba, conjunctive gerund (婆). 16.2, 18.2 mi-, honorific prefix (美). 1.1, 3.3, 4.1, 8.1, 9.1, 11.2, 14.1, 16.1 -mi, adjectival gerund (美). 13.3 mǝ ~ mo, focus particle (母, 毛). 2.6, 5.6, 7.4, 8.5, 12.6, 15.2, 16.6 n-, copula, e.g. in n-i ‘being’ (尓, n-i ‘be-conv’). 1.5, 1.6, 2.6, 5.2, 6.5, 6.6, 15.2, 15.3, 19.1, 19.2, 20.3, 20.5, 21.3, 21.6 -ⁿdǝ, concessive converb (等). 15.2 -nǝ, genitive case marker (乃, 能). 1.2, 1.6, 2.2, 2.4, 3.1, 5.3, 6.1, 7.1, 7.3, 8.3, 9.1, 9.4, 10.5 (twice), 10.6 (twice), 11.1, 12.1, 12.5, 14.1, 15.4, 16.3, 17.2, 17.4, 18.1, 18.4 (twice), 19.2, 20.1, 20.2, 20.4, 21.3 -nǝ, comparative case marker (乃). 16.4 -ni, dative-locative case marker (尓). 1.3, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6, 6.5, 6.6, 7.3, 8.4, 9.2, 9.4, 12.4, 13.2, 14.2, 17.2 -ⁿz-, negative verbal suffix, see -aⁿz- ~ -ⁿz-ŋga, possessive case marker (賀, 我). 1.5, 14.5, 21.6 -ŋgata- auxiliary verb ‘to be hard’, ‘to be difficult’ (賀多). 18.2 opomi-, honorific prefix (於保美). 17.1 -oy-, passive (於母保由留, omǝp-oy-uru ‘think-pass-attr’). 16.5 pa, topic (波). 1.2, 3.4, 7.2, 8.4, 10.1, 14.5, 14.6, 15.1, 18.1, 20.3 -ru, attributive of strong vowel verbs (美留, mi-ru ‘see-attr’). 16.6 sapɛ, restrictive particle (佐閇). 1.4, 17.4 sǝ ~ ⁿzǝ, focus particle (曾, 叙). 17.5, 17.6 -si, past attributive (志). 2.5, 17.3 -si, adjectival final (志). 19.5, 19.6 sura, restrictive particle (湏良). 3.3 ta, ‘for’ (多), a variant of tamɛ, ‘for’ (多米). 18.3, 21.3 tamɛ, ‘for’ (多米). 1.5, 1.6, 10.5, 10.6, 13.4, 21.6 -tar-, perfective-progressive, e.g., in mawi-tar-i-te ‘went and’ (麻為多利弖). 12.3, 21.2 -ti, classifier for decades (知). 2.1 -te, subordinative gerund (弖). 3.4, 8.2, 8.6, 9.3, 12.3 -te-, perfective, e.g. in mawi-te-m-u ‘would have gone’ (麻胃弖牟). 8.5

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tǝ, copula (止). 5.4, 13.4, 18.4 tǝ, defective verb ‘to say’ (止). 7.5, 7.6, 17.5, 17.6 -tǝ, comitative case marker (等). 2.3 -tǝmo, conjunction ‘even though’, ‘even if’ (止毛). 10.2 -tu, classifier for digits (都).2.2, 19.1, 19.2 -tutu, coordinative converb (都々). 6.4, 7.5 -u, converb after a negative, e.g. in e-mi-ⁿz-u-te ‘cannot see and’ (衣美湏弖). 3.4 -u, final, e.g. in wer-i-tuk-u ‘carves’ (惠利都久). 3.5, 3.6, 8.5, 9.5, 9.6, 14.5, 14.6, 17.5, 17.6, 20.6, 21.4, 21.5 -u, attributive of consonantal verbs, e.g. in tukur-u ‘makes’ (都久留). 1.1, 2.4, 2.6, 3.2, 5.5, 5.6, 7.2, 12.4, 12.6, 13.2, 13.4, 16.6, 19.3, 21.2, 21.6 -umbɛ-, debitive suffix (湏都閇志, sut-umbɛ-si ‘discard-deb-fin’). 19.5, 19.6, 20.6 -uru, attributive of vowel and irregular verbs, e.g. in passive form omǝp-oy-uru of omǝp- ‘to think’ (於母保由留). 16.5, 17.2 -uram-, tentative, e.g. in nǝk-er-uram-u ‘the one who has probably left’ (乃祁留 良牟). 5.5 -wo, accusative and absolutive case marker (乎). 3.3, 4.2, 5.3, 6.3, 8.1, 8.6, 13.3 (absolutive), 16.1, 17.1 -womba, emphatic accusative case marker (乎婆). 19.4 ya, interrogative particle (夜). 20.6 ya, emphatic particle (夜). 4.1, 5.1, 13.2

appendix

Photographs of the Inscriptions

photograph 1

The engraving of Buddha’s footprints courtesy of the yakushiji temple

© Alexander Vovin, 2021 | doi:10.1163/9789004449848_006

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photograph 2

appendix

Inscription on the back of the footprints stone courtesy of the yakushiji temple

photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 3

Inscription on the front of the footprints stone courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photograph 4

appendix

The stele with Bussokuseki-no uta inscription courtesy of the yakushiji temple

photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 5

Bussokuseki-no uta stele © alexander vovin, 2008

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photograph 6

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The top of the stele courtesy of the yakushiji temple

photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 7

The top of the stele © alexander vovin, 2008

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photograph 8

appendix

Bottom of the poems 1, 2, 3, and 4 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 9

Bottom of the poems 1–10 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photograph 10 Bottom of the poems 1–10 and top of the poems 12–20 © alexander vovin, 2008

appendix

photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 11

Bottom of the poems 4–7 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photograph 12 Lines 5–6 of poems 1–10 © alexander vovin, 2008

appendix

photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 13 Line 6 of poems 1–10 and line 1 of poems 12–20 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photograph 14 Line 1 of poems 7–11 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 15 Line six of poems 6–10 and preface to poems 18–21 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photograph 16 Lines 1–3 of poems 12–21 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 17 Lines 1–2 of poems 12–21 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photograph 18 Line 2–4 of the poems 12–21 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 19 Line 2–5 of the poems 12–21 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photograph 20 Line 3–5 of the poems 12–21 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 21 Line 3–6 of the poems 12–21 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photograph 22 Line 4–6 of the poems 12–21 © alexander vovin, 2008

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 23 Line 1 of poems 12–14 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photograph 24 Line 1 of poems 17–21 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 25 Lines 1–2 of poems 18–21 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photograph 26 Lines 2–3 of poems 18–21 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 27 Lines 5–6 of poems 16–21 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photograph 28 Line 6 of the poems 13–18 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 29 The bottom of line 6 of the poems 13–15 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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photograph 30 Line 6 of the poem 21 and ends of line 6 of the poems 18 and 19 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

appendix

photographs of the inscriptions

photograph 31 Preface to the poems 18–21 courtesy of the yakushiji temple

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Bibliography Primary Sources bs fk gm im kk mnt mys nk siwks sm sn tm

Bussokuseki-no uta (仏足石歌), 753ad. Fudoki kayō (風土記歌謡), 713–737ad. Genji monogatari (源氏物語), ca. 1000–1005ad. Ise monogatari (伊勢物語), late ninth or early tenth century ad. Kojiki kayō (古事記歌謡), 712ad. Monggol ni’uča tobča’an, ca. 1242ad. Man’yōshū (萬葉集), between 759 and 785ad. Nihonshoki kayō (日本書紀歌謡), 720ad. Shūi wakashū (拾遺和歌), 1005–1007ad. Senmyō (宣命), 7th–8th centuries ad. Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀), 797ad. Taketori monogatari (竹取物語), late ninth or early tenth centuryad.

Secondary Sources Aiso Teizō (相磯貞三). 1962. Bussokuseki-no kahi [The stele with poems about Buddha’s Footprints] (仏足石の歌碑). In: Kiki kayō zen chūkai [A Complete Commentary of the poems from the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki] (記紀歌謡の全註解). Tokyo: Yūseidō, pp. 585–587. Aoki Kazuo, et al. (eds.) (青木和夫等編). 1999–2000. Shoku Nihongi [The Sequel to the Nihonshoki] (続日本紀). Shin Nihon koten bungaku taikei [New Series of the Japanese Pre-modern Literature] (新日本古典文学大系), vols. 12–16. Tokyo: Iwanami. Bentley, John R. 2001. The Origin of Man’yōgana. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, vol. 64.1: 59–73. Cranston, Edwin A. 1976. The Yakushiji Poems. A Review of Miller 1975. Monumenta Nipponica 31.3: 299–308. Hashimoto Tatsuo (橋 本 達 雄). 1985. Man’yōshū zenchū. Kan dai 17. [The Man’yōshū Completely Annotated, vol. 17] (萬葉集全注。巻第十七). Tokyo: Yūhikaku. Hayata Teruhiro (早田輝洋). 1998. Jōdai Nihongo no onsetsu kōzō to o-retsu kō-otsu no betsu [The structure of Old Japanese syllables and the kō-otsu distinction in the oline] (上代日本語の音節構造とオ列甲乙の別). Onsei kenkyū (音声研究) 2.1: 25–33. Hirooka Yoshitaka (廣岡義隆). 1989. Bussokuseki ki [The Chinese Inscriptions on the Buddha’s Footprints Stone] (仏足石記). In: Kokyō ibun chūshaku [A Commentary of the Inscriptions from the Old Capital (古京遺文注釈). Tokyo: Ōfūsha.

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Hirooka Yoshitaka (廣 岡 義 隆). 2015. Bussokuseki ki Bussokuseki -no uta hika kenkyū [A Study of the Inscriptions on Buddha’s Footprints Stone and of Poems on the Stele with Poems about Buddha’s Footprints] (佛足石記佛足跡歌碑歌研究). Osaka: Izumi shoin. 大阪：和泉書院. Hirose Hiroyuki, Siruhara Tetsu, and Endō Yūsuke (廣 瀬 裕 之, 漆 原 徹, 遠 藤 祐 介). 2018. Nara Yakushiji no kokuhō Bussokuseki no kenkyū: Shōmen meibun to shite kokusareta kaki [A Study of Buddha’s Footprints Stone, a National Treasure in the Yakushiji Temple in Nara: The Text Engraved as the Front Inscription] (奈良・薬師寺 の国宝・佛足石の研究: 正面銘文として刻された書). Musashino kyōikugaku ronshū (武蔵野教育學論集) 4: 140–127. Inagaki, Hisao. 1989. A Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms. Union City (California): Heian. Inoue Michiyasu (井上通泰). 1928. Bussokuseki-no uta shinkō (furoku) [A New Commentary on the Bussokuseki-no uta (Appendix)] (佛 足 跡 歌 親 考 （ 附 録 ）). In: Man’yōshū shinkō, dai go [A New commentary on the Man’yōshū, Volume 5] (萬葉 集新考・第五). 東京：國民圖書株式会社. Tokyo: Kokumin tosho kabushiki kaisha, pp. 2739–2761. Karitani Bōshi (狩谷望之). 1893. Kokyō ibun [The Remaining Inscriptions of the Old Capital] (古京遺文). Tokyo: Zuihitsu shū shihatsu gyōsho. Kobayashi Yoshinori (小林芳規). 1967. Heian Kamakura jidai ni okeru kanseki kundoku no kokugo shiteki kenkyū [A historical linguistic study of native Japanese readings in Chinese Classics in Heian and Kamakura periods] (平安鎌倉時代に於ける漢籍訓読 の国語史的研究). Tokyo: Tōkyō daigaku shuppankai. 東京：東京大学出版会. Konishi Jin’ichi (小 西 甚 一). 1957. Bussokuseki-no uta [Poems about Buddha’s Footprints] (仏足石歌). In: Tsuchihashi, Yutaka (土橋寛) and Konishi Jin’ichi. Kodai kayō shū [Collections of Old Japanese Poems] (古代歌謡集). Nihon koten bungaku taikei [Series of the Japanese Pre-modern Literature] (日本古典文学大系), vol. 2: 239–247. Tokyo: Iwanami. Martin, Samuel E. 1987. The Japanese Language Through Time. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Martin, Samuel E. 1988 [1975]. A Reference Grammar of Japanese, Tokyo: Tuttle. Matsudaira Sadanobu. 1900. Shūko jūshu. Himei [Ten Types of Ancient Collections] (集 古十種。碑銘). n.p., n.p. Matsudaira Sadanobu. 1905. Shūko jūshu. Himei no bu. Ge. [Ten Types of Ancient Collections. Inscriptions. Last Part] (集古十種碑銘之部。下). n.p., n.p. Matsunaga, Daigan, and Alicia Matsunaga. 1974. Foundation of Japanese Buddhism. Vol. 1. The Aristocratic Age. Los Angeles & Tokyo: Buddhist Books International. Miller, Roy A. 1967. The Japanese Language. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Miller, Roy A. 1971. Japanese and the Other Altaic Languages. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.

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