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is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language.
A precise dating of the period is difficult. The upper bound for the period is 794 when the capital Heijōkyō moved to Heiankyō. However, the lower bound is more difficult. Wooden tablets and relics with fragments of text written on them have been excavated. However, the first extant written text of substantial length is the Kojiki of 712. Without necessarily excluding the minimal text fragments, the lower bound is generally discussed as from 712 for practical reasons. This coincides well with the Nara period (710-794). A more formal dating would not recognize a lower bound and date it as through 794.
The oldest literary sources include ''Kojiki'' (712), ''Fudoki'' (720), ''Nihonshoki'' (720), and ''Man'yōshū'' (after 771).
The earliest texts found in Japan are written in classical Chinese. However, some of them show the influences of Japanese grammar (e.g. word order). They can be seen as the earliest samples of the Japanese language (see also kanbun). Sometimes in those "hybrid" texts Chinese characters are used phonectically to represent particles. Over time, the phonetic usage of Chinese characters became more and more common (not limited to particles), until Man'yōgana, a system of using the characters phonetically, was born. As a result, it is possible to describe the approximate sounds of the language but not to derive any certain conclusions. However, recent research has brought us to a much better understanding of what the sounds of Old Japanese probably were, largely through comparative study of synchronous pronunciation of Chinese, reverse analysis of diachronic change in Japanese pronunciation, and comparative study of the Ryukyuan languages. Although the majority of Old Japanese writing represents the language of the Nara court in central Japan, some poems in the ''Man'yōshū'' are from southern and eastern Japan, and represent different dialects of Old Japanese. Some of these dialectical differences are still found today.
Old Japanese differed phonetically from later periods of the language. An analysis of Man'yōgana reveals a peculiar system known as Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai. See the Phonemes section for more details.
The transcriptions of Old Japanese words given in ''Kojiki'' differ from those found in ''Nihonshoki'' and ''Man'yōshū'' in that it distinguished the syllables /mo1/ and /mo2/ whereas the latter two do not. This has been correlated with the historical record of ''Kojiki'' being compiled earlier than ''Nihonshoki'', and thus preserved an older distinction that soon vanished.
The Modern Japanese syllable derives from affrication of before in the Old Japanese , and Modern ''da''-line arises by the same process from Early Modern and Old . Certain modern dialects preserve the distinction between and , for instance in the Nagoya dialect for ''mizu'' "water". A similar process of palatalization resulted in Modern from Classical and Old . However, it cannot be ascertained when was palatalized; it may have already been an affricate in Old Japanese.
Other characteristic differences of Old Japanese as compared with its modern counterpart include:
★ no long vowels or diphthongs;
★ words do not begin with or voiced plosives;
★ no syllable-final consonants of any kind.
Some scholars have suggested there is a link between Old Japanese and some of the extinct languages of the Korean peninsula, including the Goguryeo (a.k.a. Koguryo) language, but the relation of Japanese to any language other than Ryukyuan remains undemonstrated. See the Japanese language classification page for more.
Phonemes
Old Japanese distinguished between 88 syllables.
| a | i | u | e | o | |||
| ka | ki1 | ki2 | ku | ke1 | ke2 | ko1 | ko2 |
| ga | gi1 | gi2 | gu | ge1 | ge2 | go1 | go2 |
| sa | si | su | se | so1 | so2 | ||
| za | zi | zu | ze | zo1 | zo2 | ||
| ta | ti | tu | te | to1 | to2 | ||
| da | di | du | de | do1 | do2 | ||
| na | ni | nu | ne | no1 | no2 | ||
| ha | hi1 | hi2 | hu | he1 | he2 | ho | |
| ba | bi1 | bi2 | bu | be1 | be2 | bo | |
| ma | mi1 | mi2 | mu | me1 | me2 | mo1 | mo2 |
| ya | yu | ye | yo1 | yo2 | |||
| ra | ri | ru | re | ro1 | ro2 | ||
| wa | wi | we | wo | ||||
Shortly after the ''Kojiki'', the distinction between mo1 and mo2 is quickly lost reducing the total syllable count to 87.
Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the syllable doublets, including:
★ an eight-vowel system
★ palatalization of the previous constant
★ a six-vowel system
This issue is still strongly argued, and there is no general consensus.
Transcription
Keep in mind that the transcription does not necessarily represent either hypothesis and that the subscript 1 or 2 could apply to either the consonant or the vowel.
There are several competing transcription systems. One popular system places a dieresis above the vowel: ï, ë, ö. This typically represents i2, e2, and o2, and assumes that unmarked i, e, and o are i1, e1, and o1. There are several problems with this system.
★ It implies a particular pronunciation, indirectly on the vowel.
★ it neglects to distinguish between words where the 1 / 2 distinction is not clear, such as the /to/ in /toru/ as well as in /kaditori/.
Another system uses superscripts instead of subscripts.
Phonological Rules
There were phonological restrictions on the vowel types permitted in a single morpheme.
★ -o1 and -o2 do not co-exist
★ -u and -o2 generally do not co-exist
★ -a and -o2 generally do not co-exist
These rules suggest two groups of vowels: /-a, -u, -o1/ and /o2/. Vowels from either group do not mix with each other; -i1 and -i2 can co-exist with either group. Some take this phenomenon as evidence that Old Japanese had vowel harmony as found in Altaic languages.
Phonetics
Vowels
A phonetic description of the vowels depends on the hypothesis being followed.
Consonants
/k, g/
/k, g/: [k, g]
/s, z/
Theories for /s, z/ include [s, z], [ts, dz], and []. It may have varied depending on the following vowel, as it does with modern Japanese.
/t, d/
/t, d/: [t, d]
/n/
/n/: [n]
/h/
/h/ was phonetically realized as . This assumption is predicated upon the following textual and phonological analyses:
★ The modern /h/ causes a discrepancy in the pairing of voiceless vs. voiced consonants. Thus, /k, g/, /s, z/, /t, d/, and finally /h, b/. The pair /h, b/ does not fit. The voiceless version of /b/ is /p/.
★ Comparison with Ryukyuan language shows where mainland Japanese has [h]. As these two languages split at some point in history, this can be taken as evidence that the Japanese was once pronounced identically to the Ryukyuan (although the comparison alone does not directly address the issue of what its pronunciation was in Old Japanese).
★ A look at /h/ in modern Japanese shows that it becomes when followed by /u/. Looking further back, Portuguese missionaries visiting Japan in the early 17th century wrote the entire /h/-row of kana as "fa, fi, fu, fe, fo". Korean visitors in the same century suggested a voiceless labial fricative sound, i.e. .
★ The oldest evidence is from 9th century. In 842, the monk Ennin writes in Zaitōki a description in which he states that Sanskrit "p" is more labial than Japanese. This is taken as evidence that Japanese /h/ was pronounced rather than by that time.
There is general agreement that between the 9th and 17th century /h/ was . The dialectal and distributional evidence suggest that at some point it must have been [p]. However, it most likely was prior to the Old Japanese period.
/m/
/m/: [m]
/y/
/y/: [j]
/r/
/r/: [r]
/w/
/w/: [w]
Syllable structure
The Old Japanese syllable was CV (consonant-vowel).
★ The initial C could be zero.
★ A bare vowel does not occur except for word-initially.
★ /r/ is not found word-initially (with the exception of two foreign loans: /rikizimahi1/ and /rokuro/).
★ A voiced consonant does not occur word-initially.
Vowel elision occurred to prevent vowel clusters:
★ Initial vowel is dropped: /hanare/ + /iso1/ → /hanareso1/
★ Post vowel is dropped: /ara/ + /umi1/ → /arumi1/
★ Two continuous vowels merge into a separate vowel: i1 + a → e1, a + i1→e2, o2 + i1→i2
★ /s/ is inserted between the two vowels: /haru/ + /ame2/→/harusame2/ (It is possible that /ame2/ was once
★ /same2/)
Grammar
Pronouns
★ First person: wa, a, ware, are
★ Second person: na, nare, masi, mimasi, imasi, ore
★ Third person:
★
★ Proximal: ko, kore, koko, koti
★
★ Mesial: so, si, soko
★
★ Distal: ka, kare
★ Interrogative: ta, tare, idu, idure, iduti, iduku, idura
Verbs
Old Japanese distinguished between eight verbal conjugations: Quadrigrade (四段), Upper Monograde (上一段), Upper Bigrade (上二段), Lower Bigrade (下二段), K-irregular (カ変), S-irregular (サ変), N-irregular (ナ変), and R-irregular (ラ変). No example of Lower Monograde (下一段) appears in Nara period writings, but because the corpus was so limited, Lower Monograde verbs may have existed in speech.
Conjugation
| Verb Class | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quadrigrade (四段) | -a | -i1 | -u | -u | -e2 | -e1 |
| Upper Monograde(上一段) | - | - | -ru | -ru | -re | -(yo2) |
| Upper Bigrade (上二段) | -i2 | -i2 | -u | -uru | -ure | -i2(yo2) |
| Lower Bigrade (下二段) | -e2 | -e2 | -u | -uru | -ure | -e2(yo2) |
| K-irregular (カ変) | -o2 | -i1 | -u | -uru | -ure | -o2 |
| S-irregular (サ変) | -e | -i | -u | -uru | -ure | -e(yo2) |
| N-irregular (ナ変) | -a | -i | -u | -uru | -ure | -e |
| R-irregular (ラ変) | -a | -i | -i | -u | -e | -e |
Consonant / Vowel Stem
Verbs having a base that ends in a consonant are known as consonant-stem. These are exhibited by the following conjugation classes: Quadrigrade, Upper Bigrade, S-irregular, R-irregular, K-irregular, and N-irregular.
Verbs having a base that ends in a vowel are known as vowel-stem. These are exhibited by the following conjugation classes: Upper Monograde.
Irregular Verbs
There are several verbs with irregular conjugations.
★ K-irregular: k- "come"
★ S-irregular: s- "do"
★ N-irregular: sin- "die", in- "go, die"
★ R-irregular: ar- "be, exist", wor- "be, exist"
The conjugation class for each is named after the final stem consonant.
Adjectives
There were two types of adjectives: regular adjectives and adjectival nouns.
The regular adjective is sub-classified into two types: those where the adverbial form (連用形) ends in -ku and those that end in –siku. This creates two different types of conjugations:
| Adjective Class | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ku | -ke1 | -ku | -si | -ki1 | -ke1 or -ke1re | |
| -kara | -kari | -si | -karu | -kare | -kare | |
| -siku | -sike1 | -siku | -si | -siki1 | -sike1 or -sike1re | |
| -sikara | -sikari | -si | -sikaru | -sikare | -sikare |
The -kar- and -sikar- forms are derived from the verb ar- "be, exists". The adverbial conjugation (-ku or -siku) is suffixed with ar-. The conjugation yields to the R-irregular conjugation of ar-. As Old Japanese avoids vowel clusters, the resulting -ua- elides into -a-.
The adjectival noun has a single conjugation:
| Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjectival noun | -nara | -nari | -nari | -naru | -nare | -nare |
Particles
Attaching to the Irrealis
★ ba Expresses hypothesis: "if". Non-conjugatable.
★ h- Repetition
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| h- | -a | -i | -u | -u | -e | -e |
★ ray- Potential
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ray- | -e |
★ r- 1) Passive 2) Potential 3) Spontaneity. See y-
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r- | -e | -e | -u | -uru | -ure | -e(yo) |
★ s- Honorific
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s- | -a | -i | -u | -u | -e | -e |
★ s- Formed transitive and causative verbs. Also functioned as a mild honorific.
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s- | -e | -e | -u | -uru | -ure | -e(yo) |
★ sim- Causative. Later honorific usage not established.
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sim- | -e | -e | -u | -uru | -ure | -e(yo) |
★ y- 1) Passive 2) Potential 3) Spontaneity
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y- | -e | -e | -u | -uru | -ure | -e(yo) |
★ zu Negative
Attaching to the Adverbial
★ ker- Past test.
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ker- | -a | -i | -u | -e |
★ ki Retrospective past. Irregular conjugation.
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| se | 'ki | si |
★ masiz- Negative supposition. Evolves into later maz-
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masiz- | -i | -iki |
★ tar- Perfective
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tar- | -a | -i | -i | -u | -e | -e |
Attaching to the Conclusive
★ mer- Strong supposition
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mer- | -i | -i | -u | -e |
★ nar- Hearsay
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nar- | -i | -u | -e |
★ ras- Objective conjecture
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ras- | -i | -iki | -ikere |
Attaching to the Attributive
★ nar- Copula
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nar- | -a | -i | -i | -u | -e | -e |
Attaching to the Realis
★ ba Marks condition or reason. See irrealis ba. Non-conjugatable.
Attaching to the Imperative
★ r- Perfect
| Stem | Irrealis 未然形 | Adverbial 連用形 | Conclusive 終止形 | Attributive 連体形 | Realis 已然形 | Imperative 命令形 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r- | -a | -i | -i | -u | -e | -e |
Other
★ tu Possessive. Similar to -ga and -no.
★ yo, yu, yori, yuri
Marks the temporal or spacial point of an action. Non-conjugatable.
★ namo, namu Emphatic
★ zo Emphatic
★ ya Interrogative
★ koso Emphatic
Dialects
The Man'yōshū includes poems written in an eastern dialect.
Proto-Japanese
Four-vowel system
The following contractions took place:
★
★ ia > /e1/
★
★ ai1 > /e2/
★
★ ui1 > /i2/
★
★ o2i1 > /i2/
★
★ au > /o1/
★
★ ua > /o1/
Thus, the proto vowel system can be reconstructed as /
★ a,
★ i,
★ u,
★ o2/.
/h/ <
★ [p]
While Old Japanese /h/ was pronounced as [ɸ], it most likely was once
★ [p].
Co1 as Cwo
Distributionally, there may have once been
★ ho1,
★ ho2 and
★ bo1, bo2. Note that the distinction between /mo1/ and /mo2/ is only seen in Kojiki and vanished afterwards.
If this is true, then a distinction was made between Co1 and Co2 for all combinations except for /wo/. Some take this as support that Co1 may have represented Cwo.
References
★ 時代別国語大辞典:上代編, , 久孝, 澤瀉, 三省堂, , ISBN 4-385-13237-2
★ 日本語の歴史, , 明穂, 山口, 東京大学出版会, , ISBN 4-13-082004-4
★ 日本語の形成, , 晋, 大野, 岩波書店, , ISBN 4-00-001758-6
★ The Japanese Language Through Time, , Samuel E., Martin, Yale University, , ISBN 0-300-03729-5
★ Old Japanese : a phonetic reconstruction, , Marc Hideo, Miyake, RoutledgeCurzon, , ISBN 0-415-30575-6
★ The languages of Japan, , Masayoshi, Shibatani, Cambridge University Press, , ISBN 0-521-36918-5
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