Types and Decipherment Problems of Phonetic Glosses #

In examining Phonetic Glosses, comparison with the Guangyun’s phonetic glosses is fundamental. In the original compilation of the Myōgishō, citations from the Tōgū Qieyun (東宮切韻) are frequent, and it is expected that Phonetic Glosses derived from Qieyun-lineage rhyme books are likewise numerous in the revised compilation. In the original compilation of the Myōgishō, citations from the original Yupian (原本玉篇) and the Tenrei Banshō Meigi are about as frequent as those from the Tōgū Qieyun, so collation of the Kanchi-in manuscript’s Phonetic Glosses against these must also be carried out. The most frequently cited source in the original compilation of the Myōgishō is Xuanying’s Yiqiejing yinyi, so the Kanchi-in manuscript’s Phonetic Glosses must likewise be collated against the Yiqiejing yinyi. Additionally, the original compilation of the Myōgishō also contains Phonetic Glosses derived from the Wamyō Ruijushō, which sometimes diverge from the Middle Chinese phonological system.

However, depending on how one counts, the Kanchi-in manuscript contains approximately 24,000 Phonetic Glosses, and collation will take considerable time. First, using the Guangyun as a reference, we will investigate whether each Headword appears there, its rhyme group, its fanqie spelling, and its xiaoyun character, among other points. Next, for Phonetic Glosses that do not match the Guangyun, we will examine them in turn against the Tenrei Banshō Meigi, the Song edition of the Yupian, the Yiqiejing yinyi, the Wamyō Ruijushō, and other sources.

Although there is no direct citation in the original compilation of the Myōgishō, the revised compilation contains entries similar to those in the Longkan Shoujian/Shoujing, so reference to the Longkan Shoujian/Shoujing is also indispensable.

Types of Phonetic Glosses #

In terms of notational form, there are Fanqie spellings, homophone-character glosses, Kana glosses, and Tone Marks.

In terms of content, there are Seion (正音, standard pronunciations), Kan-on, Wa-on, and Go-on.

Fanqie Spellings #

The following is a passage where Headwords not recorded in the Guangyun appear in succession.

• kazama_location: K01016330, hanzi_entry: 仱, definition: 紺音　渠廉反　古樂人
• kazama_location: K01016340, hanzi_entry: 佡, definition: 俗仚字　丘豉反　呼莚反
• kazama_location: K01016410, hanzi_entry: ⿰亻企, definition: 俗企字

Let us divide these three entries according to the differences in the content of their Original Glosses, number them in order of appearance, and add a commentary to each.

• kazama_location: K01016330, hanzi_entry: 仱,
  definition:
  1. 紺音, remarks: Not found in the Guangyun. ‘紺’ appears in the Guangyun as 古暗切 (Departing tone, Kan rhyme).
  2. 渠廉反, remarks: Tenrei Banshō Meigi: 渠廉反. Level tone, Yan rhyme, Qun initial.
  3. 古樂人, remarks: Tenrei Banshō Meigi: 古樂人也.
• kazama_location: K01016340, hanzi_entry: 佡,
  definition:
  1. 俗仚字, remarks: ‘仚’ appears in the Shuowen Jiezi as ‘人在山上’ (a person atop a mountain).
  2. 丘豉反, remarks: Not found in the Guangyun. ‘仚’ appears in the Guangyun as 許延切 (Level tone, Xian rhyme). ‘丘豉反’ corresponds to the Departing tone, Zhi rhyme, Xi initial. ‘企’ appears in the Guangyun as both 丘弭切 (Rising tone, Zhi rhyme) and 去智切 (Departing tone, Zhi rhyme); this corresponds to the latter reading.
  3. 呼莚反, remarks: Longkan Shoujian/Shoujing: ‘佡仚　許延反。輕也。二。’ (Fascicle 1, ‘人’ radical).
• kazama_location: K01016410, hanzi_entry: ⿰亻企, definition:
  1. 俗企字

The last one, K01016410 ‘⿰亻企’, is at Unicode U+2CF7E (𬽾), but may not display depending on the environment. Displayed via GlyphWiki, it appears as .

Now, K01016340 ‘佡’ does not appear in the Guangyun. Nor does it appear in the Tenrei Banshō Meigi or the Song edition of the Yupian. The Longkan Shoujian/Shoujing gives ‘許延反’ (Level tone, Xian rhyme), which is close to the Kanchi-in manuscript’s ‘呼莚反’.

The Kanchi-in manuscript additionally records ‘丘豉反’ (Departing tone, Zhi rhyme). This fanqie spelling appears in Xuanying’s Yiqiejing yinyi, Fascicle 4, in the first fascicle of the Great Consecration Sūtra (大灌頂經), as:

郁佡　丘豉反。經文作㑫、非也。（高麗本）

‘佡’ agrees between the Kongō-ji and Saihō-ji manuscripts, but the Nanatsu-dera manuscript writes ‘伱’.

Additionally, in Xuanying’s Yiqiejing yinyi, Fascicle 5, in the first fascicle of the Sūtra of the Spells of the Seven Buddhas (七佛神呪經), it appears as:

目佡　丘豉反。（高麗本）

Few old manuscripts survive for this passage, and the Nanatsu-dera manuscript writes ‘伱’. It is not possible to determine which of these two is correct, but it seems reasonable to regard the Kanchi-in manuscript’s ‘丘豉反’ as deriving from the Yiqiejing yinyi.

Searching the Taishō Tripiṭaka for ‘郁佡’ in the Great Consecration Sūtra, the corresponding passage appears to be in the Sūtra of the Seven Myriad Two Thousand Spirit-King Protector Bhikṣus Spoken by the Buddha at the Consecration (佛説灌頂七萬二千神王護比丘呪經, Taishō No. 1331, translated by Śrīmitra), which reads ‘神名闍羅尼郁⿰亻企目＊⿰亻企’ (Taishō vol. 21, 496a). Searching for ‘目佡’ in the Sūtra of the Spells of the Seven Buddhas, several instances of ‘目⿰亻企’ are used in the Great Dhāraṇī Spirit-Spell Sūtra Spoken by the Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas (七佛八菩薩所説大陀羅尼神呪經, Taishō No. 1332). Both ‘郁⿰亻企’ and ‘目⿰亻企’ are examples of Sanskrit phonetic transliteration.

Finally, let us also look at the entries surrounding the three entries discussed above.

• kazama_location: K01016320, hanzi_entry: 㑫, definition: 俗捻字　又俗佡字歟
• kazama_location: K01016330, hanzi_entry: 仱, definition: 紺音　渠廉反　古樂人
• kazama_location: K01016340, hanzi_entry: 佡, definition: 俗仚字　丘豉反　呼莚反
• kazama_location: K01016410, hanzi_entry: ⿰亻企, definition: 俗企字
• kazama_location: K01016421, hanzi_entry: 伱／你, definition: 尼(LV)尒反　ナムチ　イマ　ヲヒ

The Headwords are shown via GlyphWiki as follows.

The first one, K01016320 ‘㑫’, is presumably related to the note “經文作㑫、非也” (“the sutra text writes it as 㑫, which is incorrect”) found in Xuanying’s Yiqiejing yinyi, Fascicle 4, in the first fascicle of the Great Consecration Sūtra:

郁佡　丘豉反。經文作㑫、非也。

Additionally, ‘㑫’ appears in the Longkan Shoujian/Shoujing as follows.

• location: La0390903, hanzi_entry: 㑫, definition: 俗。乃叶反。又舊藏作弃。在七佛神咒經。（高麗本）

The Korean edition of the Longkan Shoujian/Shoujing writes ‘㑫’ as , which agrees with the Kanchi-in manuscript.

K01016421 ‘伱／你’ is a glyph form similar to the preceding ‘佡’ and ‘⿰亻企’.

Homophone-Character Glosses #

Homophone glosses (同音字注, dōonji-chū) are also called Similar sound notes (類音注, ruion-chū). These are annotations that indicate a Headword’s pronunciation using a single homophonous or near-homophonous character, mostly in the form ‘音◯’ or ‘◯音.’ For two-character compounds, the marker ‘二音’ (“two readings”) may be appended, giving the form ‘◯△二音.’

For example, ‘留’ has ‘音流,’ indicating it is read with the pronunciation of ‘流.’ The two-character compound ‘鷦鷯’ has ‘焦(L)「セウ」遼(L)「レウ」二音,’ recording the Similar sound notes for ‘鷦’ and ‘鷯’ together under a single ‘二音.’ Special cases that also indicate tone, such as ‘音鴛之上声’ (“pronounced as 鴛, Rising tone”), are classified under “Other.”

Kana Glosses #

Kana glosses (仮名音注, kana-onchū) are phonetic glosses written in katakana. Irregular examples that use Chinese characters to indicate a palatalized (yōon) or voiced (dakuon) sound are also included among Kana glosses.

For example, ‘正’ has ‘和者ウ,’ indicating a palatalized sound using Chinese characters, and ‘堂’ has ‘俗云堕ウ,’ indicating a voiced sound using Chinese characters.

Tone Marks #

Tone Marks indicate the tonal category (the four tones, or six tones) and the voiced/unvoiced distinction, applied to Headwords and to the characters used within Phonetic Glosses. Following a specification change in March 2025, KRM represents these with a single Roman letter, as shown below.

Fanqie Spellings Easily Mistaken for Katakana #

K03103430    楔  先結反　始死ー齒　又工八反　門雨邊木　ニハサクラ　ニハクサ
K04019630    尬  工八反　又斤音　又五點反　ー尬行不正

The first one, ‘楔’, has two readings in the Guangyun: 古黠切 (Entering tone, Xia rhyme, xiaoyun 戛) and 先結切 (Entering tone, Xie rhyme, xiaoyun 屑); ‘工八反’ corresponds to 古黠切. Masamune’s Index and Kusakawa’s Wakun Shūsei record ‘工八反’ as ‘エハメ’ (ehame), but this is an example that should be classified as a fanqie spelling rather than a Japanese Native Reading (wakun).

The second one, ‘尬’, appears in the Guangyun as 古拜切 (Departing tone, Guai rhyme, xiaoyun 誡), but the Tenrei Banshō Meigi gives 公八反, the Shinsen Jikyō gives 公八公鎋二反, and the Song edition of the Yupian gives 公拜公鎋二切 — all of which record a fanqie spelling for the Entering tone, Xia rhyme (‘公八’). Masamune’s Index and Kusakawa’s Wakun Shūsei record this as ‘コハメ’ (kohame), but this too is an example that should be classified as a fanqie spelling rather than a Japanese Native Reading (wakun).

References #

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