From: rehir@gauss.med.harvard.edu (Hirokatsu Watanabe 432-2275)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan
Subject: Re: Heian Alphabet
Date: 8 Oct 92 02:58:55 GMT
Organization: Harvard Medical School


 sakimura@sscl.uwo.ca writes:

>In article <1992Oct7.155940.1@sissa.it>, radikkio@sissa.it writes:
>>       I've just began to read "Hanazakari no mori" of Yukio Mishima (it's 
>> translated in Italian and they say it's absolutely the first translation).
>>       There are five novels written in the early years of Mishima's life 
>> (1940-43). The fourth of these novels, entitled "Yoyo ni nikosan", has 
>> something curious. There are 27 chapters and each of them is named with a 
>> sign coming from the Heian alphabet (First is "i", second is "ro", then 
>> "ha", "ni", "ho", etc.).Is there a particular meaning? Or it is just a 
>> strange way to name the chapters of a book?
> 
>"Iroha-uta (Iroha Poem)", which is the other and older way of
>representing the hiragana and katakana is not so logical in the 
>sense that it is not decomposed in such a way that "AIUEO" 
>stuff does, but has meaning in it. And it is quite beautiful. I think
>it went like;

   Your article is a great job!.  But please allow me to add something.
 
>Iro ha nihoheto
 Iro wa nioedo (at the present pronounciation) 
>Chirinuruwo
 Chirinuru o (at the present pronounciation)
>Wakayo tareso
 Wagayo darezo (at the present pronounciation)
>Tsune naramu
>Ui no okuyama
  ^
 'wi' at the original poem, the above is the present pronounciation.
>Kefu koete
 Kyo^ koete (at the present pronounciation)
>Asaki yume mishi
 Asaki yume mizi (at the present pronounciation)
>Ehimo sesu
 ^
'We' at the original poem.
 Eimo sezu (at the present pronounciation)

  In this poem, the mark of voiced sound is not used. Therefore, 'to' is 
pronouned as 'do', 'ka' as 'ga', 'ta' as 'da', 'so' as 'zo', and 'su' as
'zu'.
  When this poem was made (maybe 10-11 century), the pronouncitaions of 
'wi', 'we', and 'wo' existed in Japanese. Therefore, these characters 
were used in it. But the character of 'wo' is used as a postpositional
particle still now.
  Furthermore, Japanese pronounced 'nioedo' as 'nihohedo', 'kyo' as 
'kefu' in 10-11 century.  Similarly they called a butterfly 'tefutefu'
('cho^cho' at the present pronounciation).

>I am not sure what "Ui" and "Ei" mean. I think "Ui" means 
>"Everything of this world hich was formed by destiny  (it is a 
>Buddhism Terminology, I think)" and "Ei" means "to sing or cry."
>I may be totally wrong, though. After all, I grew up in Kenya, not 
>in Japan!

   'Ui no okuyama' (the deep mountain of Ui) is a sort of metaphor.
It means the difficulty to escape from the uncertain world.
   'Ei' came from 'Eu', which is 'Yo-u' in the present Japanese.
Therefore, 'Ui no okuyama  Kyo^koete, Asaki yumemizi, Eimo sezu' means:
"Overcome the difficulty to escape from the uncertain world.
 Don't get a shallow dream, and don't be too happy"
It's a sort of teaching.

   Anyway, Sakimura-san is great! Recently many Japanese, who grew up 
in Japan, can't only remember the poem perfectly.
   'Saikin no Wakai monwa..... Butsu Butsu.....' :-)


*******************************
*      Hirokatsu Watanabe     *
*-----------------------------*
* Mo^karimakka? Sapparidesuwa *
*         Maido Ookini        *
*******************************