The Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki (新訳華厳経音義私記) is a Japanese annotation of the Avatamsaka Sūtra. It is the oldest Japanese ongi, or collection of difficult to interpret words showing their pronunciation and meaning[1], and is a National Treasure of Japan[2].
Background[]
The text is two fascicles in length[3][4]. The compiler is unknown but is presumed to have related to Tōdai-ji[2]. It is an annotation of the 80-volume Avatamsaka Sūtra. As the original was written in Chinese, the annotation contains a list of words and expressions from the original and glosses them with Japanese readings and meanings. The orthography of the Japanese suggests that it is a late Nara period text[3][4]. However, the manuscript contains a number of errors and is judged to be a copy of an earlier original[3][4]. There is only one known existing manuscript.
Linguistics[]
The text is viewed as a valuable reference for Old Japanese linguistics[3][4]. The Japanese annotations are written in Man'yōgana and, with the exception of /to1, to2/[3], distinguishes between Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai. It contains a total of 162 Japanese words, many of which are the oldest extant citations[3][4]. In addition, it also contains the oldest example of a long vowel[3] as well as a number of Japanese-specific readings (慣用音) to kanji[4].
Notes[]
References[]
- Kindaichi, Haruhiko; Ōki Hayashi, Takeshi Shibata (1988) (in Japanese). Nihongo Hyakka Daijiten. Tōkyō: Taishūkan Shoten. ISBN 4-469-01218-1.
- Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Henshū Iinkai (1986) (in Japanese). Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten. 3. Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 4-000-80063-9.
- Omodaka, Hisataka (1967) (in Japanese). Jidaibetsu Kokugo Daijiten: Jōdaihen. Sanseidō. ISBN 4-385-13237-2.
- Yoshida, Kanehiko; Hiroshi Tsukishima, Harumichi Ishizuka, Masayuki Tsukimoto (2001) (in Japanese). Kuntengo Jiten. Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō Shuppan. ISBN 4-490-10570-3.