“ In my opinion, had the development of Japanese not been arrested by Chinese influences about the middle of the first millennium, it might have won a far higher place than it occupies in the hierarchy of human speech.
This agglutinative inflexion is practically confined to the verb, and—to a slight extent—to nouns adjective, simple or verbalized. What may be called the stem of the verb shows a pure vocalic inflexion in a, e, i, o or u. The stem in u is the form usually found in native and foreign dictionaries—in Lemaréchal’s it is the stem in e or i. ”

“ The future namu is a common auxiliary suffix. Namu may become namashi, by composition with mashi, more, a suffixed optative particle. Another optative is formed by adding the slight interrogative particle ya to the form in -aba as yukabaya, should like to go; sometimes the future form is in -ramu (aramu?) added to the u-stem, as aruramu for aramu, kofuramu for kohamu (kohimu) , will love. Aru, be, is peculiar in that its P.-form is ari not aru.
The verb miru, see, keeps the mi throughout, miru, miki, mishi, mimu, miba, mitsu (past) , mizu, minu, mizhi, mide, &c. ”

“ Shikishima no kaze ni yoru to ka ya.
[252]
(kuse) ?—
Shikaru ni Chiyaunou ga kotoba ni mo uzhiyau hizhiyau no sono kowe mina uta ni mo moruru koto nashi. Saumoku dosha fuusei suwion made bambutsu no komoru kokoro ari. Haru no hayashi no toufuu ni ugoki aki no mushi no hokuro ni naku mo mina waka no sugata narazuya. Naka ni mo kono matsu ha bammoku ni sugurete zhiyu hachi kou no yosohohi sen shiu no midori wo nashite kokon no iro mo mizu Shikwau no on shaku adzukaru hodo no ki nari tote ikoku ni mo honchiyau ni mo bammin kore wo shiyaukwansu.
Shite—
Takasago no
Wonohe no kane no
oto su nari! ”

“ Before i ts becomes ch, and before e and a t, before i s becomes sh and z zh; before every vowel except u f becomes h. All verbs have the stem in u, most verbs have also the stem in a and i, some have also the stem in e only, some in i only. There are a very few irregular verbs. The following list of verbs and their stems will illustrate the above remarks:—
The Japanese verb has neither number nor person, the forms that follow therefore are indefinite as to number and person. ”

“ One depends on the written form ya sumi shishi, know (govern) eight corners, all corners, the whole empire; the other in the verb yasumu, to rest, or yasumi suru, yasundzuru, to make rest, pacify, debellare. The latter seems the most reasonable; but that does not make it the real explanation. It is always a m. k. of waga ohokimi, my great-lord, usually (but not invariably) used in reference to the Sovran. ”

“ Or we have miyuru, see-get = seem, so omoyuru, omoheru (from omofu, think) , or omoharuru (see Glossary, omofu, &c.) , iheru (ihi-uru) , is said, &c. From aru (be) lengthened to arafu, we get araharu, araharuru, arahaseru, be manifest or make manifest.
Other passive-like forms are iyu (i) , shot, oyu (oi) , grown old, omohoyu (omofu) , thought. There is a form in -aku, thus ifu, say, ihaku—even the future has it, kakemu, will utter, kakemaku, and the past omoheraku, the morphological origin of which is unknown. It seems to give a substantival character to the verb; ihaku, the saying (is) ”

“ Mikado ohose-tamahaku—
‘Miyatsuko Maro ga ihe yama moto chikakanari [182] . Mikari no miyuki shi-tamahamu yau nite mitemu ya’ to notamahasu. Miyatsuko Maro ga mausu yau ‘ito yoki koto nari. Nanika kokoro mo nakute haberamu ni futo miyuki shite goranzerarenamu’ to sousureba, Mikado nihaka ni hi wo sadamete mikari ni idetamahite Kaguyahime no ihe ni iri-tamahite mi-tamafu ni hikari michite keura nite witari hito ari ‘Kore naramu!’ to oboshite, chikaku yorase tamafu ni [183] nigete iru. ”

“ In dealing with the less easy texts of the Manyôshiu the following considerations must be kept in mind:—
The honour-forms (see below) indicate a (logical) second or third person, or something connected with such a person, directly or indirectly.
[xxiv]
The particle wo may often be rendered as if ni, or as an exclamation, or as if followed by some form of omofu. I do not regard it as in itself a quasi-conjunction. The various functions of no must be kept in mind. ”

“ From the above considerations it will be readily understood that the power of expression even in Japanese is far inferior to that of Western speech. The imagery is, of necessity, extremely limited in range and flat in tone. It seems to me, however, of greater range and higher quality than in Chinese. But neither Chinese nor Japanese possesses a tithe of the capacity of Aryan and Semitic languages to express human thought and feeling, [xi] and describe the works of man or the appearances of nature. ”

“ What sume means is uncertain, it may be connected with sube (shiru) , universally know, i.e. govern the land. Other expressions are kamuro kamu subera or sumera or sumero, kamu adding the notion of ‘divine’. Ohokimi, ‘chief’, I take to be the oldest; the other forms smack of China. As to ‘ro’, see above remarks [xxviii] on the particle ‘ro’. In the Kogi etymology ro = the re o of are oya in kamu are oya = god-born ancestry.
Mikado means grand gate or palace, and by metonymy came to signify its lord, just as at the present day miya (grand mansion) denotes an imperial prince. ”

“ Yamato ni ha, it is in Yamato that ...; yuki furu yo ha, a night indeed on which snow falls: a wo koso se to ha, it is I indeed whom (you should call) husband.
ga is a possessive particle, wa-ga (warega) ohokimi, my great lord; Wazami ga hara, plain of Wazami. It may be used before verbs, tori ga naku, the bird cries; or after, nabiku ga gotoku, like bending before. Sometimes it resembles ha kimi ga agari-ki-masamu, my lord, he will embark.
tsu is possessive, amatsu kami, gods of heaven, kuni tsu kami, gods of the land. It seems to follow names of things only. ”

“ Causative verbs (often used as transitives or as honour-forms) are easily recognized. Thus nageku, sigh, lament, nagekasu; or forms derived from su (suru) , do, are added—shimuru, seshimuru, sasuru. Thus yaku, burn, yakasu, yakashimuru; suru (se) , do, sesasuru, make-do.
Nu (ni) is an old verb ‘be’. Ni + aru = naru, become, be at, of, in. ”

“ Such are chichi no mi no chichi (father = chichi = maiden-hair tree—the quibble is on the two chichi, and the double meaning of mi, fruit and person) . Hahasoba no haha, mother (haha) , as of the oak (hahaso = Quercus dentata) , &c. Shiga no karasaki sakiku araba (here the rhyme is Karasaki (Cape Kara in Shiga) and sakiku araba (if flourish) ) . Such expressions are explained in the notes or glossary.
Other repetitive expressions are simply emphatic or poetic: Tsudohi tsudohi imashite, they (the gods) assembling, kamu hafuri hafuri, burying—burying him (a mikado or miko) as a god ”

“ Kaguyahime no ihaku ‘Tsuki no miyako no hito nite chichi haha ari kata toki no ma tote kano kuni yori maude-koshikadomo kaku kono kuni ni ha amata no toshi wo henuru ni namu arikeru. Kano kuni no chichi haha no koto mo obohezu koko ni ha kaku hisashiku asobi-kikohete narahi-tatematsureri imizhikaramu kokochi mo sezu kanashiku nomi namu aru. Saredo ono ga kokoro narazu makarinamu to suru’ to ihite, morotomo ni imizhiu naku. ”

“ Thus read hito no [mono wo omofu] , a man’s thinking of things (regretfully) : not [hito no mono] wo omofu, to think of a man-thing (or man’s things, &c.) [5] .
ni (perhaps a stem of nu, be) = in, to, at, for, with, by, on, near; Yamato ni, in Yamato; toki ni, at time = when; miya ni amori, descend from heaven to the palace; te ni tori, take in the hand; ashita ni, on the morrow; asagari ni tatasu, start for morning-hunt; tokoro ni yuku, go to a place; also adverbially, yasukaranaku ni, in a not-restful way; aya ni, strangely; kogi-yuku ni, in or while rowing on; tokoshihe ni, everlastingly. ”

“ The ancient Japanese f (perhaps derived from a lost p) was something like the Highland ‘fwh’ in ‘fwhat’ of which the different elements were prominent in connexion with particular vowel sounds. As significant of numerousness, it is applied to mure (flock, crowd) contracted into me (to which through a homophon meaning ‘woman’ it is applied in the text) as well as sometimes to yoru, night (homophon of yoru, gather together, collect) . There are parallel etymologies quoted by the Kogi, but it is needless to detail them here. Umashiahafu would contract into umasahafu ”

“ Kaguyahime Ohitachi
Ima ha mukashi Taketori no Okina to ifu [11] mono arikeri. No yama ni mazhirite take wo toritsutsu yorodzu no koto [12] ni tsukahikeri [13] . Na wo ba Sanugi no Miyatsuko Maro to namu ihikeru. Sono take no naka ni moto [14] hikaru take hito suji arikeri. Ayashigarite yorite miru ni tsutsu no naka hikaritari. Sore to mireba san sun bakari naru hito ito utsukushiute itari. Okina ifu yau—
‘Ware asa goto yufu goto ni miru tokoro no naka ni ohasuru nite shirinu ko ni nari-tamafubeki hito nameri’ tote, te ni uchi-irete ihe ni [15] mochite kinu. Me no ouna ni adzukete yashinahasu. ”

“ To Miwa it is applied, taking Miwa as miwaku, a boiling spring, and therefore as sacred.
minahanasu, like foam of water; m. k. of moroki inochi (brittle, i.e. impermanent life of men) .
minanowata, pulp of Mina shell (Melania sp.) ; because of its blackness used as m. k. of ka-guroki-kami, jetty tresses, 64, 168.
minasegaha, mi-na (ki) -se-kaha, waterless stream; kohi ni mo so hito ha shinisuru minasegaha shita yu are yasu tsuki ni hi ni keni, I die of love, as a stream without water I pass on and perish month by month, day by day (as the stream with too little water from its source does) . ”

“ Kore wo kikase-tamahite—
Afu koto mo
namida ni ukabu
wagami ni ha
shinanu kusuri mo
nani ni ka ha semu!
Kano tatematsuru shinanu no kusuri no tsubo ni mi fumi gushita mi tsukahi ni tamahasu. Chiyokushi ni ha Tsuki no Iwagasa to ifu hito wo meshite ‘Suruga no kuni ni anaru yama no itadaki ni mote yukubeki’ yoshi ohose-tamafu.
Mine nite subeki yau woshihesasetamafu ‘mi fumi fushi no kusuri no tsubo narabete hi wo tsukete moyasubeki’ yoshi ohosetamafu.
Sono yoshi uke-tamaharite tsuhamonodomo amata [240] gushite yama he noborikeru yori namu. Sono yama wo ba Fuzhi no yama to ha nadzukeru. ”

“ The literal renderings are of the characters, read mana, with which the m. k. are more often written—but not so in all cases. Of many of the m. k. the meanings are, and must remain conjectural.
Place-names are thus indicated (pl. n.) .
adzusayumi, bow of white-wood (Catalpa, Prunus?) ; applied to hiki (draw) ; compounds of hiki; — hiki-toyokuni = hiki-toyomu-kuni (resounding land) ; — Yora no yama he, Yora hill, yora resembling yoru (night-time when twang of bow more distinct) ; — suwe ha yorinemu (at the end will rest—end = bow-end) ; — suwe (end) ; — haru (stretch or bend, as bow) ”

“ Aruha matsuyama no nami wo kake no naka no midzu wo kumi aki hagi no ochiba wo nagame akadzuki no shige no hanekaki wo kazoye aruha kuretake no ukifushi wo hito ni ihi Yoshinogaha wo hikite yo no naka wo urami kitsuru ni ima ha Fuji no yama no kemuri mo tatazu nari Nagara no hashi mo tsukuru nari to kiku hito ha uta ni nomi zo kokoro wo nagusamekeru.
Inishihe yori kaku tsutaharu uchi ni mo Nara no mi toki yori zo hiromari ni keru. [Kano ohon yo ha uta no kokoro wo shiroshimeshitarikemu.] ”

“ A complete list of these Chinese phonetic ideographs is given in the Sôron (Introductory) volume of the Kogi.
A second method of using the ideographs was to employ them according to their kun (reading i.e. in pure [xxx] Japanese) , thus utate (extremely) was represented by 得田手, chihahi (for sachihafi, bless) by 千羽日. Sometimes two characters represented one sound, thus 嗚呼 for a, 五十 (isozhi) for i, 牛鳴, ushi no naku, ‘moo’ of cow, for mu. Some sounds (ku, ri, ru, ro, wa) are not found thus symbolized, that is, japonicé. ”

“ Kore wo mo ahare to mite woru ni Taketori no Okina hashiri irite ihaku—
‘Kono miko ni maushitamahishi Hourai no tama no yeda wo hitotsu no tokoro mo ayashiki tokoro naku ayamatazu mote [62] ohashimaseri. Nani wo mochite [63] ka tokaku mausubeki ni arazu [64] . Tabi no mi sugata nagara waga ohon [65] ihe he mo yori-tamahazu shite ohashimashitari. Haya kono miko ni ahitsukaumatsuritamahe’ to ifu ni mono wo ihazu tsuradzuwe wo tsukite imizhiu nagekashige ni omohitari. ”

“ Safuraheba kaku annari [139] hayate mo tatsu no fukaseru nari haya kami ni inori-tamahe’
to iheba,
‘Yoki koto nari’—tote—‘kajitori no mikami kikoshimese wojinaku [140] kokoro wosanaku tatsu wo korosamu to omohikeri ima yori nochi ha ke no suwe hito [5] suji [141] wo dani ugokashi-tatematsurazhi’ to yogoto [142] wo hanachite tachi-wi naku-naku yobahi-tamafu koto chi tabi bakari maushi-tamafu. Ge ni ya aramu! yauyau kaminari yaminu sukoshi akarite kaze ha naho hayaku fuku. ”

“ Kore wo Kaguyahime kikite tofurahi ni tsukahashikeru uta—
Toshi wo hete
nami tachi-yoranu
Sumiyoshi no
matsu kahi nashi
kiku ha makoto ka? to aru wo yonde kikasu.
Ito yowaki kokochi ni kashira wo motagete hito [226] ni kami wo motasete kurushiki kokochi ni karauzhite kaki-tamafu—
Kahi ha kaku
arikeru mono wo
wabi hatete
shinuru inochi wo
sukuhi ya ha senu! to kaki-hatsuru to tahe-iritamahinu.
Kore wo kikite Kaguhahime sukoshi ahare to oboshikeri. Sore yori namu sukoshi ureshiki koto wo ba kahi ari! to ha ihikeru. ”

“ Sareba kaheri imashi ni keri.
Yo no hitobito ‘Abe no Otodo ha hinedzumi no kahagoromo wo mote imashite Kaguya-hime ni sumi-tamafu to na koko ni ya imasu’ nado tofu aru hito no ihaku, ‘Kahagoromo ha hi ni kubete yakitarishikaba meramera to yakenishikaba Kaguya-hime ahi-tamahazu’ to ihikereba kore wo kikite zo togenaki mono wo ba ‘abenashi’ to ha ihikeru. ”