Annotations Employing the Character saku(作) in the Three-volume Edition of the Iroha Jiruisho

Abstract

During the Heian Period, many character dictionaries classifying their entries by radical as well as glossaries giving the Sino-Japanese (on) reading for characters together with their meaning were compiled. Unlike most of these, the annotations employing the character saku(作) in the three-volume edition of the Iroha Jiruisho (late 12^<th> century) are not considered to be simply an annotation of character variants (itaiji). This paper provides an overview of annotations using saku(作) in the three-volume edition of the Iroha Jiruisho. It identifies the following three points regarding the difference between the annotations 又作(yusaku) and 亦作(ekisaku). First, the use of both annotations in iterated examples and examples of alternative forms shows that 又作 and 亦作 both indicate variant character shapes and different spellings without any evaluation of which one is correct, or vernacular, etc. Second, 亦作 appears in the three-volume edition almost without exception only from u onward; in the two-volume edition (mid 12^<th> century) it occurs in the second volume only. This means that the distribution of 亦作 throughout this text is linked to the process by which this text of the Iroha Jiruisho was revised. Third, a comparison with 亦作 in the Dai Kanwa Jiten (Morohashi 1984-1986), and an examination of the common elements in the characters used for entry headings and characters used in annotations shows that while the main function of 亦作 is to indicate character variants, the main function of 又作 is to indicate different graphic representations in general, including character variants. This trend is even more pronounced when 又作 annotates a compound character heading.