2004 年 8 巻 2 号 p. 14-25
In this paper, I propose that the phonotactic restriction that 衣 ([e]) should be used at the word-initial position and 江 ([je]) should be used otherwise was formed in the early part of the 10th century. The phrase "e-no-je (えのえ) ", which is included in Ametsuchi-no-uta written by Minamoto-no-Shitago, also follows this phonotactics. Around the middle of the 10th century, the phonotactics began to lose force gradually, and the change from [e-] to [je-] occurred at the initial position of the second (and subsequent) word in the combination of words. Consequently, the delimitative function of [e] weakened, and [je] came to be used at both the initial and non-initial positions. By the end of the 10th century, [e] had completely merged into [je].