中山伝信録 巻六 - 翻刻

翻刻

　二音則合書イロ二字即為色字也若有音無字則
　合書二字反切行之如村名泊与泊舟之泊並読作
　土馬伊則一字三音矣村名喜屋武読作腔字則又
　三字一音矣国語多類此国人語言亦多以五六字
　読作一二字者甚多得中国書多用鈎挑旁記逐句
　倒読実字居上虚字倒下逆読語言亦然本国文移
　中亦参用中国一二字上下皆国字也四十七字之
　末有一字作二点音媽此另是一字以聯属諸音為
　記者共四十八字云
　元陶宗儀云琉球国職貢中華所上表用木為簡高
　八寸許厚三分濶五分飾以髹釦以錫貫以革而横
　行刻字於其上其字体科斗書又云日本国中自有
　国字字母四十有七能通識之便可解其音義其聯
　輳成字処髣髴蒙古字法以彼中字体写中国詩文
　雖不可読而筆勢縦横竜蛇飛動儼有顚素之遺今
　琉球国表疏文皆用中国書陶所云横行刻字科斗
　書或其未通中国以前字体如此今不可考但今琉
　球国字母亦四十有七其以国書写中国詩文筆勢

現代語訳

二音則合書イロ二字即為色字也若有音無字則
合書二字反切行之如村名泊与泊舟之泊並読作
土馬伊則一字三音矣村名喜屋武読作腔字則又
三字一音矣国語多類此国人語言亦多以五六字
読作一二字者甚多得中国書多用鈎挑旁記逐句
倒読実字居上虚字倒下逆読語言亦然本国文移
中亦参用中国一二字上下皆国字也四十七字之
末有一字作二点音媽此另是一字以聯属諸音為
記者共四十八字云

という二音なので「イロ」という二字を合わせ書きして色字とする。もし音があるが文字がない場合は、二字を合わせ書きして反切で行う。例えば村名の「泊」と「泊舟」の「泊」はともに「土馬伊」と読むので、一字で三音となる。村名の「喜屋武」は「腔」字として読むので、また三字で一音となる。国語にはこのような例が多い。国人の語言も五六字を一二字として読むものが甚だ多い。中国書を得ると多く鈎挑（かぎ・はね）を用いて旁記し、逐句倒読する。実字を上に置き虚字を下に倒して逆読する。語言も亦然りである。本国の文移中にも中国の一二字を参用するが、上下はすべて国字である。四十七字の末に一字あり、二点音「媽」を作す。此れは別に一字であり、諸音を聯属させるための記号である。合わせて四十八字という。

元の陶宗儀が言うには、琉球国が中華に職貢する時に上げる表は木を用いて簡を作り、高さ八寸ほど、厚さ三分、幅五分で、髹漆で飾り錫で留め革で貫いて、横行して字を其の上に刻む。その字体は科斗書である。また日本国中には自ずから国字があり、字母四十七あり、これをよく理解できれば其の音義を解することができる。その聯輳して字を成すところは蒙古字法に髣髴している。彼の中の字体で中国の詩文を写すと、読むことはできないが、筆勢は縦横で龍蛇が飛動するようで、儼然として顚素の遺風がある、という。今琉球国の表疏文はすべて中国書を用いている。陶が言う横行刻字の科斗書は、或いはその中国に通じる以前の字体がこのようであったのかもしれないが、今では考証できない。ただし今の琉球国の字母も亦四十七あり、その国書で中国の詩文を写す筆勢は

英語訳

with two sounds, so the two characters "I-Ro" are combined to make the character for "color." If there is sound but no character, two characters are combined and written using fanqie. For example, the village name "Tomari" and "Tomari" (mooring) in "mooring boats" are both read as "To-Ma-I," making one character with three sounds. The village name "Kyan" is read as the character "Kou," making three characters with one sound. The national language has many such examples. The people's speech also very frequently reads five or six characters as one or two characters. When they obtain Chinese books, they often use hooks and strokes for marginal notes, reading sentence by sentence in reverse order. Substantial characters are placed above, function words are inverted below and read in reverse. Speech follows the same pattern. In the country's official documents, one or two Chinese characters are also incorporated, but above and below are all national characters. At the end of the forty-seven characters, there is one character that makes the two-dot sound "Ma." This is a separate character used as a marker to connect various sounds. Together there are said to be forty-eight characters.

Tao Zongyi of the Yuan dynasty said that when the Ryukyu Kingdom paid tribute to China, the memorials they presented used wooden tablets about eight inches high, three parts thick, and five parts wide, decorated with lacquer, fastened with tin, bound with leather, and characters were carved horizontally on them. The character style was tadpole script. He also said that Japan naturally has its own national script with forty-seven character elements, and those who can understand them well can comprehend their sound and meaning. Where they join together to form characters resembles Mongolian script methods. When Chinese poetry and prose are written in their script, although it cannot be read [by Chinese], the brush strokes are bold and dynamic like flying dragons and snakes, solemnly preserving the legacy of Dian and Su. Now Ryukyu's memorials and documents all use Chinese writing. The horizontal carved tadpole script that Tao mentioned might have been their character style before they became familiar with Chinese, but this cannot now be verified. However, the current Ryukyu character elements also number forty-seven, and when Chinese poetry and prose are written in their national script, the brush strokes are