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顛素之遺今
　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

の二音なので「イロ」の二字を合わせて書いて色の字とするのである。もし音があっても文字がない場合は、二字を合わせて書いて反切で用いる。例えば村名の「泊」と「泊舟」の「泊」は、どちらも「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、これもまた三字で一音となる。国語にはこの類が多い。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。中国の書物を得ると多くは鉤挑（句読点）を旁記して逐句倒読し、実字を上に置き虚字を下に倒して逆読する。語言もまた然りである。本国の文移中にも中国の一、二字を参用し、上下皆国字である。四十七字の末に一字あって二点の音「媽」を作る。これは別にある一字で、諸音を連属させる記号として用いるものである。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際に上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、漆で飾り錫で留め革で貫いて、横行して字を刻む。その字体は科斗書である」という。また「日本国中には自国の国字があり、字母は四十七で、よく通じて識ればその音義を解することができる。その連綴して字を成すところは、蒙古の字法に髣髴している。彼の国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が縦横で龍蛇が飛動するようで、儼然として顛素の遺風がある」という。今琉球国の表疏文は皆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だろうが、今は考証できない。ただし今の琉球国字母もまた四十七あり、その国書で中国の詩文を写す筆勢は

英語訳

with two sounds, so they combine and write the two characters "イロ" (i-ro) to form the character for color. If there is sound but no character, they combine two characters and use fanqie. For example, the village name "泊" (tomari) and "泊" in "mooring a boat" are both read as "土馬伊" (do-ma-i), making one character with three sounds. The village name "喜屋武" (Kyan) is read as the character "腔" (qiang), which is again three characters with one sound. The national language has many such examples. The people's speech also very often reads five or six characters as one or two characters. When they obtain Chinese books, they often add hooks and marks as marginal notes, reading each sentence in reverse order, placing substantial words above and empty words below, reading backwards. Speech follows the same pattern. In domestic correspondence, they also incorporate one or two Chinese characters, with national characters both above and below. At the end of the forty-seven characters, there is one character that makes the two-dot sound "媽" (ma). This is a separate character used as a mark to connect various sounds. Together there are forty-eight characters.

Tao Zongyi of the Yuan dynasty said: "When the Ryukyu Kingdom presents tribute memorials to China, they use wood to make tablets about eight inches high, three fen thick, and five fen wide, decorated with lacquer, fastened with tin, threaded with leather, and characters are carved horizontally. The character style is tadpole script." He also said: "Japan has its own national characters within the country, with forty-seven letter-sounds. If one can understand them thoroughly, one can comprehend their sound and meaning. Where they connect to form characters resembles Mongolian character methods. When they write Chinese poetry and prose with their national character style, although it cannot be read, the brush momentum moves vertically and horizontally like flying dragons and snakes, solemnly preserving the legacy of Dian and Su." Today, Ryukyu's memorial documents all use Chinese writing. Tao's mention of horizontally carved tadpole script may have been how their character style appeared before they became versed in Chinese, but this cannot be verified now. However, the current Ryukyu national alphabet also has forty-seven characters, and the brush momentum when writing Chinese poetry and prose with their national script