Abstract
The goal of this article is to provide further and systematic evidence for an idea suggested only in passing that the Old Japanese vowel i 2 derives diachronically not only from *əy and *uy, as traditionally believed, but also from *oy. This solution proves to be a key to solving some puzzles in the phonological history of a number of common Old Japanese words.
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Harima Fudoki, ca. 713 AD
Kojiki, 712 AD
Kōtai Jingū Gisiki chō, 804 AD
Kojiki kayō, 712 AD
Kinkafu, eighth century AD
Kakyō hyōsiki, 775 AD
Kokin waka shū , 921 AD
Shōsōin komonjo, from 702 AD
Man’yōshū, ca. 759 AD
Makura-no sō shi, ca. 1000 AD
Nihonshoki kayō, 720 AD
Nihon ryō iki, 824 AD
Nihonshoki, 720 AD
Ruijū koshū, mid to late twelfth century AD
Shinsen jikyō, ca. 898–901 AD
Senmyō, seventh–eighth centuries AD
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This paper is dedicated to the memory of Samuel E. Martin.
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Vovin, A. On one more source of Old Japanese i 2 . J East Asian Linguist 20, 219–228 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-011-9075-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-011-9075-2