いすくはし
Old Japanese
editEtymology
editFrom the ninth poem of the Kojiki (712 CE):
The seventh poem of the Nihon Shoki also begins with Uda no₂ takaki₂ ni... and contains isukupasi, but the later verses are different and the ending is longer.
Adnominal
editいすくはし (isukupasi)
- The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
- 勇細し: vigorous and fine in beauty, allusion to くぢら (kudira, “whale”)[1]
- 磯細し: beautiful as rocky shores, also an allusion to くぢら (kudira, “whale”)[1]
- 伊巣細し: beautiful as [emphatic particle] nest, allusion to くち (kuti, “hawk”) + 等 (-ra, pluralizing suffix), where the initial kuti is from a Baekje term for “hawk”[1]
- 很はし: beautifully (urupasi) and emotionally twisted up or pierced (isukasi), also an allusion to くち (kuti, “hawk”) + 等 (-ra, pluralizing suffix)[1]
- Vovin (2021c, 278-280) asserts that the initial isu- is related to Amis 'iso (“whale”), while -kupasi represents 食はし (kupasi, “edible”).
References
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 “いすくはし ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten][1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)