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Paper short abstract

This paper divides Japanese ateji into phonetic, semantic, and phono-semantic rebuses. It argues that such practices are not unique to Japan, but have clear parallels across the Sinographic Cosmopolis, from the liùshū principles to regional reading practices in Sinitic and non-Sinitic languages.

Paper long abstract

Japanese ateji can be broadly divided into phonetic (e.g., takusaN 沢山 ‘many’), semantic (e.g., biiru 麦酒 ‘beer’) and phono-semantic (e.g., kurabu 俱楽部 ‘club’) rebuses. While ateji are commonly viewed as a phenomenon unique to Japanese, we can find numerous parallels throughout the Sinographic Cosmopolis (the region of East Asia in which sinograms were traditionally used as a written medium, including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Koreas and Japan), from the principles underlying sinogram formation to regional and vernacular reading practices in both Sinitic and non-Sinitic languages.

Phonetic rebuses are the most widely attested form of rebus writing. They form an integral part of Xǔ Shèn’s theory of liùshū 六書 ‘the six principles of writing’ in Shuōwén jiězì 説文解字, in which they are given the title jiǎjiè 假借 ‘phonetic loans’. Such phonetic rebuses are abundant in Literary Sinitic texts and serve as an indispensable strategy for representing abstract morphemes in Sinitic languages and transcribing non-Sinitic languages. In Japan, this method was employed in the form of man’yōgana, and later kana, as a means for transcribing Japanese phonographically.

While less common than their phonetic counterparts, semantic rebuses are also widely attested outside of Japan. As far back as the 1920s, Nakahara Yomokurō argued that the liùshū principle of zhuǎnzhù 轉注 ‘semantic transfers’ was essentially meant to convey semantic rebuses, a claim later supported by Kōno Rokurō. While the exact meaning of zhuǎnzhù remains contested, the use of semantic rebuses has been reported both historically, in the form of tóngyì huàndú 同義換讀 ‘synonymous interchangeable readings’, and contemporarily, in the form of xùndú 訓讀 ‘regional readings’, both methods which employ sinograms to represent non-homophonous synonyms.

Phono-semantic rebuses find a parallel in the liùshū principle of xíngshēng 形聲 ‘phono-semantic compounds’, in particular, the subcategory yìshēng 亦聲 ‘[meaning] with sound’, in which the choice of phonetic is not entirely arbitrary. Early parallels are found in the sinification of place names (e.g., the Nara period kōji-rei 好字令 ‘auspicious character edict’), while modern parallels are abundant in Sinitic transcriptions of loanwords (e.g., Mandarin kěkǒu kělè 可口可樂 ‘Coca Cola’ or the use of mèng 夢 ‘dream’ in duōlā-a-mèng 哆啦A夢 ‘Doraemon’).