「石上布留の尊」少考 : 「尊」字は尊称か

概要

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It was common to use the letter [尊] as a respectable title for dignitaries or superiors such as god or emperor. The letter [尊] used in this poem was to be attached to [石上乙麻呂] (Iso-no-kami no Otomaro), however, such a usage of the letter was not customary in the age of Manyo-shu. Although the main object of this paper is the letter [尊] used in this poem, it is necessary to examine the usage of the letter in other materials. In this paper I examine the usage of the letter [尊] in [多胡碑] (Tagohi), a kind of literary form called 「符碑」 (Fuhi) which is written in the style for giving directions from superiors to inferiors. I also examine its usage on the wooden notice-board which was recently excavated archaeologically at the ruined ancient court "Heijo-kyu" in the ruin of "Nagaoka-kyo" (the ancient city of Nagaoka-kyo). I also examine its usage in historical documents stored in Shoso-in. Examining these types of usage of [尊], it is found that the meaning of the letter is about the same as [～氏] or [～さん] of today. However, the letter is not used for an ordinary person; it is used for a person when he is conscious of his public position. This is the conclusion of this paper.