Go-on

are one of the several possible ways of reading Japanese kanji. They are based on the classical pronunciations of Chinese characters of the then- prestigious eastern Jiankang (now Nanjing) dialect.

''Go-on'' preceded the readings. Both ''go-on'' and ''kan-on'' exhibit characteristics of Middle Chinese.

History and uses

''Go-on'' readings were introduced into Japan during the 5th and 6th centuries, when China was divided into separate Northern and Southern dynasties. They may have been imported either directly from the Southern dynasty or from the Korean Peninsula. There was an influx of thinkers from China and Korea to Japan at that time, including practitioners of both Buddhism and Confucianism. However, there is no historical documentation to demonstrate that ''go-on'' readings are actually based on Southern Chinese.

Shibatani has noted that ''go-on'' readings make up the first of three waves of Chinese loans to the Japanese language, the others being ''kan-on'' and ''tou-sou-on'' (meaning Tang Song sound), with ''go-on'' being mainly associated with Buddhism.

''Go-on'' readings are particularly common for Buddhist and legal terminology, especially those of the Nara and Heian periods. These readings were also used for the Chinese characters of the ancient Japanese syllabary used in the ''Kojiki''.

When ''kan-on'' readings were introduced to Japan, their ''go-on'' equivalents did not disappear entirely. Even today, ''go-on'' and ''kan-on'' readings still both exist. Many characters have both pronunciations. For instance, the name '' Shōtoku'' (which is ''go-on'') is pronounced as such in some derived placenames, but as '' Seitoku'' (which is ''kan-on'') in others.

However, some ''go-on'' sounds are now lost. Even though monolingual Japanese dictionaries list a complete inventory of ''go-on'' for all characters, some were actually reconstructed using the ''fanqie'' method or were inferred to be the same as their modern homophones.

Names

''Go-on'' readings were formerly referred to as . The term 'go-on' was first introduced in the mid-Heian, likely by people who wished to promote ''kan-on'' readings. During the Tang dynasty, people in Chang'an referred to their own way of reading characters as and all other readings, particularly those originating south of the Yangtze, as or one of many other similar names. It is thought that Japanese students studying in China adopted this practice, and, taking the position that the Chang'an-based manner of elocution were the correct ones, they also began to refer to the previously imported, unfashionable kanji readings as "''go-on''".

''Go-on'' readings were also occasionally referred to as and because of a story that claims a Baekjean nun named had taught Buddhism in Tsushima by reading the ''Vimalakīrti Sutra'' entirely in ''go-on''.

Characteristics

''Go-on'' readings are generally less orderly than ''kan-on'' readings, but can be characterized as follows.
* voiced consonants in Middle Chinese were distinguished from unvoiced consonants when they occurred in syllable-initial positions.
* Syllable-initial nasal consonants are pronounced as nasals (''m-'', ''n-'') in Middle Chinese, but in ''kan-on'', they are interpreted as voiced plosives (''b-'', ''d-'').
* In some characters, ''-o'' and ''-u'' are both acceptable and widespread, e.g., 素 (''so'', ''su''), 奴 (''do'', ''nu'') and 都 (''to'', ''tsu'').

See also

* ''Kan-on'': a later pronunciation
* ''Tō-on'': an even later pronunciation
* Checked tone

Notes

References

Most of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Japanese-language article, accessed on June 5, 2006.

{{Japanese language

Kanji