垣内(かいと)

中濃の郡上に住んでいると垣内を「かいと」と呼ぶことはなく、しっくりこない意味がある。ところが飛騨地区では「かいと」が一般的だし、一部揖斐などでも見られるようだ。よく調べて見ると、奈良県では「垣内」と書いて殆んど「かいと」と読み、用例が非常に多いらしい。

私は、これらの例から「垣内(かいと、かいつ)」が本筋ではないかと考えたことがある。「都」は「京都」「都内」では「ト」、「都合」では「ツ」と読まれることがあり、「ト」「ツ」が音通する。だが、他に「ト」「ツ」の通じる例が思い浮ばない。

そこでこれらを切り離して、もう一度整理してみることにした。

「垣内(かいと)」は「カキツ」から転じて「カキト」、音便化して「カイト」になったと解するのが定説に近い。だが、『萬葉集』にあるからと言って「カキツ」を語源にすることは難しいように思う。

律令制下で農地は国有であって私有は認められず、宅地およびそれに隣接する畑のみ私有が許された。そこで耕作地を広げようとして、垣を巡らし屋敷内の土地であることを示そうとする。その巡らした垣の内側が垣内(かきうち)であり、外側が垣外(かきそと)ということになる。

民部(かきべ)、部曲(かきべ)からすればこの囲い込みは律令制以前に遡るだろう。

私はこの前(七月三日付け)、「カキウチ」と「カキツ」に距離を感じたので、「カキツ」の更なる語源として「カキウチ-ツ」を想定した。

それでは「カキツ」から「カキト」「カイト」へ、単なる音変化で到達できるだろうか。上述のごとく「都」には「ト」「ツ」両音があり、これに影響された可能性がない訳でななかろうが、「都」の「ト」「ツ」は漢語音であって和語ではないから根拠になり難いし、じっくりこれに当たる他の用例を探してきたものの有力なものがない。

そこで、「カキツ」「カキト」はそれぞれ別に語源があると考えざるを得なくなった。「カキト」は垣外(かきそと)に関連するのではないかというのが現時点の案である。

「垣内(かきうち)」なら「かいち」と省音することがあるだろうし、「垣外(かきそと)」が「かいと」になることもそれ程無理があるように見えない。

ここで難問が残っている。実は奈良でも飛騨でも「垣内」と書いて「カイト」と読むので、この事実に反するではないかという意見が出るかもしれない。

令制で「垣の外」は、基本国有地なので、公有地としての農地、集落内外の入会地及び未開拓地などだっただろう。法制が緩くなるにつれ、これらへ新たな囲い込みが盛んに行われたに相違あるまい。かくして「垣の外」が徐々に浸食されて「垣の内」になっていったのではないか。かくの如く私有地として「垣内」になるものの、公有地としての「カイト」という原音が残ったと解してはどうか。

髭じいさん

垣内(Kaito)

If you live in Gujo, Chunou, you would never call 垣内 “Kaito,” and it doesn’t seem to fit. However, in the Hida region, “Kaito” is common, and it seems to be found in some parts of Ibi and other areas as well. Upon closer inspection, it appears that in Nara Prefecture, 垣内 is written and almost always read as “Kaito,” and it is used in a very large number of cases.

From these examples, I have thought that “垣内 Kaito Kaitsu” is the main point. “都” can be read as “to” in “Kyoto” and “tonai” and as “tsu” in “tsugou”, so “to” and “tsu” are phonetically similar. However, I can’t think of any other examples where they are similar.

So I decided to separate them and try to organize them again.

It is generally believed that “Kaito” is derived from “Kakitsu” (fence), which became “Kakito” and then “Kaito” through phonetic change. However, it seems difficult to make “Kakitsu” the original word just because it appears in the “Manyoshu”.

Under the Ritsuryo system, farmland was state-owned and private ownership was not permitted. Only residential land and adjacent fields were allowed to be privately owned. Therefore, in an attempt to expand cultivated land, fences were built around it to show that it was land within the family estate. The area inside the fence was called kakiuchi, and the area outside was called kakisoto.

From the perspective of 民部 (kakibe) and 部曲 (kakibe), this enclosure probably dates back to before the Ritsuryo system.

The other day (July 3rd), I felt there was a distance between “kakiuchi” and “kakitsu,” so I hypothesized that “kakiuchi-tsu” could be a further origin of “kakitsu.”

So, could “kakitsu” have been transformed into “kakito” or “kaito” simply by a sound change? As mentioned above, “都” has both the sounds “to” and “tsu”, and it is possible that this influenced the name, but both suonds in “都” are Chinese pronunciations and not Japanese words, so it is difficult to use as evidence, and although I have carefully searched for other examples that fit this description, I have found no convincing ones.

Therefore, we are forced to think that “kakitsu” and “kakito” have different origins. The current suggestion is that “kakito” may be related to “kakisoto” (outside the fence).

“Kakiuchi” (within the fence) could easily be shortened to “kaichi,” and it doesn’t seem so far-fetched that “kakisoto” could become “kaito.”

Here we are left with a difficult question. In fact, in both Nara and Hida, 垣内 is written and pronounced “Kaito,” so some may argue that this contradicts the facts.

Under the Ritsuryo system, “outside the fence” was basically state-owned land, so it would have been publicly owned farmland, common land inside or outside settlements, and undeveloped land. As the legal system became more relaxed, there is no doubt that new enclosures were actively carried out on these areas. Thus, “outside the fence” was gradually eroded and became “within the fence.” Although privately owned land became “inside the fence,” shouldn’t we understand that the original sound of “kaito” as publicly owned land remained?

Higejiisan

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