How are the noun 方【へ】 and the particle へ related?


I looked up [the etymology of 古【いにしえ】 on gogen-allguide](http://gogen-
allguide.com/i/inishie.html), and found the following:

>
> いにしえは、「去る」を意味する動詞「いぬ（往ぬ）」の連用形「イニ」に、過去を示す助動詞「キ」の連体形「シ」がついた「イニシ」が、方向を表す名詞「ヘ（方）」を修飾した「往にし方（いにしへ）」。

This basically says that we take the verb 往ぬ, conjugate it, add the 助動詞 「き」,
conjugate again, and finish by adding the _noun_ 方【へ】. This was a bit
surprising to me, since I've never seen the noun 方【へ】 myself, and was
expecting the particle へ to show up there instead.

This is obviously suggestive of some sort of relationship between the noun
方【へ】 and the particle へ. So - what _is_ the etymological relationship between
the noun 方【へ】 and the particle へ?




Put simply, the particle へ is derived from the noun 方{へ}.

Bjarke Frellesvig provides a brief explanation in his book _A History of the
Japanese Language_ (page 132).

> … The noun _pye_ "side, direction" was being grammaticalized as an
> _allative_ case particle _pye_ , but in the Old Japanese period had not yet
> acquired that status.

As for pronunciation, sound changes would have likely proceeded something like
*pye > *pe > *ɸe > *we > e.




Put simply, the particle へ is derived from the noun 方{へ}.

Bjarke Frellesvig provides a brief explanation in his book _A History of the
Japanese Language_ (page 132).

> … The noun _pye_ "side, direction" was being grammaticalized as an
> _allative_ case particle _pye_ , but in the Old Japanese period had not yet
> acquired that status.

As for pronunciation, sound changes would have likely proceeded something like
*pye > *pe > *ɸe > *we > e.

