cursive man'yōgana; sōsho-style man'yōgana
A historical linguistic term referring to man'yōgana written in a cursive (sōsho) style, an intermediate stage in the development of hiragana.
See also: 万葉仮名 (まんようがな)
Sōgana is man'yōgana written in cursive script, and it greatly influenced the formation of hiragana.
Hiragana developed from sōgana through further simplification and standardization.
Compound of 草 (sō, 'cursive') and 仮名 (kana, 'borrowed characters'). The term describes the cursive writing of man'yōgana, which later evolved into hiragana.