Two different characters for koto, 言 (word, speech) and 事 (thing, matter) were used without distinction when kanji were first incorporated into Japanese, and Kotoshironushi (事代主, a god who appears in Japanese mythology) was also written as Kotoshironushi (言代主神) in the "Kojiki" (the Record of Ancient Matters).
漢字が導入された当初も言と事は区別せずに用いられており、例えば事代主が『古事記』では「言代主神」と書かれている箇所がある。