In recent decades, many wooden pieces have been unearthed from the ruins of ancient capital cities and government offices in all parts of the country. These, now, amount to several tens of thousands. On most of their surfaces, Chinese characters written in India ink are found. These characters are the documents of daily government affairs. Adopting the correct way, we can read these strings of Chinese characters as the words and sentences of 7〜8th Century Japanese language. Thus, these old wooden documents are very useful for studying old Japanese language. They are useful because: (1) they are original sources, unlike, Kojiki, Nihon-shoki and Man'yoshu, which are manuscripts written in medieval times; (2) they reflect the daily and colloquial aspects of old Japanese language, as opposed to the formal and literary aspects reflected by Kojiki, Nihon-shoki and Man'yoshu; (3) they have been unearthed together with many other remains, enabling us to establish exactly when and why these documents of government affairs were written. Using them as linguistic data, we can interpret the whole of the 7〜8th Century Japanese language more correctly. We should realize that Kojiki, Nihon-shoki and Man'yoshu reflect only partial aspects of 8th Century Japanese language. In order to learn most from the details of these old wooden documents, it is important that this be an interdisciplinary study. We should collaborate with historians and archaeologists. In addition, since the Korean and Japanese languages are similar syntactically yet dissimilar phonologically, parallels with materials unearthed in Korea will be very effective.

View full abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explain the following about the 2nd volume of Chunqiu-jingzhuan-jijie(Shunju-keiden-shikkai) owned by the Fujii Yarinkan Museum. 1) This manuscript copy is diacritical materials(Kunten-shiryo) in which the first group type of Okoto-ten(Dai-ichi-gun-ten) are used. 2) It can be presumed that these Okoto-ten were added in this manuscript copy before the middle of the Heian Period. 3) When this manuscript copy is placed in the history of the development of diacritical materials as a whole, it can be presumed that Chinese academic methods influenced the diacritical materials of the Chinese classics, apart from the influence of Buddhist scriptures methods.

View full abstract

This article takes up the Epitome Linguae Japonicae, Siebold's account of the Japanese language, which has not received a very positive evaluation by later researchers, and attempts a re-examination of its place in research history. An examination of Siebold's own list of references in the work shows that the only written work that demonstrably influenced the Epitome was the French translation of Thunberg's Voyages. In addition, a detailed reading of the work and comparison with Kaempfer's works show that Siebold's system of transliterating Japanese was influenced by Kaempfer's system. While broadly following Kaempfer's method, however, Siebold adjusted and improved Kaempfer's transliteration. When compared to Thunberg's description of Japanese, Siebold not only corrects Thunberg's mistakes and misprints when quoting him, he also improves the content, in some cases based on data collected by himself, and generally takes a much more systematic approach to describing the language. As his account also contains linguistic terminology and analysis, as well as comparative linguistic perspective, posterity's criticism that his work hardly improves upon previous research is not founded on fact.

View full abstract

This paper examines the Japanese translations of two textbooks of English Grammar used in the higher education in the Meiji period. The original textbooks are Quackenbos's First Book in English Grammar and Pinneo's Primary Grammar of the English Language, For Beginners. Both of these were translated into Japanese under the same title Eibunten Chokuyaku. The translation of the former was published by Daigaku Nanko(present University of Tokyo) and that of the latter by Keia Gijuku(present Keio University). These textbooks were widely used and there are various versions of translations published during the Meiji period. In this paper, thirteen different translated versions of each textbook are compared with respect to translation of the English tense system. Both Quackenbos and Pinneo explain English has six tenses in the indicative mood. Quackenbos, for instance, postulated present, imperfect(past), perfect, pluperfect, first future and second future. Since the Japanese tense system with only three morphological distinctions(present, past and future) is simpler than that of English, some new tense forms, therefore, must be created in the Japanese translation. It is shown that these newly created tense forms are consistently used in the Japanese translation of the two textbooks. Assuming that linguistic styles are generally identified by the sentence ending forms, it is claimed that the newly created tense forms constitute important elements that determine the Obun Chokuyakutai(the style of translating English).

View full abstract

For dialectology, descriptive studies, dictionaries, linguistic maps, corpus materials, sound data and field works can be used as the core materials of academic analysis. The characteristics of each kind of material are reviewed in this paper. Since descriptive studies include dialectal data, they have been used as the materials for succeeding studies. A lot of dialectal dictionaries had been edited by many non-professional dialectologists in Japan. They have offered huge sets of data for dialectology. In Japan, over 400 volumes of linguistic atlases have been published. Japanese geolinguistics leads this field in the world. Corpus materials and sound data of many dialects have been released in Japan. They have been used as materials for grammatical and phonological studies. Generally speaking, in Japanese dialectology, materials for the studies have been obtained through field work by dialectologists themselves. The data of dialectological field work are analyzed and the results are published as papers. In some cases original data have been opened. The data can be used for analyses from other different view points. It is an important process to examine methods of construction of these materials and the value of them to verify the bases of dialectology, especially at the current time when the dialects themselves are going the way of the classics. It appears that dialects data have a nature which is not written language, and the materials of dialectology have been based on limited information. Through the afore-mentioned review, the problems and the directions of dialectology are clarified. Dialectologists should continue to make data of dialects with attention to the nature and the limitations of dialect data.

View full abstract

Compilation of a hundred million words balanced corpus of contemporary written Japanese, or BCCWJ, is underway at the National Institute for Japanese Language. This is a five-year(2006-2010) joint program between the NIJL and the MEXT Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research Priority Area Program "Japanese Corpus". The first half of the paper begins with the clarification of the notion of "balanced" corpus, which is followed by the overview of the KOTONOHA project in which the BCCWJ is involved. KOTONOHA is NIJL's long-term corpora development initiative aiming at the construction of a series of corpora that cover both written and spoken language between the Meiji era and the present. The last half of the paper is devoted for the introduction to the BCCWJ. References will be made to the following issues: differences among the 3 sub-corpora of the BCCWJ, sample length, and the definition of 'word.' Answers to the typical FAQ are also presented. Lastly, the current status of the compilation work is reported with special emphasis on the issues of copyright clearance.

View full abstract

The appearance of reliable new materials is expected to give past research new results. However, contrary to expectations, this is not necessarily so. This thesis discusses the kana prose works of the latter Heian Period. The main purpose of this research is to find new subjects for materials research through explaining mistakes in previous research. This thesis submits a new point of view from both the viewpoint of language study and the viewpoint of literary research through pointing out the following two facts. First, this thesis proves that in the Heian Period there was a single word(hituide) that certainly had the meaning of "the fortune of the calendar day". This is confirmed by investigation of various materials relating to the study of Japanese. This thesis then demands modification of previous materials research. This thesis further demands revisions of descriptions contained in various dictionaries such as Nihon Kokugo Daiziten, Kozien etc. Secondly, this thesis explains the fact that the body of Sizyonomiya Simotuke Syu(四条宮下野集) where it defines tasoni(誰そに) is taken as one instance of a misinterpretation that has existed for a long time, and confirms interpretations that tauni(答に) should be decided from examination in the study of Japanese research. This thesis then requires significant modification of our understanding with regard to the context of the body concerned, the theme and previous literary interpretation.

View full abstract

In this article, I propose a historical model of Japanese vocabulary structure using 13 classics from the eighth century to the twelfth century. I developed a statistical method for analyzing vocabulary structure, and analyzed the vocabulary structures of three eras -the Nara era(710-784), the Heian era(794-1185) and the Kamakura era(1185-1333). Because the table to analyze vocabulary structure consists of frequencies and lexeme use ranges, every vocabulary structure of the three eras is a two-dimensional structure at first. I call this the "surface structure". However, when we focus on the distribution of stable data, a one-dimensional structure becomes apparent in the numerical distribution form of the lexemes. I call this the "deep structure". I propose a historical model of Japanese vocabulary structure by arranging the vocabulary structures in chronological order, and I interpret this historical model of Japanese vocabulary structure as a multilayered structure.

View full abstract

Setsuyoshu(節用集) of the Edo Era were derived from Ekirin-bon(易林本) through Sosho-bon(草書本) of the Keicho(慶長) Era as UEDA Mannen(上田万年)-HASHIMOTO Shinkichi(橋本進吉)(1916) pointed out, but many faults of Ekirin-bon occurred at the same time. It may reveal a limit in the editing of Setsuyoshus in the Keicho Era that many faults were not revised in neither Ekirinbon(four editions) nor Sosho-bon. However, when we examined Jukan-bon(寿閑本) regarding ten points in the editing, it was shown that Jukan-bon gave a critical analysis of Ekirin-bon and a re-maintenance of its text while respecting it, and thus a high level revision. This superior modified edition has testified that Jukan had a deep understanding about learning and publications in the Keicho Era as supported by the documents. Based upon the above research, Jukan-bon has proved to be one of the representative Setsuyoshu in the Keicho Era, and it is hoped that Jukan-bon will be used for historical Japanese studies in the future.

View full abstract

In the Kakizaki documents owned by a Matsumae feudal soldier's descendants, there are a lot of documents such as Yorozukokanukigaki, Yamiyonotsubute, Keirokuroku, and Shotojigoshu in which the features of dialectal phonemes are strongly seen. In Yorozukokanukigaki and Yamiyonotsubute the vowel /e/ is often written as "i", but interestingly this confusion does not often occur in word-initial position, revealing some differences with the modern dialect. There are examples of "i" being written as "u" namely when "shi" is written as "su". The /k/ and /t/ consonants often have the dots indicating voicing added to them, except with in word-initial position. The documents, excerpt from various documents including classics of Japan, China, and the West, have a lot of examples indicate voicing of /k/ and /t/ and confusion of the /i/ and /e/ vowels, as seen in the excerpt of Tsurezuregusa collected in Keirokuroku. Such phonological transcriptions may have originated in the unconscious acts of a feudal soldier clerk who performed the copying rather than being intentional, indicating that scholarship in the Matsumae Clan was conducted in the phonemic environment of that dialect.

View full abstract

Looking back on the history of research on commentaries written in kana and the language of commentaries, the first generation of researchers, who started their research before the war, have departed this life. The second generation of researchers, who had begun to publish papers on commentaries from the postwar period through the 1960s, have organized their studies into books. Now is the era of the progress by the third generation of researchers, who began to publish their papers on commentaries from the 1970s on. In the future, our mission will be to discover and compile the enormous quantities of commentaries that have been handed down to us including those that may overturn common views. More so, in the case of commentaries of high value, we need to unveil the problems related to the foundations of the history of the Japanese language and furthermore, must try to explain the overall history of the Japanese language in an integrated manner. Commentaries are a rich group of materials that enable such an explanation. On the other hand, however, we should not belittle reports covering individual commentaries or minor language phenomena.

View full abstract

My research focuses on the following three points, on the belief that they play crucial roles as materials to study Japanese ways of reading Chinese classics: (1) the identification of the inheritors of the Korean Buddhist scripture and the users of the Nishihakaten, (2) the association of the propagation of the Kitanointen in Koyasan with the Koyasan Chuin, (3) and the educational and scholastic environment regarding to Shingaku. Also, in the course of my analysis, I elaborate the following points: (1) the reality of the educational and scholastic exchange from the relations among the Kunten materials, those who wrote Kunten, and the inheritors in the Insei Period, (2) the origin of the literature and the importance of analysis of writing and copying of Kunten, (3) the reality of the educational and scholastic exchange of the Shingon Sect in the Shirakawa/Toba Insei Periods, (4) the problems regarding to the Ninnaji Temple's educational and scholastic range, the inheritance of the Kunten books, and the circulation of the Okoto system among various sects. Also introduced is the author's project to construct the data-base necessary to analyze the above-mentioned Kunten materials from the viewpoint of the comprehensive searching system including a searching method of teacher/pupil relationship.

View full abstract