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A Historical Study of Japanese Loan Words from the Meiji Era

Research Project

Project/Area Number 06451075
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field 国語学
Research InstitutionINTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Principal Investigator

HIDA Yoshifumi  International Christian University, the College of Liberal Arts, Professor, 教養学部・語学科, 教授 (40000418)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) SUZUKI Yoko  International Christian University, the College of Liberal Arts, Instructor, 教養学部・語学科, 講師 (00216459)
BEDELL George D  International Christian University, the College of Liberal Arts, Professor, 教養学部・語学科, 教授 (30235808)
Project Period (FY) 1994 – 1996
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 1996)
Budget Amount *help
¥4,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,700,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥200,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥200,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥4,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,300,000)
KeywordsLoan Words / History of Load Words / History of Words / Changes in Meaning / Loan Words created in Japan / Date Base on Loan Words / 外来語の表記 / 外来語の意味 / 外来語の原語との比較 / 外来語の語形変化 / 外来語史研究
Research Abstract

The major contributions to the study of Japanese gairaigo (words borrowed from languages other than Chinese, and normally written using katakana) are Minoru Umegaki's Nihon gairaigo no kenkyu (A Study of Japanese Gairaigo ; 1963) and Sobei Arakawa's Kadokawa gairaigo jiten dainiban (Kadokawa's Gairaigo Dictionary, second edition ; 1977). Subsequently, a number of other gairaigo dictionareis have appeared, as well as a few other works such as the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Gairaigo jittai chosa shiryo 1-3 (Materials for Investigating the Actual Use of Gairaigo, 1-3 ; 1989-90), but there has been no diachronic survey using actual examples. The present study attmpts to clarify the use of gairaigo since Meiji through actual word-by-word examples. It contains the first database for gairaigo in Japan, and should develop into a dictionary of Japanese gairaigo based on actual examples.
The research results are as follows :
1. The texts used for examples
We investigated original editions, collec … More ted works and paperback editions. For Mori Ogai's Gan (The Wild Geese) and Shusaku Endo's Umi to Dokuyaku (The Sea and Poison) we compared magazine publication, the first book edition, author's collected works editions, collected modern literature editions as well as paperback editions by Iwanami, Shincho, Kodansha and Kadokawa. We found differences between all these texts and the first book edition due to author's revisions, editorial revisions or misprints. Because of this it is necessary to be clear about the basic texts used in vocabulary studies and collecting examples.
2. The construction of the database
In order to clarify the history of each word we built a chronologically arranged database of actual examples. So far the database consists of approximately 40,000 example sentences begining with h, f, b, m, y, r and w. We hope to expand it to the remainder of the alphabet in the future.
3. The selection of problematic gairaigo
From the database and English-Japanese dictionaries we selected gairaigo which have changed in transcription, changed in meaning, undergone abbreviation, or been created in Japan, and compiled a list of gairaigo created in Japan.
4. The historical study of gairaigo
We did this for some of the examples collected. This report includes saibogu (cyborg) and aidentiti (identity). Less

Report

(4 results)
  • 1996 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 1995 Annual Research Report
  • 1994 Annual Research Report

URL: 

Published: 1994-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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