Study on the sound representation of Nushu

• Project/Area Number: 26370507
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Seijo University
• Principal Investigator: liu ying 成城大学, 文芸学部, 教授 (10307118)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2016)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
• Keywords: 女書歌 / 吟唱 / 女書伝承者 / メロディ / リズム / 音声表現形式 / 楽音 / 声調 / 原生態女書伝承者 / 対応楽音 / 胡美月

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Based on the basic studies of Nushu melodies that I conducted previously, in this study, I recorded new songs and took down the musical notations. Through on-site research and analysis of the musical notations, I came to the following conclusions:
1.Nushu is a special kind of verse that is different from the traditional Chinese Classical Verse (I.e. old-style poetry and metrical poems). It does not strictly follow the rules of rhymes or level and oblique tones.2.It does not follow the level and oblique tones, rather it is chanted from one sentence to the next in a flow.
3.In the recent years the local dialect became more restricted by the standards of Mandarin. This had strong impact on the creation of new Nushu songs and its rhythms. As a result, the inheritance of this traditional and unique art form had become increasingly more difficult.4.Nushu is also influenced by modern music, the tendency of changing its rhythm from chanting to singing is recognized.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] 中国国家級女書伝承者何艶新とその吟唱特徴 (2016)
  • Author(s): 劉穎
  • Journal Title: 成城文藝 Volume: 第237・238号 Pages: 61-28
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] 陽煥宜の女書歌のメロディとリズム (2015)
  • Author(s): 劉穎
  • Journal Title: 成城文藝 Volume: 233・234合併号 Pages: 52-29
  • NAID: 120005838904
  • Peer Reviewed / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] 胡美月の女書歌の楽音と声調との対応関係 (2015)
  • Author(s): 劉穎
  • Journal Title: 成城文藝 Volume: 第230号
  • NAID: 110009904369
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] 女書文化の変容とその要因 (2016)
  • Author(s): 劉穎
  • Organizer: 日中人文社会科学学会第14回研究発表大会
  • Place of Presentation: 東京学芸大学小金井キャンパス(東京都小金井市)
  • Year and Date: 2016-06-19
• [Presentation] 女書歌的拖腔与節奏 (2015)
  • Author(s): 劉穎
  • Organizer: 武漢中日語言文化教育国際シンポジウム
  • Place of Presentation: 中国武漢理工科学大学
  • Year and Date: 2015-03-21 – 2015-03-23