1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
The function of Japanese reading of Chinese Character in the formation of modern literature
| Project/Area Number |
08610438
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
国文学
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| Research Institution | Nara Women's University (1997-1998)
Kyoto University (1996) |
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Principal Investigator |
SAITO Mareshi Nara Women's University, 文学部, 講師 (80235077)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1998
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| Keywords | Translation of Aesop / 言文一致 |
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| Research Abstract |
I submit "The list of Furigana on "Tuzoku Aesop Story" translated by Tazunu Watanabe" as the report of the result of is research called "the function of the Japanese reading of Chinese character in the formation of the modem literature".
This research investigated the various literary works from the pre-modern ages to modern age beginning, from the viewpoint called "the Japanese reading of Chinese character", and pay attention to the relation between "the Japanese reading of a Chinese character" and so-called "the unification of the spoken and written language". The literary texts that became the center of a study finally is "Tuzoku Aesop Story" and "Aibiki" translated by Simei Futabatei. Being the translations from a foreign, their style is based on the Edo word and also Tokyo word. While "Ahibiki" has been attached importance, but "Tuzoku Aesop Story" must be esteemed more, for understanding the trend of "the unification of the spoken and written language" from pre-modern ages to modern age, because it was used as the textbook in the school and circulated extremely widely, so had a big influence on the situation of the language at the beginning of the Meiji Era. From such a viewpoint, to contribute to future research, I have made a list of all the Furigana that appeared in "Tuzoku Aesop Story".
Glancing through this list, we notice that Furigana is not under the rule of Kanji, and is not the phonetic reading for the person with less literacy, It is not adding Kana but adding Kanji for the fixation of the meaning and the path to the literary language. For example, we found various Japanese words representing "You" in this list(anata, unu, okoto onusi, temee, kisama, sonata, etc.) as Furigana of a character "*". In this list, there are many interesting examples like this, although it is a simple listing. I will study more deeply based on the knowledge and the data which was obtained by this research.
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