1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research on the change of the artificial norms on language in early Christian documents in Japanese, based on the comprehensive database of printed and han-written Christian materials.
Project/Area Number |
09610423
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
国語学
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Research Institution | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies |
Principal Investigator |
TOYOSHIMA Masayuki Institute for the study of languages and cultures of Asia and Africa, Associate professor, アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所, 助教授 (10180192)
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Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 1998
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Keywords | Japanese Christian documents / the Jesuit Mission / linguistic norm / Spiritual Xuguio / terms in translation / fixed translation / G.Loarte |
Research Abstract |
Most of the early Christian documents (16 - 17c.) in Japanese are printed materials, and thus, their language are intentionally modified based on artificial linguistic norm. This research investigates the difference in the linguistic norms between the printed materials and the newly discovered hand-written ones, based on the comprehensive database, constructed by this research, of both the printed and hand-written Christian documents. The database has the transcription of the newly discovered codex of Tenri Library (Tenri, Nara), which has its source in the printed version of a Japanese translation of G.Loarte's "Instruicam e advertencias pera meditar a paixam de Christo nosso Redentor", or "Spiritual Xuguio" (in Japanese), now guarded in the Oo'ura Christian church (Nagasaki), together with the reference to the codex in Toyo Bunko (Komagome, Tokyo), which also has its source in the above mentioned printed version. The translation of Christian technical terms both in the codexes and the printed version are cross-checked upon the database, and the tendency of the codex Tenriense to incorporate the technical terms into Japanese has been lexically and statistically proved : the incorporation have been said to be refrained in the printed versions (in order to avoid apparent parallelism with the technical terms in Buddhist tradition), and that tendency had been attested also in the codex of Toyo Bunko by the research by the investigator of this research. This proves that the codex has established another linguistic norm, free from that of the printed versions. Apart from the research report, printed and distributed to the related researchers, part of the content of the database is planned to be published as on-line database in the internet.
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