A classification study of Unique Forms and Usages of Chinese Characters

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25284076
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: YOSHIKAWA Masayuki 東京大学, 総合文化研究科, 准教授 (30313159)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SIMIZU Masaaki 大阪大学, 大学院言語文化研究科, 准教授 (10314262) ; KANESHIGE Tsutomu 滋賀医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (80378439) ; DANIELS Christian 東京外国語大学, アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所, 教授 (30234553)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SASAHARA Hiroyuki 早稲田大学, 社会科学総合学術院, 教授 (80269505) ; IWATSUKI Junichi 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 准教授 (80313162)
• Research Collaborator: SATO Thuy Uyen 大阪大学, 大学院言語文化研究科, 特任研究員 ; HAMADA Takeshi 東京大学, 大学院人文社会系研究科, 博士課程 ; ZHANG Yue 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 博士課程 ; WASHIZAWA Takuya 東京大学, 大学院人文社会系研究科, 博士課程 ; IZAWA Ryousuke 大阪大学, 大学院言語文化研究科, 修士課程 ; SANUI Ayaka 大阪大学, 大学院言語文化研究科, 修士課程 ; SANTOS Miguel Cortiço dos 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 修士課程 ; MIMURA Kazuki 東京大学, 文学部・学部 ; BAUER Robert S. 香港大学, 文学部, 名誉教授 ; NGUYEN Thi Oanh ベトナム社会科学アカデミー, 漢喃研究所, 准教授 ; TAI Chung-pui 香港大学, 教育学部, 専任講師
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 文字 / 漢字文化圏 / ベトナム語 / タイー語 / チワン語 / 粤語（広東語） / チュノム / 方言字

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Among the languages distributed from South China to Vietnam, the southern peripheral edge area of the cultural sphere in which Chinese characters were and are still being used, Chinese characters with unique shapes and usages can be found in some manuscripts and books. However, these unique characters and usages are not recorded in the traditional Chinese dictionaries officially issued in China. In our study, we provisionally refer to the Chinese characters with unique shape as henkei kanji, and those with unique usages as henyou kanji, and have observed and analyzed their structure and change from a cross-language perspective. The subject of our discussion is not limited to the historical documents in non-Sinitic languages, but also includes the various materials in Sinitic languages. We have shed light on the manner in which the henkei kanji are constructed and the mechanism behind their change over time, as well as the difference between their shapes over different media.

Free Research Field

中国語学