From Latin to Old High German: Mood agreement and mood difference in the Bible translation

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02709
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Kindai University
• Principal Investigator: KUROSAWA Hirokazu 近畿大学, 法学部, 教授 (20264468)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 古高ドイツ語 / ラテン語 / 聖書翻訳 / タツィアーン / モダリテート / 直説法 / 接続法 / 法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

What are the linguistic difference between Latin and Old High German (OHG) in a bible translation from Latin to OHG? This study shows there to be differences in the use of the subjunctive. This linguistic element was found to appear more often in OHG. Furthermore, in contrast to Latin, in OHG the subjunctive appears in most cases without modalities.
In this paper, the reason why the subjunctive in subordinate clauses appears with or without modalities is explored. Moreover, the study shows that the points at which modalisation is used with the subjunctive are different from the Latin original. This paper provides an insight into a controversial topic among scholars in the field, modalisation by the subjunctive in OHG.

Free Research Field

ドイツ語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

ラテン語と古高ドイツ語のテクストを精査すると、法（Modus）の一致・不一致が散見される。古高ドイツ語において頻繁に現れる接続法は、形の上ではなるほど接続法だが、意味の上では直説法と何ら変わらない。ごく稀にモダリテートを伴った接続法が現れるが、この箇所こそが言語学的観点から見れば、両言語間に存在する違いであることを指摘し、オリジナル言語の内容を正確に表現することが求められる聖書翻訳の歴史に一石を投じた。