Elucidation of the Historical transition of the Japanese language by using practical documents: from the Medieval to Modern Era

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13463
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Japanese linguistics
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Nagasawa Itsuki 名古屋大学, 国際機構, 准教授 (50613882)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 日本語史 / 和化漢文 / 変体漢文 / 古文書 / 裁許状 / 訴訟文書 / 口語 / 言文一致

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Using practical documents in the Japanese society as materials, this project studied the historical transition of Japanese grammar, vocabulary, and writing style. As the first result, a part of the grammatical system of the Japanized Chinese writing was clarified by analyzing medieval court documents. In addition, the influence on the later Japanese writing style was considered. Second, with the cooperation of Japanese history researchers, all the words that appear in the 150 court documents of the Kamakura Shogunate were listed and meanings of which were described. They will be useful for elucidating vocabulary interactions among different text genres. Third, the pioneering attempts for colloquialization of official documents before WW II were studied from viewpoints of linguistics and thought.

Free Research Field

日本語史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

実用文書による日本語史研究は、これまで文学テキスト等を中心に行われてきた研究の資料的空白を埋める意義がある。例えば前近代の和化漢文は、独自に展開した面と、同時代の他ジャンル（仮名文学等）と共通して展開した面とをもち、一部は近代以降の日本語にも影響を与えているが（永澤2021）、ジャンル間の語彙・文法交流の実態は未解明である。また、和化漢文の文法体系は十分に解明されておらず、資料解読は経験的解釈法に依拠してきた部分が大きい。文体史も未解明の点が多い。本研究ではそうした日本語史の空白の一部を埋めると同時に、日本語と中国漢文との言語接触の観点から、言語学一般にも資する知見を提供した。