A Study of the North Chinese Phonetic System in the Manchu Language Documents

2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K13022
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Iwate University
• Principal Investigator: SUKITA Tomohiko 岩手大学, 人文社会科学部, 教授 (60816031)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: 満漢資料 / 言語接触 / 中国近世語音 / 満洲語 / 漢字音 / 満文三国志 / 音韻逢源 / 御製増訂清文鑑

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we have analyzed the Manchu script, which was one of the official languages of the Qing Dynasty, to clarify the phonetic system of the northern Chinese language at that time.The materials actually handled include Chinese novels translated into Manchu, such as “Manwen Sanguozhi” “Manwen Shuihuzhuan” and “Manwen Xiyouji”, as well as dictionary of pronunciation, such as “Qingshuduiyinxiezi” and “Yinyunfengyuan”, and dictionaries, such as “Yuzhi Zengding Qingwenjian” and others. The Chinese sounds in each of these documents were analyzed individually and in detail, and each letter sounds was compared with the others. The results show that the sounds in the novels strongly reflect realistic sounds, while the sounds in dictionary of pronunciation and dictionaries are based on a normative consciousness. Through these documents, we have presented some aspects of early modern Chinese sounds.

Free Research Field

中国語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで中国北方語音研究において満洲語資料を用いた研究は行われてきたものの、その多くが個別的であり、それに対する全体的な研究はあまり行われてこなかった。それに対し本研究では清朝初期から清朝後期までの資料を幅広く扱い、個別の字音をそれぞれ取り上げ時代ごとの差異についても明示することができた。あわせてこれまであまりその実際が知られていなかった満洲語訳小説『満文水滸伝』『満文西遊記』についての研究を行うことができたのも一つの大きな成果である。また、北京で開催された研究会においてもその成果の一部を発表し、日本国内のみならず国際的な認知度を高めた。