A History of the Japanese Language

Describes the development of the Japanese language from its recorded beginnings until the present day.

Bjarke Frellesvig (Author)

9781107404090, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 December 2011

462 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.61 kg

'The field … owes a great debt of gratitude to Bjarke Frellesvig for producing this comprehensive, well-organized, and eminently useful monograph. It not only does the job splendidly but also sweeps away cobwebs and introduces some fresh perspectives on the premodern language … His history will, I think, be the standard textbook for the next generation of students, a stimulus to researchers, and the first place for linguists not specializing in Japanese to check when they have diachronic queries about Japanese. It is a solid contribution to the field.' Language

Bjarke Frellesvig describes the development of the Japanese language from its recorded beginnings until the present day as reflected by the written sources and historical record. Beginning with a description of the oldest attested stage of the language, Old Japanese (approximately the eighth century AD), and then tracing the changes which occurred through the Early Middle Japanese (800–1200), Late Middle Japanese (1200–1600) and the Modern Japanese (1600–onwards) periods, a complete internal history of the language is examined and discussed. This account provides a comprehensive study of how the Japanese language has developed and adapted, providing a much needed resource for scholars. A History of the Japanese Language is invaluable to all those interested in the Japanese language and also students of language change generally.

List of tables, maps and figures
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. Old Japanese: 1. Early writing in Japan and Old Japanese sources
2. Phonology
3. Grammar
4. Loanwords
5. Eastern Old Japanese
Part II. Early Middle Japanese: 6. Writing and sources
7. Phonology
8. Grammar
9. The sinification of Japanese
Part III. Late Middle Japanese: 10. Sources
11. Phonology
12. Grammar
Part IV. Modern Japanese: 13. Varieties of Modern Japanese
14. Phonology
15. Grammar
16. Eastern dialect features of the standard language
17. The westernization of Japanese: loanwords and other borrowings
Appendix. Summary of the main regular phonemic changes between Old Japanese and conservative Modern Japanese
References
Index of main grammatical forms
General index.

Subject Areas: Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF]