Japanese linguistics - kokugogaku

Japanese: 国語学 - こくごがく

A cultural science that conducts objective and systematic research on the national language, or Japanese language. It is also called Japanese linguistics. It is a branch of linguistics, but due to the characteristics of the national language, it contains unique content compared to linguistics in general. Like general linguistics, it has sections on phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, but also emphasizes aspects such as characters and style. It also has sections on the history of the national language and dialect research, and in recent years, there has been remarkable progress in quantitative research with the introduction of computers.

[Yutaka Tsukishima]

phoneme

In theory, there are studies such as the analysis of the phonology of the Japanese language, the establishment of phonological units, the identification and systematization of syllables and phonemes, and in practice, there is phonetics, which includes physiological research on the speech organs. There is also phonological history, which studies the history of ancient phonology. Research into the phonology of the Japanese language began as early as the Heian period, and originally arose in the study of the sounds of Chinese characters and Siddham (also called Bonji, an ancient Indian script that was introduced to Japan along with Buddhism). Around the end of the 10th century, a chart of the fifty sounds was created, which was a systematic structure of the syllables of the Japanese language, and by the end of the 11th century, the opposing relationship between clear sounds and voiced sounds had been made clear. Also, around that time, syllables unique to the sounds of Chinese characters that were not found in the sounds of the Japanese language were pointed out. Research into the sounds of Chinese characters developed out of the need to decipher Buddhist scriptures and Chinese classics, and research into the sounds of the Japanese language progressed in contrast to that. It was also made clear by the end of the Edo period that the Japanese language did not have the sound "n" in ancient times, and that there was a distinction between "m" and "n" in the endings of Chinese characters. It was only after the Meiji period, when Western linguistics was introduced, that phonology became clearly aware of historical changes, but as early as the beginning of the Meiji period, it was asserted that the consonant of the "ha" row was "p" in ancient times, and that this remained in the Ryukyu dialect. After the end of the Meiji period, research on literature progressed, and kunten materials and Christian materials were used, and it was proposed to divide the history of Japanese phonology into three periods, with the end of the 8th century and the end of the 16th century as the dividing line. The entire phonological system of each period became known, and it was revealed that the ancient Japanese language had eight vowels and contained elements of so-called vowel harmony, which led to great progress in the theory of the system and essence of Japanese.

[Yutaka Tsukishima]

grammar

Research into Japanese grammar is divided into word theory and sentence theory, but traditionally word theory has been the focus, with developments in areas such as parts of speech classification, conjugation, and usage. Recently, however, syntactic research, such as the analysis of sentence structure, has progressed, and a field that focuses on texts, which are collections of sentences, has also been proposed. Grammar is a logical system of theory, and various theories can be established depending on the viewpoint, but Hashimoto Shinkichi's grammatical theory based on the external clause theory is widely known to the general public, especially in the education world. However, the grammatical theories of Yamada Yoshio, Matsushita Daizaburou, Tokieda Motoki, and others also have their own unique characteristics and are highly valued in academia. The essential relationships between nouns, adverbs, adjectival verbs, the concept and structure of conjugation, and the relationship between independent words and attached words can be said to be central issues in the current field of grammar.

Grammar research into the Japanese language developed mainly from the Middle Ages onwards. It began with the discovery of changes in word endings due to conjugation and rules on linking words. After the Edo period, research progressed on conjugation tables for verbs, the establishment of conjugation forms, classification of conjugation types, classification of parts of speech, and so on, and by the end of the early modern period, the foundations of language theory as we see it today were established. Among these, the achievements of Motoori Norinaga, Fujitani Nariakira, Suzuki Akira, and others were particularly notable. After the end of the Edo period, Western grammar was imported through direct translations of Western learning, but this, combined with traditional theories, led to the appearance of grammatical theories by Otsuki Fumihiko, Yamada Takao, and others. From ancient times until the mid-Meiji period, the subject of grammar research was the so-called literary grammar, and was mainly medieval poetry, but this was a natural result as it had been used normatively as a written language for a long time since the Middle Ages. After the Meiji period, modern Japanese gradually developed and its social status improved due to the movement for unifying spoken and written language, and research on colloquial grammar began. However, because it was based on traditional literary grammar, various contradictions arose, and this method has led to reflection on the method. Meanwhile, historical research on grammar was fragmented and not comprehensive until the Edo period, but as historical research on the Japanese language progressed from the end of the Meiji period, Yamada Takao was the first to carry out synchronic research (a flat and systematic description of phenomena at a certain time) on the Nara, Heian, and Kamakura periods, laying the foundation for research on the history of grammar. Later, Yuzawa Kokichirō and others have explained the grammatical phenomena of each period since the Middle Ages. Recently, there have been attempts to apply the theory of generative grammar based on the method of American linguistics to the Japanese language.

[Yutaka Tsukishima]

vocabulary

Although the study of the meaning of words has some individual aspects, there are also many general issues such as word construction, phonetic conversion, and etymology. The existence of rules in each era has become clear through the progress of research into the history of the Japanese language, and the methodology is also developing, but it is still a relatively underdeveloped field. Semantics is still in the process of being explored. Also, many dictionaries, which are collections of vocabulary, have been compiled since ancient times, and the compilation itself constitutes vocabulary research, but in the past, they began by imitating and reorganizing Chinese character dictionaries imported from China, and eventually some that were arranged based on the phonetic pronunciation of the Japanese language appeared. On the other hand, the work of interpreting archaic words developed from the study of waka and wabuku, and the definitions became increasingly detailed. General Japanese dictionaries such as "Setsuyoshu" and "Gegakushu" developed from the end of the Middle Ages, but at the end of the early modern period, detailed collections of usage examples that were mainly based on historical research also appeared. Genkai, written by Otsuki Fumihiko in the mid-Meiji period, is said to be the first dictionary based on the format of modern Western dictionaries, but it also inherited the traditions of ancient Japanese dictionaries. Research into ancient dictionaries progressed with the emergence of scholars of historical research such as Kariya Ekisai at the end of the Edo period, but systematic historical research into dictionaries was pioneered by Hashimoto Shinkichi's research into the Setsuyoshu in the Taisho period. However, most of this research has been individual, and there have been few attempts to study it from a global perspective, such as the flow of dictionary history. Regarding the survey of modern vocabulary, quantitative research has developed in recent years, and many results have been produced.

[Yutaka Tsukishima]

character

Although the Japanese language has had a complex writing system since ancient times, with the common use of Chinese characters, hiragana, and katakana, the study of characters has not been very active. Research into Chinese characters, which was popular in China, has only produced a few results in Japan. There have been proponents of kana since the Middle Ages, but most of these were based on popular myths and lacked empirical evidence or a historical perspective. At the end of the Meiji period, Oya Toru pioneered the historical study of kana, and was the first to introduce scientific methods into research into the pronunciation of Man'yōgana, the origin and development of hiragana and katakana, the 50-syllable chart, and the creation of the Iroha song, achieving remarkable results. Great strides have been made in this area since the Taisho period, and especially after World War II, due to advances in research into reading marks and other data.

[Yutaka Tsukishima]

Writing style

Until the Edo period, historical research on style was mostly conceptual, but since the Meiji period, research on reading materials from the Middle Ages and materials extracted from the Middle Ages has progressed, and nowadays there are quite detailed studies. However, there are still many problems in terms of methodology, and further progress is needed in this field.

[Yutaka Tsukishima]

dialect

There has been interest in dialects since ancient times, and dialect vocabularies appeared in the Edo period, but they were all fragmentary and partial. Large-scale nationwide surveys were pioneered in the mid-Meiji period, and since the early Showa period, systematic methodologies have been developed, and systematic research on phonology, grammar, and vocabulary across the country has progressed, leading to the proposal of a nationwide dialect division theory and discussion of their historical relationships. In recent years, issues such as common language and dialects, age differences between dialects in the same region, and dialects and the history of the Japanese language have also been addressed.

In addition, regarding the origins of the Japanese language, since the early Meiji period, there have been many theories which claim affinity with various languages, including the Ural-Altaic language theory and the Southern language theory. However, because there is not as much material available as there is for European languages, none of the theories have been able to gain a position as the accepted theory in academic circles, and the reality is that not much progress can be expected in the future.

[Yutaka Tsukishima]

"An Introduction to Japanese Linguistics" (The Collected Works of Dr. Shinkichi Hashimoto 1, 1946, Iwanami Shoten) ▽ "The Fundamentals of Japanese Linguistics, by Tokieda Makoto (1941, Iwanami Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

国語すなわち日本語について、客観的・体系的な研究を行う文化科学。日本語学ともいう。言語学の一部門であるが、国語という言語のもつ特性に伴い、言語学一般に比べて独特な内容を含んでいる。一般の言語学と同じく、音韻、文法、語彙(ごい)の部門があるが、そのほかに文字、文体などの部面が重視される。また、国語の歴史的研究や方言研究の部門があり、近時はコンピュータの導入による計量的研究の進展も著しい。

［築島　裕］

音韻

理論面では、国語の音韻の分析、音韻の単位の設定、音節・音素の認定とその体系づけなどの研究があり、実際面では、音声器官の生理学的研究を含む音声学がある。また、古来の音韻の歴史を研究する音韻史学がある。国語の音韻についての研究は、古く平安時代からおこり、もと漢字の字音や悉曇(しったん)（梵字(ぼんじ)ともいい、古代インドの文字で、仏教とともに日本に伝来した）の研究のなかでおこった。10世紀末ごろには五十音図がつくられていたが、これは国語の音節の体系的構成であり、11世紀末には清音と濁音との対立関係も明らかにされていた。また、そのころには、国語音にない漢字音独特の音節なども指摘されていた。漢字音の研究は仏典や漢籍の解読のための必要性から発達し、それとの対比のなかで国語音の研究が進んだ。古く日本語にン（n）の音がなかったこと、漢字音の韻尾にmとnとの区別があったことなども、江戸時代末までに明らかにされていた。音韻が歴史的に変化することが明確に意識されたのは、明治以後の西洋の言語学輸入以後のことだが、早く明治初年には、ハ行音の子音が古くpであって、それが琉球(りゅうきゅう)方言に残存していることなども主張された。明治末以後、文献の調査研究が進み、訓点資料、キリシタン資料などが活用されて、8世紀末と16世紀末を境目として、国語音韻史に三つの区分をたてることが提唱され、各期における音韻体系の全容が知られるに至ったが、古代の国語には母音が8種あり、いわゆる母音調和の要素を含むことなどが解明されて、日本語の系統論や本質論にも大きな進展がみられた。

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文法

国語の文法の研究は、語論、文論などに分かれるが、従来は語論が中心をなし、品詞分類、活用、用法などの面で発達を遂げてきた。しかし近時は、文の構造の分析など構文論的研究が進み、さらには文の集合たる文章を対象とする分野も提唱された。文法は論理的体系論で、観点によって種々の学説が成立しうるが、橋本進吉の外形的な文節論を基とする文法論が、教育界を中心に一般に広く知られている。しかし、山田孝雄(よしお)、松下大三郎、時枝誠記(もとき)などの文法論も、それぞれ独自の特徴を備え、学界では重視されている。体言・副詞・形容動詞など相互の本質的関連、活用の概念と構成、自立語と付属語との関係などは、現下の文法学界の中心課題といえよう。

　国語の文法研究は主として中世以降に発達した。最初は活用による語尾の変化、係り結びの法則などの発見から進んで、江戸時代以後には、用言の活用表、活用形の設定、活用の種類の分類、品詞分類などの研究が進み、近世末にはほぼ現在みられるような語論の基礎ができあがった。それらのなかで、本居宣長(もとおりのりなが)、富士谷成章(ふじたになりあきら)、鈴木朖(あきら)などの業績がとくに著しい。幕末以後、洋学による西洋文典の直訳的輸入もあったが、在来の説と相まって、大槻文彦(おおつきふみひこ)、山田孝雄などの文法説が現れるに至った。古くから明治中ごろまで、文法研究の対象は、いわゆる文語文法で、もっぱら中古の歌文であったが、中世以来長い間文章語として規範的に使用されてきたものとして、当然の結果であった。明治以後には、言文一致運動などにより、現代語文がしだいに発達し、社会的地位を高めたのに伴い、口語文法の研究がおこった。しかし、従来の文語文法が基とされたため、種々の矛盾が生じ、その方法が反省されるに至っている。一方、文法の歴史的研究については、江戸時代までは断片的でまとまったものはなかったが、明治末期から国語の歴史的研究が進展するに伴い、山田孝雄は、奈良時代、平安時代、鎌倉時代の各時代について、共時論的（一定の時間における現象を平面的・体系的に記述すること）研究を初めて実践して、文法史研究の基礎を築いた。のち、湯沢幸吉郎らによって中世以降各時代の文法現象が解明されてきた。なお近時は、アメリカの言語学の方法による生成文法の論を国語のうえに適用した試みも提出されている。

［築島　裕］

語彙

単語の意味の研究は、個別的な面もあるが、語の構成法、語音の変換、語源の方法論など、一般的な問題も多い。これらは、各時代ごとに法則性の存在することが、国語史研究の進展によって明らかになってきたので、方法論も発達しつつあるが、なお比較的後進的な分野である。意味論は現在も方法論の模索が行われている状態である。また、語彙の集録である辞書は、古代以来多くのものが編述されてきたのであり、編述それ自体が語彙研究をなす面もあるが、古くは中国から輸入された漢字字書を模倣改編することから始まり、やがて国語音を基準にした配列のものも出現する。一方、和歌和文の研究から古語の解釈作業が発達し、語釈もしだいに詳密なものとなった。『節用集』『下学集』などの一般日用語辞書的なものが中世末以降発達したが、近世末になると、一方では考証を主とした精細な用例集も出現した。明治中期、大槻文彦によって著された『言海(げんかい)』は、西洋の近代辞書の体裁を踏まえた最初のものといわれるが、他方では古来の国語辞書の伝統も受け継いでいる。幕末には狩谷棭斎(かりやえきさい)などの考証学者が出て古代辞書の研究が進んだが、その体系的・史的研究は大正時代の橋本進吉の節用集研究などが早いものである。しかしこの方面は、個別的調査が多く、辞書史の流れのような大局的見地からの研究はあまり試みられていない。なお、現代語の語彙調査については、近時、計量的研究が発達して、多くの成果が生み出されている。

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文字

国語は古来、漢字、平仮名、片仮名を常用して複雑な表記体系を備えているにもかかわらず、文字の研究はあまり盛んではなかった。中国で盛行した漢字の研究は、日本ではわずかな業績しか出なかった。仮名については、中世以来論者はあったが、俗説的なものが多く、実証性や歴史的観点に乏しかった。明治末期に大矢透(とおる)が仮名の歴史的研究を開拓し、万葉仮名の字音、平仮名・片仮名の起源と発達、五十音図、いろは歌の成立の研究に、初めて科学的方法を導入して、目覚ましい成果をあげた。この方面は、大正以後、ことに第二次世界大戦後、訓点資料の研究の進展により、長足の進歩を遂げてきている。

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文体

文体の歴史的研究は、江戸時代までは観念的なものが多かったが、明治以後、中古の訓点資料、中世の抄物(しょうもの)資料などの研究が進み、現在では相当に細かい研究も出るに至った。しかし、方法論の面でなお問題が多く、今後の進展が望まれる分野である。

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方言

古くから方言への関心はあり、江戸時代には方言語彙集などが現れたものの、いずれも断片的、部分的であった。全国一律の大調査は明治中期に先鞭(せんべん)がつけられ、昭和初期以来、体系的方法論が進んで、全国にわたる音韻、文法、語彙の体系的研究が進捗(しんちょく)し、全国的な方言区画説が提唱され、その史的関係が論ぜられるに至った。近時は、共通語と方言、同一地域内での方言の年齢差、方言と国語史、などの問題も取り上げられている。

　このほか、国語の系統論については、明治初期以来、ウラル・アルタイ語系説、南方語系説などをはじめ、諸種の言語との親近性を説く説が多いが、ヨーロッパ諸言語のように豊富な資料が得られないため、どの説も学界の定説の地位につくことができない状態にあり、今後も多くの進展は望みえない、というのが実情であろう。

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『「国語学概論」（『橋本進吉博士著作集1』1946・岩波書店）』▽『時枝誠記著『国語学原論』（1941・岩波書店）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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