Historical Research on Japanese: A Case Study of the Kanchi-in Manuscript of the Ruiju Myōgishō #
This chapter is Examples and Applications. The case studies are written in Japanese; the English pages in this chapter are summaries or guides, not full translations, of that Japanese content. This section presents historical research on Japanese using the Kanchi-in manuscript of the Ruiju Myōgishō. Based on the knowledge obtained during the process of deciphering the Myōgishō, we aim to correct errors in the textual interpretation and improve its accuracy. While particularly focusing on the issue of wakun (Japanese glosses), we also address the issue of kanji (Chinese character) readings.
Wakun is a valuable resource for the vocabulary and phonological history of Japanese, and phonetic notations such as fanqie (反切), similar sound glosses (類音注), kana glosses (仮名注), and shōten (声点) are important resources for the history of Japanese kanji readings, with a significant body of research accumulated to date. It is our hope that this research will contribute to providing new analytical perspectives.
The following five case studies are addressed in this chapter. Each English page below presents only the abstract; the full account, including detailed evidence, is available in the Japanese version linked from each page.
Note on Terminology:
- I have kept the Japanese terms wakun and kanji as they are, as they are commonly used in academic contexts related to Japanese linguistics. I have also provided brief explanations in parentheses.
- For the phonetic notations, I have provided the Japanese terms along with their English equivalents where applicable, for clarity.