Dictionary of Selected Forms in Classical Japanese Literature

228 Pages·1966·7.682 MB·English

by  Ivan Morris

Dictionary of Selected Forms
in
Classical Japanese Literature

Dictionary of
Selected Forms
in Classical
Japanese Literature
Ivan Morris
Columbia University Press
New York and London 1966
Ivan Morris is Professor of Japanese
at Columbia University.
Copyright © 1965 Columbia University Press
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-13020
Printed in the United States of America
To the Memory
of
Sir George Sansom

Contentβ
Introduction ix
Abbreviations xvii
Dictionary of Selected Forms in Classical
Japanese Literature 1
Appendixes 141
I. Conjugation of Type Verbs and Adjectives 142
II. Conjugation of Forms Included in List 144
III. Selection of Forms Included in List
(classified according to grammatical
function) 152
IV. Honorific (sonkei), Polite (teinei), and
Humble (kenson) Auxiliary Verbs Included
in List 155

Introduction
The purpose of this dictionary is to help students to read
and translate classical Japanese literature; it is not
intended to be a definitive or systematic treatment of
bungο or an original grammatical study.
I have listed most of the forms that I have found in
my reading, giving examples from identified texts: the
earliest comes from Kojikl (A.D. 712) and the latest from
Tsurezuregusa (c. 1330), but the majority are from Heian
literature, especially Makura no Soshi (43% of the 1,330
examples) and Genji Monogatari (17%). Several examples
have been taken from Japanese grammars and works of
reference and could not be studied in their full context;
their translations are consequently tentative.
The reader should remember how little we still know
about the distinctions that undoubtedly existed between
pairs like -KI and -KERI, TAMAU and TAMAERI. Much textual
work remains to be done before we can reach tiny reliable
conclusions about these distinctions, and we shall probably
never understand all the nuances. Here I have advanced no
theories of my own. Readers who are interested in having a
more systematic and interpretative treatment should consult
Yamada Köyü's Nihon Bumpö Ron or Sir George Sansom's An
Historical Grammar of Japanese; on a more elementary level
Nakada Orio's Kammei Koten no Bumpö is a serviceable intro-
duction, and I have referred to it for many of my examples.
As a rule I have used Japanese nomenclature to identi-
fy conjugations and inflexions. Foreign scholars are still
far from agreeing in their translations of these terms.
Renyökei, for example, is variously given as "conjunctive,"
"Line II," "connective," "adverbial," "infinitive," "sub-
stantival," and "verbal." No doubt each of these descrip-
tions has some merit; but surely it is far simpler, at
least where the classical language is concerned, to use the
Japanese name. Similarly shimonidan would seem to be a
more practical identification for verbs of the tabu type
than "2nd Conjugation" (Sansom), "Glass I" (Vaccari),
"vowel verb" (Bloch), and "Second Regular Conjugation"
(Chamberlain). For the functions of words and affixes,
however, I have used English terms such as "desiderative"
and "negative" (instead of gambö and uchikeshi), since
here the aim is explanation and description rather than
identification.
I realize that many grammarians will object to the
use of the word "past" as one meaning of kaiso and kanryö
suffixes like -KERI and -TSÜ; but verbs with these suffixes
are usually translated into some form of past tense in
English, and it would be pedantic, if not actually mis-
leading, to ignore the fact in a dictionary of this type.
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