A Descriptive And Comparative Grammar Of Western Old Japanese: Part 2: Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Conjunctions, Particles, Postpositions

by Alexander Vovin

Together with Part 1 of the same grammar ( Sources, Script and Phonology, Lexicon and Nominals ), this two-volume set represents the most detailed and exhaustive description ever done of any language, including Japanese of the Old Japanese language of the Yamato region during the Asuka Nara period. It presents hundreds of examples drawn not only from the major Old Japanese texts such as the Man'yoshu , the Senmyo , the Kojiki kayo and the Nihonshoki kayo but also from all minor extant texts such as the Fudoky kayo , the Bussoku seki ka , and others. It also includes comparative material from Eastern Old Japanese once spoken in the area roughly corresponding to present-day southern Chubu and Kanto regions, as well as from Ryukyuan and occasionally from other surrounding languages. Part 2 is accompanied by exhaustive and cumulative indexes to both volumes, including separate indexes on all grammatical forms described, linguistic forms, personal names, as well as an index of all Old Japanese texts that are used as examples in the description.

1369 pages, Hardcover

First published December 18, 2008

Reviews

[Liam Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good counterpoint to Frellesvig texts which don't tend to include a full corpus. Comparing this against Frellesvig's papers on the development of Japanese and Korean do-be verbage was quite enlightening - but my OW JP etymology is getting a bit rusty nowadays...