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The History of the Japanese Particle “ I ”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Extract

The Japanese language contains a number of words that are pronounced differently when standing in the attributive position. The following is a list of such words, taken mainly from the literary monuments of the eighth century A.D.1

(1) e:a. ame heaven, sky: ama-hire (sky—shawl) cloud. ame rain: ama-giri2 (rain—mist) rainy mist. fune ship: funa-de ( < *funa-ide ship—departure) departure of a ship. ine rice-plant: ina-muširo (rice plant—mat) a pillow-word used for qualifying šiki (dense, heavy, frequent) and kaha (river) which are homonymous with šiki (to spread) and kaha (skin).

Type
Papers Contributed
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1930

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References

page 889 note 1 In order to unify the system of transcribing words in various languages, including Japanese, which are introduced in the present paper, I have adopted the following symbols: Turkish ä ═ Japanese ee in bed; ă ═ u in but; ә ═ er in butter; ї ═ e in pretty; f (Jap., Luehuan) ═ bilabial voiceless fricative; β ═ bilabial voiced fricative; ç ═ ch in German ich; xch in German Buch; š ═ sh in sheep; ch in cheek; j in jar; q ═ uvular voiceless plosive.

page 889 note 2 The initial voiceless consonant of the second word usually becomes voiced, thus -h- > -b-, -t- > -d-, -k- > -g-, unless the word contains a voiced consonant, when the initial consonant remains unvoiced.

page 890 note 1 The most archaic Japanese word meaning “ the back of the body ” is sobira, of which *SO is apparently a contraction.

page 891 note 1 Motoori Norinaga Zenshū, Tōkyō, 19261927, vol. 5, pp. 60–1; vol. 9, p. 263.Google Scholar

page 891 note 2 Matsuoka, S., Nihon Gengogaku, TōkyН, 1928, pp. 271–2.Google Scholar

page 891 note 3 Sansom, G. B., An Historical Grammar of Japanese, Oxford, 1928, pp. 283–4.Google Scholar

page 891 note 4 Ramstedt, G. J., “ Ueber mongolische pronomina ”: JSFOu. 23, Helsingfors, 1906, p. 19.Google Scholar

page 892 note 1 Schmidt, I. J., Grammatik der mongolischcn Sprache, St. Petersburg, 1831, pp. 146 (text), 165 (translation).Google Scholar

page 892 note 2 Ogura, S., “Studies on the poems of the Shilla Dynasty and the ‘ Ritu ’”: Journal of the Faculty of Law and Letters, Keijō Imperial University, vol. 1, 02, 1929, Poem xvi, pp. 184, 187.Google Scholar

page 892 note 3 Ogura, , op. cit., Poem xxiv, pp. 222–3.Google Scholar

page 892 note 4 Ogura, , op. cit., p. 227.Google Scholar

page 893 note 1 Ogura, , op. cit., pp. 325–6.Google Scholar

page 893 note 2 Ogura, , op. cit., pp. 430–1.Google Scholar

page 893 note 3 The genitive case of the personal pronoun is placed immediately after the case ending in Mongol, as we find it in the present instance.

page 894 note 1 Ogura, , op. cit., Poem xix, p. 199, pp. 200–1.Google Scholar

page 894 note 2 Rudnev, A. D., 1911, p. 206.Google Scholar

page 895 note 1 Ramstedt, G. J., “ A Comparison of the Altaic Languages with Japanese ”: TA8J. ser. II, vol. 1, 19231924, p. 46.Google Scholar

page 895 note 2 Cf.Andō, M., Kodai Kokugo no Kenkyū, Tōkyō, 1924, pp. 119, 131–3.Google Scholar

page 895 note 3 Ando, , op. cit., pp. 135–6.Google Scholar