Catalog Search
 
Advanced Search

My shopping cart cart icon
Your cart is empty
My wish list wishlist icon
Your wish list is empty



Last update:
9 February 2010

© John Benjamins
Home

Blurb Table of contents Quotes Subjects

Proto-Japanese

Issues and Prospects

Edited by Bjarke Frellesvig and John Whitman
University of Oxford & University of Oslo / Cornell University

Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 294

2008. vii, 229 pp.
Publishing status: Available

Hardbound – In stock
978 90 272 4809 1 / EUR 105.00 / USD 158.00
Add to shopping cart

e-Book – Available from e-book platforms
978 90 272 9162 2 / EUR 105.00 / USD 158.00
Ordering information

Add to wish list

Proto-Japanese is the reconstructed language stage from which all later varieties of Japanese, including Ryukyuan, descend. It has been studied both as an end in itself (as the genetic code of the Japanese language) and as part of endeavors to clarify the genetic affiliation of Japanese. Based on the state of the field, especially as represented in Samuel E. Martin's seminal work The Japanese Language Through Time (1987), this volume singles out key areas in the reconstruction of proto-Japanese where salient progress has been or promises to be made since Martin. Contributions were invited from scholars working on the following areas: segmental phonology, use of dialect evidence, accent, morphology, and syntax. While the book first of all presents new research which advances our understanding of proto-Japanese, it also gives an overview over the state of the art in the field and its main issues.

Table of contents

Acknowledgements
vii
Introduction
Bjarke Frellesvig and John Whitman
1–9
Abbreviations
10–12
Part I. Reconstructing the basic phoneme inventory
13
Evidence for seven vowels in proto-Japanese
Bjarke Frellesvig and John Whitman
15–41
Early Japanese lexical strata and the allophones of /g/
J. Marshall Unger
43–53
Part II. Use of dialects in reconstruction
55
Proto-Japanese and the distribution of dialects
Takuichiro Onishi
57–78
The uses of Ryukyuan in understanding Japanese language history
Leon A. Serafim
79–99
Part III. Reconstructing accent
101
On the reconstruction of the proto-accentual system of Japanese
Akiko Matsumori
103–124
A reconstruction of proto-Japanese accent for disyllabic nouns: Focusing on the problem of subclasses
Moriyo Shimabukuro
125–139
Proto-Japanese beyond the accent system
Alexander Vovin
141–156
Part IV. Reconstructing morphology and syntax
157
The source of the bigrade conjugation and stem shape in pre-Old Japanese
John Whitman
159–173
On reconstruction of proto-Japanese and pre-Old Japanese verb inflection
Bjarke Frellesvig
175–192
The Nominal and Adnominal forms in Old Japanese: Consequences for a reconstruction of pre-Old Japanese syntax
Janick Wrona
193–215
References
217–226
Index
227–229

“An attractive volume on the reconstruction of the ancestor of Japanese and Ryukyuan: both a state of the art, and a collection of the most recent, cutting-edge work on phonology, morphosyntax, accentual systems and use of dialect evidence, by the most prominent specialists in the field.”
Laurent Sagart, CRLAO, Paris

“Frellesvig & Whitman have brought together a distinguished group of linguistic experts who explore some of the most important questions surrounding the reconstruction of proto-Japanese. In doing so, they have produced a collection of essays that reflect recent scholarly thinking. The incorporation of Ryukyuan evidence in the findings is a noteworthy feature of this volume; and the presentation of the latest hypotheses about the proto-Japanese vowel system is excellent.”
S. Robert Ramsey, University of Maryland

“This book makes the first impact of the 21st century on historical linguistics in Japan. In order to enjoy growth and development in our field, we must engage in dialogue with the authors of these contributions.”
Satoshi Kinsui, Osaka University

“This collection is a landmark in the study of proto-Japanese, comprising contributions from many of the current leaders in the field.”
Timothy Vance, University of Arizona

Subject classification

Linguistics
Historical linguistics
Japanese linguistics
Theoretical linguistics