A Dialect Grammar of JapaneseYoichi Fujiwara

Excerpt

Language is a living phenomenon, changing continuously through manifold influences. In the language of a people we can observe many aspects of the national character, customs and attitudes. It is not enough to study only the standard language; the dialects of a country can gives us the opportunity to penetrate deeper into the past history and past traditions of a nation and at the same time to observe the process of change. Through the study of dialects we can see the continuous development of a culture, the phenomenon of change together with continuity, the influence of new trends spreading from urban centers into the countryside, the evolution from regionalism toward a new synthesis of language and traditions.

The main intent of this work is to present a living description of the dialects of the various regions of Japan, trying always to let the people speak for themselves in their own style of language portraying their homely traditions. In this study the author does not intend to institute a comparison of Japanese dialects to the dialects of other countries, but only to offer the Japanese materials for such a future comparative work.

1965. 169 pages.
Paperback [Out of print]