Fujitani Nariakira

Fujitani: Beginning of Notes

Fujitani Nariakira ( Japanese 富士 谷 成章 ; born 1738 in Kyoto ; died November 9, 1779 ) was a Japanese literary theorist and linguist of the Edo period .

life and work

Fujitani Nariakira was the younger brother of the Confucianist and explorer of Chinese grammar, Minagawa Kien (1734-1807). Fujitani is best known for his contributions to Japanese grammar. As for its division into word classes, it is reminiscent of the division within the Indo-European languages. He formulated his terminology with disguise metaphors:

• the class of na (名), i.e. names, includes the nouns,
• the class of yosoi (装), i.e. the garments , includes the verbs and adjectives,
• the class of kazashi (挿頭), i.e. the flower hair ornament , includes verbs and adjectives, some conjunctions and interjections,
• the class of the ayui (脚 結), i.e. the garment bands , includes prepositions and some other conjunctions and interjections.

Fujitani is considered to be one of the most original early grammarians in Japan, although his work is influenced by traditional Chinese grammar. His literary theories were further developed by his son and successor, Fujitani Mitsue (1768–1823), his grammatical theories by members of the Motoori Norinaga school, in particular Suzuki Akira (1764–1837), Motoori Haruniwa (1763–1828) and Tōjō Gimon (1786–1843).

Publications (selection)

• Kazashishō (挿頭 抄), 1767.
• Ayuishō (脚 結 抄), 1778.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Fujitani Akira . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 415.

Web links

• Fujitani: Notes (詠 藻, Eiso) in the National Institute of Japanese Literature

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Fujitani is the family name, Nariakira the first name.