The evolution of the Japanese past and perfective suffixes 0939512920

Citation preview

M ic h ig a n M o n o g ra p h S eries in J a p a n e s e S tu d ie s N u m b e r 26 C e n te r fo r J a p a n e s e S tu d ie s T h e U niversity o f M ich ig an

The Evolution of the Japanese Past and Perfective Suffixes Karen E. Sandness

C e n te r fo r J a p a n e s e S tu d ie s T h e U niversity o f M ich ig an A n n A rbor, M ich ig an , 1999

C o p y rig h t © 1999 T h e R e g e n ts o f T h e U n iv ersity o f M ic h ig a n All rig h ts re se rv e d

P u b lis h e d by th e C e n te r fo r J a p a n e s e S tu d ie s, T h e U n iv ersity o f M ic h ig a n , 202 S. T h a y e r St., A n n A rb o r, MI 48104-1608

D is trib u te d by T h e U n iv ersity o f M ic h ig a n P ress, 839 G re e n e St. / P.O. Box 1104, A n n A rb o r, MI 48106-1104

L ib ra ry o f C o n g re ss C a ta lo g in g in P u b lic a tio n D ata S a n d n e ss, K aren Elsa. T h e e v o lu tio n o f th e J a p a n e s e p ast a n d p e rfe c tiv e su ffix es / K aren E. S an d n ess. viii, 265 p. 23.5 cm . — (M ich ig an m o n o g ra p h se rie s in Ja p an ese studies ; n o . 26) I n c lu d e s b ib lio g ra p h ic a l r e fe re n c e s a n d in d e x . ISBN 0 - 9 3 9 5 1 2 -9 2 - 0 (c lo th : alk. p a p e r) 1. J a p a n e s e la n g u a g e — To 1868— S uffixes a n d p re fix e s. 2. J a p a n e s e la n g u a g e — V erb. 3. J a p a n e s e la n g u a g e — T en se. I. T itle . II. S eries. P L 595.S36 1999 4 9 5 .6 '5 — dc21 9 9 -3 1 7 6 7 CIP

J a c k e t d esig n : S eiko S e m o n e s

T h e p a p e r u s e d in th is p u b lic a tio n m e e ts th e r e q u ir e m e n ts o f th e A N S I/N IS O S ta n d a rd Z 3 9 .4 8 -1 9 9 2 (P e rm a n e n c e o f P a p e r fo r P u b lic a tio n s a n d D o c u m e n ts in L ib ra rie s a n d A rchives)

P rin te d in th e U n ite d S tates o f A m eric a

Table of Contents Preface to the 1999 Revision Preface to the 1982 Dissertation Introduction 1. T he M eanings o f the Past and Perfective Suffixes 1.1. -Ri in the N ara and H eian Periods 1.2. -Tan in the N ara and the H eian Periods 1.3. T he Difference between -Tan and -Ri 1.4. -Ki in the N ara and H eian Periods 1.5. -Keri in the N ara and H eian Periods 1.6. -Nu and -Tu in the N ara and H eian Periods 1.6.1. T heories about -Nu and -Tu 1.6.2. T he M eaning o f -Nu 1.6.3. T he M eaning o f -Tu

vii viii 1 9 10 16 23 29 41 54 55 68 75

2. The Insei P eriod 2.1. Hokke shuho ippyakuza kikigakisho 2.2. Okagami 2.3. Konjaku monogatari 2.4. Ryojin hisho 2.5. Sankashu 2.6. Summ ary

94 97 99 100 106 109 112

3. T he Kam akura P eriod 3.1. Hojoki 3.2. Gukansho 3.3. Uji sh-ui monogatari

113 115 118 121

3.4. 3.5. 3.6. 3.7. 3.8. 3.9.

Heike monogatari Kokonchomonju T he Letters o f N ichiren Shasekishu Towazugatari Summ ary

128 136 139 142 145 149

4. T he M urom achi P eriod 4.1. Tsurezuregusa 4.2. Soga monogatari 4.3. Taiheiki 4.4. Gikeiki 4.5. T he N oh Plays o f K an’ami and Zeami 4.6. Shikisho 4.7. T he Portuguese Materials 4.8. T he Song Collections 4.9. Summ ary

151 152 158 161 165 169 175 181 188 191

5. T he Suffixes in the M odern Dialects 5.1. -Ri in the Dialects 5.2. -Nu in the Dialects 5.3. -Ki in the Dialects 5.4. -Tu in the Dialects 5.5. -Ken in the Dialects 5.6. -Tari in the Dialects

194 196 199 203 208 212 219

6. C onclusion

227

Bibliography

232

In d e x

243

Preface to the 1999 Revision T he genesis o f this revision and updating was an invitadon by Professors M arian Ury and David Mills, o f the editorial board o f the Journal of the Associa­ tion o f Teachers o f Japanese, to write a review o f Lone Takeuchi’s A Study of Classi­ cal Japanese Tense and Aspect (Akademisk Forlag, 1987). U pon reading the re­ sulting review article, they urged m e to publish my own research on the topic. Since all the research for the original dissertation had been com pleted before 1980,1 n eed ed to conduct an updated literature search and rethink my argum ents. This becam e possible when I received a g rant from the N ortheast Asia Council o f the Association for Asian Studies for short-term research in Tokyo in the sum m er o f 1990. Although I spent m ost o f my time at the Na­ tional Diet Library, Professor Tamai Mieko o f the English D epartm ent of Showa W om en’s University graciously provided me with access to the library stacks and copying facilities o f h er institution and introduced m e to Professor Iitoyo Kiichi and o th er m em bers o f the kokugogaku faculty, all o f whom were m ost generous with th eir time and advice. T h ro u g h o u t the tim e-consum ing process o f reading through the result­ ing piles o f notes and photocopies, rethinking the original dissertation, and putting the revised text on disk, my form er colleagues in the D epartm ent of M odern Languages at Linfield College were extrem ely supportive, even when they had no idea what I was writing about. Leon Serafim o f the University o f Hawaii m ade a n u m b er o f insightful com m ents on this m anuscript, and I have incorporated m any o f his sugges­ tions into the final version. I would also like to thank David N. Olson, whose exam ple o f dedicated and enthusiastic in d ep en d en t scholarship inspired me to com plete this project after I had left academia.

vii

Preface to the 1982 Dissertation I would like to express my graUtude to the many individuals who provided help an d en couragem ent during the preparation o f this dissertadon. D uring my stay in Japan, which was funded by [Yale University’s] Council on East Asian Studies, Professors Shirafuji Noriyuki a n d Im oto N oichi o f O chanom izu W om en’s University were particularly helpful in suggesting re­ source m aterials and arranging introductions that facilitated my research. T he lectures o f Visiting Professor Aoki Reiko op en ed my eyes to research m ethods th at I had n o t previously considered. [The late] Professors Ikeda Mayako and Ikeda Tadashi extended to m e the same w arm th and concern th at they have shown the o th er foreign students at O chanom izu. T he o th er graduate students in the Yale linguistics d ep artm en t were very supportive and suffered listening to my thinking o u t loud about Japanese suf­ fixes. O n e o f the Jap an specialists am ong them , Leon Serafim, was extrem ely helpful w hen the time came to look at Ryukyuan m aterials. My thesis advisor, Professor Samuel E. M artin, has been consistently generous an d p atien t in providing advice, corrections, and additional inform ation (of course, any er­ rors o r omissions in the final text are my own responsibility), recom m enda­ tions, and encouragem ent. To all o f the above: Taiso o-sewa ni narimashita.

Introduction O n e o f th e m ost n eg lec ted topics in th e h istorical study o f th e J a p a ­ nese lan g u ag e is th e re m o d e lin g o f the so-called kako to kanryo no jo doshi ‘past a n d p erfectiv e suffixes,’ w hich to o k place d u rin g th e K am akura (1185-1334) an d M urom achi (1334-1615) p erio d s.1T he classical-language suffixes them selves are n o t n eg lec ted at all, fo r th e re is little ag re e m e n t ab o u t th e ir m eanings, a n d new th eo ries ab o u t the m eanings a p p e a r re g u ­ larly in Jap a n ese linguistic jo u rn a ls .2 T he reaso n th a t th e suffixes are so controversial is th a t only o n e o f them , -tari, survives in th e m o d e rn stan ­ d ard language: it has evolved in to th e past a n d p erfective suffix -ta, a n d th ere is also a suffix -tari, w hich has an iterative-representative fu n c tio n . T he o th e r five suffixes, com m only re fe rre d to as -ri, -ki, -keri, -nu, a n d -tu, are now fo u n d only in proverbs a n d cliches, alth o u g h they w ere all an in teg ral p a rt o f th e tem p o ra l a n d aspectual system o f th e lan g u ag e in the H eian p e rio d (794-1185). It can be assum ed th a t all read ers o f this study know w hat a past-tense suffix is, even th o u g h the form th a t is often called the p ast tense in m o d ­ ern Jap an ese really covers a b ro a d e r sem antic ran g e than the English co u n ­ terp a rt, re fe rrin g to co m p letio n o f an action o r state, w h e th e r in th e past, p resen t, o r fu tu re . F or exam ple, w hen speaking ab o u t w hat will h a p p e n after arriving at th e airp o rt, a Jap a n ese does n o t say *Kuko ni tsuku toki . . . airport at arrive time (nonpast)

“W h en I arrive at th e a irp o rt . . .” 1. Joddshi literally m ea n s “auxiliary v e rb ,” b u t u n lik e c e rta in o th e r m e m b e rs o f th a t class, th ese six are b o u n d form s, so I p re fe r to re fe r to th em as suffixes. Strictly speaking, the stem -endings are suffixes as well, b u t to avoid confusion, I re fe r to them sim ply as stems. 2. T h e sch o o l g ra m m ars o ffe r b rie f e x p la n a tio n s, b u t m any J a p a n e se g ra m m a ria n s w ould tak e issue w ith th e analyses p re s e n te d to high sch o o l a n d university stu d e n ts. 1

Introduction

because th a t refers to the tim e w hen o n e is ju s t arriving. In o rd e r to co n ­ vey th e id ea th a t th e event in q u estio n will h a p p e n afte r the sp eak er has already arrived, it is necessary to say: K uko ni tsu ita toki . . . airp o rt a t arrived time

“W hen I [have] arriv ed at th e a irp o rt . .

If th e sen ten c e ends w ith a n o n p a st verb, th e n th e sp eak er is talk in g a b o u t w hat will h a p p e n afte r arrival at th e airp o rt. If th e sen ten c e en d s w ith a p ast verb, th e n the sp eak er is talking a b o u t som e previous in c id e n t at the airp o rt. N ote th a t th e English gloss “W hen I have arrived at th e a irp o rt” is only slightly awkward in this context, b u t an English speaker, unlike a Ja p a ­ nese speaker, p re fers to say “W hen I arrive at the a irp o rt” to b eg in a sen­ ten ce th a t en ds with a sta te m e n t o f fu tu re plans. O n th e w hole, however, Ja p a n e se agrees w ith English in typically describ in g p ast events w ith pastten se verbs. W hile tense is a com m only know n term , only re ad ers tra in e d in lin­ guistics o r th o se who have stu d ied a Slavic o r Baltic lan g u ag e are likely to be fam iliar with th e c o n c ep t o f “asp ect.” A lthough English does n o t have m o rp h o lo g ically m ark e d aspect, it is possible to explain this c o n c e p t us­ ing E nglish exam ples. For exam ple, if we are talking a b o u t the progress o f an airp la n e flight, we can use verbal co n stru c tio n s such as “will fly,” “flies habitually,” “is a b o u t to take off,” “has ju s t becom e a irb o rn e ,” “is flying,” “has flown the d istance,” “flew,” an d “was flying while we w ere eatin g lu n c h .” In a lan g u ag e with m orphologically m ark ed aspect, som e o r all o f these expressions can be expressed by single verbs based o n th e ro o t “fly,” aug­ m e n te d with stem changes a n d suffixes. In o th e r words, th e sp eak er can ch oose to view th e action as an o n g o in g process (“flies habitually,” “is fly­ in g ,” “was flying”) in the so-called im perfective aspect. T h e sp eak er can also ch oose to focus o n a c ertain p o in t in th e action (“is a b o u t to take off,” “has ju s t b eco m e a irb o rn e ,” “has flown th e d istan ce”) o r to see th e action as an u n d iv id ed w hole in th e past o r fu tu re (“will fly,” “flew”) in th e socalled perfective aspect. M odern Jap a n e se lacks the so rt o f richly devel­ o p ed aspectual system found in Russian, bu t scholarly discussions o f classical Jap anese verbs usually assume that classical Japanese h ad a m orphological d istin ctio n betw een th e p erfective (kanryo) a n d im perfective (mikanryo), h e n c e th e term “p ast a n d p erfective suffixes.”3 3. R ead ers in te re s te d in le a rn in g m o re a b o u t th e th eo ry o f a sp e c t sh o u ld c o n su lt C om rie 1976.

2

Introduction

T h e g ram m atical trad itio n ta u g h t in Jap a n ese academ ic in stitu tio n s a ssig n s th e v e rb s o f th e c la ssic a l la n g u a g e to five cla sse s: yodan (q u a d rig rad e ), kami nidan (u p p e r b ig rad e ), shimo nidan (low er b ig ra d e ), kami ichidan (u p p e r m o n o g ra d e ), a n d shimo ichidan (low er m o n o g ra d e ). Verbs th a t co n fo rm to n o n e o f these classifications are d istrib u te d am o n g the sa-gyd henkaku (s-stem irre g u la rs), na-gyd henkaku (n-stem irre g u la rs), and ra-gyo henkaku (r-stem irre g u la rs). Each verb w ithin a given class has six co n ju g atio n al stems: shushikei (sentence fin al), rentaikei (a ttrib u tiv e), ren’yokei (conjuncdve), rnizenkei (negative), meireikei (im perative), a n d izenkei (concessive). H e re are th e conjugational stem s o f the yodan (q u a d rig rad e ) verb kaku ‘to w rite.’

Name o f stem sentence final (shushikei) attributive (rentaikei) conjunctive (ren ’yokei) negative (rnizenkei) imperative (meireikei) concessive (izenkei)

Form

Example of use with suffix

M eaning of example

kaku

kaku

‘write’

kaku

kaku

‘[which] w rite(s)’

kaki-

kakite

‘having w ritten’

kaka-

kakazu

‘not write’

kake

kake

‘write!’

kake-

kakedo

‘write(s), b u t . . . ’

T he verb otu ‘fall from a h e ig h t’ serves as an exam ple o f a kami nidan (u p p e r b ig rad e) verb:

Name of stem

Form

Example of use with suffix

M eaning of example

sentence final attributive conjunctive

otu oturu oti-

otu oturu otite

‘fall’ ‘[which] fall(s)’ ‘having fallen’

negative imperative concessive

otiotioture-

otizu otiyo oturedo

‘not fall’ ‘fall!’ ‘falls, b u t . . . ’

3

L

Introduction

An exam ple o f a shimo nidan (low er big rad e) verb is sutu ‘throw away.’ N am e o f stem sentence final attributive conjunctive negative imperative concessive

Form

Example of use with suffix

M eaning of example

sutu suturu sutesutesutesuture-

sutu suturu sutete sutezu suteyo suturedo

‘throw away’ ‘ [which] throws away’ ‘having thrown away’ ‘not throw away’ ‘throw [it] away!’ ‘throws away, b u t . . . ’

T h e ichidan (m o n o g ra d e) verbs attach all suffixes to the sam e stem , e ith e r -i- o r -e-, a n d th e re are only a few irre g u la r verbs. To com plicate m atters fu rth e r, all six o f the past a n d p e rfe c t suffixes have th e ir own conjugatio n al form s a n d can ag glutinate to o th e r suffixes. (I will describe th e d e ­ tails o f these co n ju g atio n al a n d agglutinative p a tte rn s in th e sections d e ­ v o ted to individual suffixes.) At this p o in t it is sufficient to say th a t five o f th e suffixes, -lari, -tu, -nu, -ki, a n d -keri, w ere affixed to th e conjunctive stem o f th e verb d u rin g th e H eian p erio d . A lth o u g h -ri h a d alm ost cer­ tainly arisen from a fo rm affixed to the ren’ydkei (conjunctive) stem in ea rlie r tim es, m o rp h o p h o n e m ic changes b ro u g h t ab o u t a surface re p re ­ sen tatio n th a t looked like affixation to the meireikei (im perative) stem . T h e m o d e rn sta n d a rd language has only two re g u la r verbal co n ju g a­ tions, godan (five-grade) a n d ichidan (m o n o g ra d e). T he m o d e rn form s o f kaku, otu, a n d sutu are co n ju g ated as follows:

4

Name of stem

Form

Example of use with suffix

M eaning of examole

dictionary form

kaku

kaku

negative conjunctive imperative volitional

kakakakikake kako-

kakanai kaite< kakite kake kakoo

‘write’ (sentence final and attributive) ‘not write’ ‘having w ritten’ ‘write!’ ‘I will write’

Name o f stem

Form

Example o f use with suffix

M eaning of example

dictionary form

ochiiru

ochiru

negative conjunctive imperative volitional

ochiochiochiochi-

ochinai ochite ochiro ochiyoo

‘fall’ (sentence final and attributive) ‘not fall’ ‘having fallen’ ‘fall!’ ‘I will fall’

Introduction

Name o f stem

Form

Example o f use with suffix

M eaning o f example

dictionary form

suteru

suteru

negative conjunctive imperative volitional

sutesutesutesute-

sutenai sutete sutero suteyoo

‘throw away’ (sentence final and attributive) ‘n ot throw away’ ‘having throw n away’ ‘throw [it] away!’ ‘I will throw away’

To sum things u p , th e q u ad rig rad e verbs in m ost dialects o f Jap a n e se have becom e five-grade verbs with the a d d itio n o f th e volitional stem , a n d the bigrade verbs have m erg e d with th e m o n o g rad e verbs. We even have di­ rect literary evidence fo r this shift in co n ju g atio n al classes, w hich began in the late H eian p erio d , a n d m ost re fere n ce books on the history o f the language discuss it. O n e w ould th in k th a t the re m o d e lin g o f the past a n d p erfective suf­ fixes w ould have p ro m p te d extensive scholarly d o c u m e n ta tio n o f the changes over tim e, b u t th a t is n o t the case. B oth Jap a n ese a n d W estern scholars typically h a n d le th e p ro b lem by saying th a t the five obsolete suf­ fixes passed o u t o f use d u rin g the M urom achi p erio d . This is actually a fa ir a ssu m p tio n , given th e p e c u lia ritie s o f J a p a n e s e lite ra ry history. T h r o u g h o u t th e K a m ak u ra p e r io d a n d u n til th e la st c e n tu ry o f th e M urom achi p e rio d , n early anyone who w rote anything w rote it in the dia­ lect used in Kyoto d u rin g the H eian p erio d . B ecause o f this p ractice, vir­ tually every e x ta n t m an u scrip t o f those p erio d s co n tain s exam ples o f all six p ast a n d p erfectiv e suffixes. T h e re are n o e x ta n t co llo q u ial w ritings from th e K am akura p erio d , a n d the oldest known colloquial w ritings o f the M urom achi p erio d , tran scrip tio n s o f B uddhist lectures a n d serm ons, ap p ear in th e la tte r h a lf o f th e fiftee n th century. T he verb m o rp h o lo g y fo u n d in these le c tu re notes resem bles th a t o f th e m o d e rn w estern J a p a ­ nese dialects far m o re th an it resem bles th a t o f the H eian co u rt. T he lack o f d ire c t evidence fo r th e re m o d e lin g o f th e tem p o ra l a n d aspectual system is certainly fru stratin g . How, th en , are we to fin d o u t w hat was h a p p e n in g in th e colloquial language d u rin g the ce n tu ries w hen -tari, -ri, -nu, -tu, -ki, a n d -keri d isap p ea red from com m on use? It is well know n th a t th e w riters o f the K am akura a n d M urom achi p e ­ riods w ere n o t en tirely successful in im itatin g th e language o f th e H eian period. T h e ir gram m atical an d o rth o g rap h ic erro rs have b een used to date n o t only th e re m o d e lin g o f the verbal conjugations b u t also changes in the p ro n u n c ia tio n o f inter-vocalic -/-, the rem odeling of the copula, changes

5

Introduction

in the system o f honorific language, an d the disappearance o f kakari-musubi.4 We can assum e, th e n , th a t any m ajor ch an g e in the spoken lan g u ag e m ust be reflected som ehow in the w ritten d o cu m en ts o f th e p e rio d in question. As th e p ast a n d perfective suffixes fell o u t o f use in th e co llo q u ial lan ­ guage, w riters m u st have fo u n d it increasingly difficult to use th em cor­ rectly. We sh o u ld th e re fo re be able to d e te rm in e at least th e o rd e r o f the ch anges, if n o t the exact chronology, by n o tin g th e e rro rs o f usage fo u n d in th e literary works o f th e K am akura an d M urom achi periods. B ut in o rd e r to recognize th e m istakes m ade in la te r p erio d s, it is n ec­ essary to know w hat role th e suffixes played in th e lan g u ag e o f th e H eian p erio d . T his is n o t as easy as it seem s. D espite th e fact th a t th e classics o f H eian lite ra tu re have b e e n re a d a n d stu d ied continuously since they w ere w ritten , th e re is today little a g re e m e n t am o n g Jap a n ese scholars ab o u t th e functions o f these tem poral an d aspectual suffixes. D efining these func­ tions is th e re fo re th e first priority. H aving p ro p o se d a th eo ry ab o u t how these suffixes fu n c tio n e d in the tem p o ra l a n d aspectual system o f the H eian p erio d , the n e x t task is to look at how they w ere actually used in th e literary works o f th e so-called In sei p e rio d (actually the last ce n tu ry o f th e H e ia n p e rio d ), a n d th e K am akura a n d M urom achi periods. Finally, a survey o f th e know n a n d possible survivals a n d cognates o f the suffixes in n o n sta n d a rd Jap a n ese a n d Ryukyuan dialects has th e p o te n tia l for providing valuable clues. As a startin g p o in t, I have selected sam ple texts from a m o n g th e bestknow n works o f H eian a n d N ara lite ratu re . It is possible th a t th e m e a n ­ ings o f th e suffixes ch a n g ed betw een th e b eg in n in g o f th e N ara p e rio d a n d th e e n d o f the H eian p e rio d , b u t ex c ep t w here n o te d in la te r ch ap ­ ters, they seem to be co n sisten t over the fo u r h u n d re d years. F or the Insei th ro u g h M u rom achi periods, however, I have ch o sen to lo o k at th e lite r­ ary works m ost likely to co n tain colloquialism s, e ith e r works o f p o p u la r lite ra tu re o r works th a t the secondary sources describe as having collo­ quial traits. T hus I discuss the anth o lo g ies o f tales co m p iled d u rin g the th irte e n th century, b u t n o t the anth o lo g ies o f p o etry co n te m p o ra ry with them . W ithin th e works o f p rose fiction o r history, I c o n c e n tra te o n the passages o f dialogue fo r a n u m b e r o f reasons: 1. D irect quotations are m ore likely to contain colloquialisms than are narrative passages. An e d u c ated w riter o f fiction, unless writing a first-per­ son narrative, tends to stick to the standard language in narrative passages, 4. T h e te rm kakari-musubi re fe rs to a g re e m e n t b etw een se n ten c e-fin a l verbs a n d c e rta in em otive p a rticle s p re c e d in g th e m . F or e x am p le, th e p re se n c e o f th e em otive p a rticle koso ‘in d e e d ’ re q u ire d th a t th e m ain v erb o r adjective o f th e se n te n c e b e in th e izenkei (concessive) fo rm . 6

Introduction

even th o u g h th e fictional ch aracters may speak in any n u m b e r o f n o n ­ stan d ard styles. 2. T h e ch aracters in a fictional o r historical w ork freq u en tly c o m m e n t on th e events h a p p e n in g a ro u n d them . T his allows th e re se a rc h e r to o b ­ serve how p eo p le o f th a t m ilieu co m m en t o n an event th a t is o c c u rrin g before th e ir eyes, an event th a t has ju s t h a p p e n e d , an event th a t h a p p e n e d long ago, an ev en t th a t they have le a rn e d o f indirectly, o r a situ atio n co n ­ tin u in g in to th e p re s e n t from the past. 3. A fter th e H e ia n p erio d , alm ost all narrative passages are w ritten in a co n v en tio n alized style in w hich m ost verbs have -keri affixed. W hile this is an in te re stin g p h e n o m e n o n in itself, m ark in g a ch ange from th e typical practice o f H eian au th o rs, it does n o t seem to have m u ch relevance to the question o f how th e p eo p le o f the K am akura a n d M urom achi p erio d s ac­ tually spoke. 4. Finally, th e sh e e r volum e o f m aterial available necessitates cu ttin g back th e scope o f th e research. It is helpful, fo r exam ple, to be able to skip over lo n g passages in w hich no o n e says anything. I tre a t diaries, essays, songs, a n d letters as ex te n d e d m o n o lo g u es, fo r they seem to lack the distinction betw een narrative an d dialogue style fo u n d in th e fictional a n d h istorical works. I leave th e study o f th e conventions o f narrative p ro se in fiction to o th e r re searc h ers.5 My system fo r tran sc rib in g classical Jap a n ese is based o n classical o r­ th o g rap h y a n d fo r th e m ost p a rt ignores certain p h o n o lo g ical distinctions th at o b ta in e d d u rin g the N ara p erio d , ex cep t in those few cases w here the distinctions are relev an t to discussing the origins o f th e con ju g atio n s. I transcribe m o d e rn Jap a n ese in th e H e p b u rn system, with th e co n so n an ts p ro n o u n c e d as in English an d with m acrons in d icatin g lo n g u o r o. C ita­ tions from n o n s ta n d a rd dialects are tran scrib ed in a m odified IPA (In te r­ natio n al P h o n etic A lp habet) system describ ed m o re fully in the in tro d u c ­ tion to th e last chapter. Like nearly everyone else who studies th e language o f classical J a p a ­ nese lite ra tu re , I use th e Iwanami koten bungaku taikei ed itio n s o f th e works u n d e r co n sid eratio n , ex cep t in th e case o f Towazugatari, w hich is n o t p a rt of the series.6 All tran slatio n s o f sam ple passages are my own. A lth o u g h I have occasionally co n su lted stan d ard literary tran slatio n s o f th e works, they are n o t always useful fo r in te rp re tin g th e m ost difficult passages: th e

5. Suzuki Yasushi has also lim ite d his own investigations in th e sam e m a n n e r a n d fo r sim ilar reaso n s. See Suzuki 1987, 274. 6. A lth o u g h Iw anam i is in th e p ro c ess o f p u b lish in g new e d itio n s o f th e Ja p a n e s e classics, th e series is n e ith e r c o m p le te n o r widely available o u tsid e Ja p a n . T h e re fo re , I have u se d th e o ld fa m ilia r brow n books p u b lish e d in th e 1950s a n d 1960s. 7

Introduction

tra n sla to r h im self m ay be baffled by th e passages o r may be fo rced by the lack o f co rresp o n d en ce betw een Jap an ese an d English syntax to p arap h rase m o re th a n a p erso n investigating linguistic ra th e r th a n literary questions really o u g h t to. It m ig h t have b ee n b o th in te re stin g a n d useful to analyze all th e works in th e ir en tire ties a n d to re a d som e o f th e m o re obscure works, b u t such an effo rt w ould have d o u b led o r trip led the tim e necessary fo r this study. T h erefo re I have lim ited my investigations o f the lo n g er works to excerpts, a n d I leave the rest fo r o th e r researchers. T h ro u g h o u t this study I have a tte m p te d to avoid u n n ecessary ja rg o n , th e out-of-control fungus th a t sm others an d obscures so m u ch academ ic prose. My g u id in g p rin cip le has b een th a t if I c a n n o t express an idea in p lain E nglish, th e n I do n o t u n d e rsta n d it myself. T h e re fo re this w ork sh o u ld be accessible to anyone who has stu d ied classical Ja p a n e se a n d to linguists a n d o th e r read ers who are w illing to learn a few key term s.

8

1. The Meanings of the Past and Perfective Suffixes Every Jap a n e se high school stu d e n t studies classical lite ra tu re , a n d in the universities, th e d ep a rtm en ts o fja p a n e se language a n d lite ra tu re ho ld a place co m p arab le to th a t o f English d ep a rtm en ts in the universities o f E nglish-speaking co u n tries. Yet in spite o f all th e scholarly a tte n tio n di­ rected at th e lan g u ag e o f p re m o d e rn Ja p a n , no o n e has b ee n able to d e­ vise a co n sisten t a n d widely accep ted ex p lan a tio n o f th e m eanings o f the six tem p o ral a n d aspectual suffixes. P eople re a d early Ja p a n e se lite ra tu re using sta n d a rd glosses fo r th e suffixes, b u t anyone who looks at th e texts carefully is fo rced to recognize th a t the stan d ard glosses are at best ap­ pro x im atio n s a n d at w orst nonsensical in certain contexts. B ecause o f the inadequacy o f th e glosses given in the school gram m ars, nearly ev ery jap anese lin g u ist seem s to have a th eo ry ab o u t the m eanings o f th e suffixes, and th e scholarly jo u rn a ls are full o f proposals a n d co u n terp ro p o sals. In this ch ap ter, I discuss th e prin cip al th eo ries th a tja p a n e s e scholars have su ggested a n d test those theories against exam ples from N ara a n d H eian lite ratu re . W ithin each passage qu o ted , I have u n d e rlin e d th e verbs o r adjectives a n d suffixes u n d e r co n sid eratio n , bo th in th e Ja p a n e se text and in th e c o rre sp o n d in g English translation. My in te rlin e a r glosses id e n ­ tify th e co m p o n en ts o f th e co n stru ctio n in a g en e ral ra th e r th a n in a spe­ cific way. F o r ex am ple, I do n o t gloss ifitaredo as ifitared o i f ‘say* + i (conjunctive stem) + tare (concessive stem o f -tari) + do ‘b u t’

which is, o n th e o n e h a n d , old in fo rm atio n to the re a d e r already fam iliar with classical Jap a n e se a n d on th e other, typographical c lu tte r th a t the u n in itia te d re a d e r will te n d to skip over a n d will n o t keep track o f anyway. (H ere I am sp eak in g from my own ex p e rien ce in re a d in g scholarly ar­ ticles ab o u t the linguistics o f u nfam iliar languages.) Instead, I gloss ifitaredo like this, 9

1. The Meanings o f the Past and Perfective Suffixes

ifita re d o ifu 'say' + tari + do 'b u t'

id en tify in g th e basic elem en ts w ith o u t gettin g bogged dow n in syntactic details. If ex am in ation o f literary texts indicates th at n o n e o f the theories seems to ex p lain th e full ran g e o f usage o f a given suffix, I suggest an analysis o f my ow n b ase d o n th e co n te x ts in w hich th e suffixes a p p e a r a n d th e adverbials th a t accom pany them . 1 .1 .

-Rl

IN THE NARA AND H

e IAN

PERIODS

O f th e six suffixes u n d e r discussion, -ri is th e least controversial. T h e re is w id esp read a g re e m e n t ab o u t its etym ology a n d m eanings a n d the cir­ cu m stan ces o f its d isappearance. As d escrib ed in th e term inology o f the Ja p a n e se school gram m ars, -ri attach es itself to the im perative stem ( meireikei) o f q u a d rig ra d e (yodan) verbs a n d th e verb su ‘d o ,’ yielding such form s as these: M eaning of verb ‘w rite’ ‘ [rain o r snow] fall’ ‘say’ ‘d o ’

Verb kaku furu ifu su

Verb + -ri kakeri fureri iferi seri

Ja p a n e se gram m arians are careful to p o in t o u t th a t th e im perative, n o t th e concessive ( izenkei) stem is the base, fo r th e concessive w ould yield *sureri from su, in stead o f the actually o c c u rrin g seri, a n d w ould n o t be co n sisten t with th e o rth o g ra p h y o f the N ara p erio d , in w hich b o th the im perative stem a n d th e stem before -ri are w ritten w ith ko syllables while th e concessive stem is w ritten with otsu syllables.1 B ecause -ri cam e in to b ein g d u rin g th e p re lite ra te p e rio d , we m ust investigate its possible origin indirectly, a n d even th e n the id ea o f d e te r­ m in in g the m eaning o f a b o u n d m orphem e by speculating ab o u t its origins 1

1. T h e ko a n d otsu syllables a re two classes o f syllables th a t w ere o rth o g ra p h ic a lly d istin c t in th e N ara p e rio d b u t fell to g e th e r early in th e H e ian p e rio d . T h e ex act p h o n e tic s o f the d istin c tio n have b e e n a m a tte r o f controversy, b u t m any W estern re se a rc h e rs now b e ­ lieve, b a se d o n stu d ies o f th e M iddle C h in ese p ro n u n c ia tio n s o f th e c h a ra c te rs u se d to spell J a p a n e se w ords re b u s fa sh io n , th a t it was o n e o f g lide (ko) versus n o n g lid e (otsu) o r labial (ko) versus n o n la b ia l (otsu) in itial, i.e., [kye] versus [key], [tyi] versus [*iy], o r [ ktuo] versus [Ao]. O th e r sch o lars re p re s e n t th e ho syllables with u n m a rk e d vowels a n d th e otsu syllables w ith u m la u t-m a rk ed vowels, i.e. [o] versus [6 ]. T h is u m la u t m ark in g is m erely an o rth o g ra p h ic c o n v en ien c e a n d n o t a sta te m e n t a b o u t th e p re s u m e d p h o ­ n e tic s o f th e syllables in q u e stio n . F or m o re d e ta ile d E nglish e x p la n a tio n s o f th e kootsu d istin c tio n see U n g e r 1977, L ange 1973, a n d M artin 1987, 49 -8 3 . 10

1.1. -Ri in the Nara and H eian Periods

is dubious. A m ong Jap a n e se scholars, however, th e sta n d a rd th eo ry o f the origin o f-ri describes it as re su ltin g from a co m p o u n d o f th e -i- ren ’yokei o r conjunctive stem o f th e yodan verbs with the existential verb ari. If it is in d eed possible to d e te rm in e th e origin o f a suffix at a d istance o f well over a th o u sa n d years, this analysis seem s as good as any, a n d th e s u p p o rt­ ing evidence is persuasive. First a fco-type -e- is exactly w hat we w ould ex­ p ect from -i- + a. S econd, -ri belongs to th e so-called ra-gyo henkaku o r rco lu m n co n ju g atio n , the conjugational class to w hich ari belongs. A ddi­ tionally, -ri c a n n o t be suffixed e ith e r to ari o r to any o f its p o lite synonym s such as faberi o r safurafu. T he eastern d ialect form s, w hich e n d in -ari in ­ stead o f -eri, p rovide fu rth e r evidence. T hey m ay be relics o f th e vowel­ c o n tra ctin g p e rio d o f proto-Japanese, in w hich vowel + vowel sequences across m o rp h e m e b o u n d arie s d e le te d the first vowel (U n g e r 1977, 41), so th at verb + -i- + ari w ould yield verb + -ari. W ith such evidence, it is no w o n d e r th a t a p p a re n tly th e only d isse n tin g voice is th a t o f F u k u d a Yoshisuke, w hom Sato Sadayoshi (1970, 50) m en tio n s as suggesting th a t the trad itio n al analysis o f im perative stem meireikei + -ri is also th e h isto ri­ cally c o rre c t o ne. We do n o t know how th e pre-N ara Jap a n ese analyzed th e ir language, if at all, b u t th e term meireikei fo r the im perative stem is o f relatively re c e n t origin, an d the knowledge that the im perative and concessive (izenkei) stems of the quadrigrade {yodan) verbs were no t always identical dates only from the early p art o f the tw endeth century. T herefore the meireikei + -ri analysis is, as m ost Jap an ese scholars realize, m erely a descripdve convenience. It is generally believed th a t in th e N ara p e rio d , -ri co u ld be affixed only to yodan verbs, to su ‘d o ,’ a n d possibly to ku ‘c o m e ’ a n d kiru ‘w ear.’ H ashim oto Shiro (1969b, 139) offers a possible exam ple with kiru from the M a n ’yoshu. W aga tabi fa fisasiku arasi kono a ga keru ( $ ftM S ) im o g a k o ro m o no kiru ‘wear’ + ri

ak ad u k u m ireba. (#3667) “W hen I see th a t th e g a rm e n t from my lover, w hich I am w ea rin g , has b eco m e soiled, [I know th at] my jo u rn e y is lo n g an d w ild.”

O no Susum u et al. (1974, 1434) suggest th a t the form s w ith ka-gyo henkaku (k-root co n ju g atio n ) a n d ichidan (m o n o g ra d e) verbs d ie d o u t because th e verbal ro o t was u n reco g n izab le in th e -ri form . O no also of­ fers a th eo ry ab o u t why -ri is n o t attested in the nidan (b ig rad e) o r the nagyd henkaku (n -ro o t co n ju g atio n ) verbs sinu ‘d ie ’ a n d inu ‘go away.’ H e speculates th a t th e sem antics o f sinu a n d inu, b o th o f w hich d escrib e a sort o f passing from the scene, do n o t allow a stative o r resu ltad v e suffix. H e neglects to a c c o u n t fo r the very com m on m o d e rn form s shinde iru ‘has died, is d e a d ,’ a n d itte iru ‘has g o n e ,’ w hich w ould seem to be th e p resen tday equivalents o f *sineri a n d *ineri, respectively. 11

1. The Meanings o f the Past and Perfective Suffixes

O n o ’s e x p lan a tio n c o n c e rn in g the nidan (bigrade) verbs is p h o n o lo g i­ cal. H e starts fro m th e fact th a t the ren’yokei (conjunctive) stem s o f these verbs all e n d e d in otsu syllables (e.g. okiy-