Lo sviluppo delle grammatiche descrittive del giapponese moderno nell’era Meiji

Descriptive studies of modern Japanese grammar began during the Meiji period and the publication of books to be used for didactic and normative purposes began in the late 19th and early 20th century. Until then, the focus of the ‘study’ of the Japanese language was on the analysis of the so-called ‘classical language’, whereas the need for a description of the contemporary language had not been felt. In this study, we examine a small selection of Japanese grammars of the time, analysing the organisation of the descriptions and the main terminological and conceptual innovations. While some of these grammars seem to have been conceived with what today we would call applied linguistics for language teaching purposes, others are true descriptive grammars – sometimes with normative intentions – which influenced the development of Japanese linguistics in later periods.