Classical Japanese language

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The Classical Japanese language (文語, bungo^?) is the literary form of the Japanese language that was the standard until the early Shōwa period. It is based on Late Old Japanese, the language as spoken during the Heian era, but exhibits some later influences. Its use started to decline during the late Meiji period when novelists started writing their works in the spoken form. Eventually, the spoken style came into widespread use, including in major newspapers, but many official documents were still written in the old style. After World War II, most documents switched to the spoken style, although the classical style continues to be used in traditional genres such as haiku. Old laws are also left in the classical style unless fully revised.

Contents 1 Orthography 2 Grammar 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Orthography

[edit] Grammar

This section requires expansion.

とう だい もと くら
灯台下暗し The particle は is omitted more often than in the spoken style.

をんな　 さんがい 　　いへ
女は三界に家なし

[edit] See also

• Literary language

[edit] External links

• Online Classical Japanese Dictionary at Tangorin.com
• Bungo Nyūmon: A Brief Introduction to Classical Japanese
• Classical-Japanese.net
• Bibliography of premodern Japanese texts and translations
• Bart. "Book Review: A Grammar of Classical Japanese by Akira Komai," Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Winter, 1979), pp. 501-504.
• Dictionaries for Classical Japanese

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