PORTUGUESE MISSIONARIES’ CONTRIBUTION TO JAPANESE LINGUISTICS: ON JOÃO RODRIGUES AND THE LINGUISTIC OUTLINE IN THE FIRST JAPANESE GRAMMAR ARTE DA LINGOA DE IAPAM葡萄牙傳教士對日語語言學的貢獻：陸若漢和第一本日語文法《日本大文典》中的語言學概要
This article examines the role of Portuguese missionaries in shaping linguistic knowledge of Japanese, focusing on João Rodrigues and the "linguistic outline" presented in *Arte da Lingoa de Iapam* (1608). The central thesis holds that Rodrigues' grammatical production must be understood as an instr...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2011
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40039/3136 |
| Summary: | This article examines the role of Portuguese missionaries in shaping linguistic knowledge of Japanese, focusing on João Rodrigues and the "linguistic outline" presented in *Arte da Lingoa de Iapam* (1608). The central thesis holds that Rodrigues' grammatical production must be understood as an instrument of intellectual mediation between Western linguistic theories and the systematic description of Japanese, situated within a historical context marked by intense Luso-Japanese cultural exchange in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Methodologically, the study undertakes a historiographical reading of the work's compilation process, correlating Rodrigues' formative trajectory (Jesuit education in Latin and the humanities, contact with internal translation networks within the Society, and everyday language learning) with the analytical and classificatory choices visible in the *Arte*. The analysis identifies how Rodrigues applies, adapts, and redefines categories derived from European traditions—particularly Latin grammars and European models—to address aspects where the "Latin" framework proved insufficient, simultaneously pursuing the "perfect expression" in Japanese and the explanation of its origin and development.
The study concludes that Jesuit linguistics, by describing Japanese in a formal and transmissible manner, contributed to the transnational circulation of knowledge and to the establishment of a European "Japanological" horizon, anticipating debates on method, description, and linguistic comparison. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |