Classical Japanese

All you want to know about Classical Japanese

The Classical Japanese language (Japanese: 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 became in widespread use including major newspapers, but many of 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

Orthography

See historical kana usage.

Grammar

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2008) 


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

See also

External links

Wikimedia Incubator
Wikimedia Incubator
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Japanese_language"

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