ABSTRACT

What did eighth-century Japanese sound like? How does one decode its complex script? This book provides the definitive answers to these questions using an unprecedented range of data from the past and the present.

chapter 1|4 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|38 pages

Early Transcriptions of Japanese

chapter 3|23 pages

Previous Research on Phonograms

chapter 4|23 pages

Japanese Phonology Through Time

chapter 5|69 pages

Old Chinese, Middle Chinese, and Sinoxenic

chapter 6|6 pages

Goals and Methodology

chapter 8|67 pages

The Reconstruction of Old Japanese Vowels

chapter 9|8 pages

Conclusion