Online Workshop from Kyoto

Exploring Language Diversity in Japan
How Philological and Linguistic Analysis Can Work Together Japan's
--IN MEMORY OF ALEXANDER VOVIN--

October 22, 2022
16:00–19:30 JST


Japan's
ecological variety, with no less than six different climatic zones,
seems to parallel the panoply of different languages and dialects that
have been attested in the Japanese archipelago. In addition to standard
Japanese and its dialects, there exist other Japonic languages such as
Ryūkyūan and Hachijō, as well as non-Japonic varieties represented by
Ainu, Orok, and Nivkh.

Information on such linguistic diversity
was recorded in a number of written sources, such as the Man’yōshū and
Omoro sōshi, among others. In addition, foreign observers also provided
insightful evidence on languages spoken within present-day Japanese
territory. Identifying with precision what languages were represented in
the written sources is not an easy task, but in most cases the
combination of a philological approach and the tools of historical
linguistics might shed some light on the nature of the languages in
question. Analyzing specific cases by researchers who focus on different
sources will help to reveal how the careful coupling of these two
approaches might prove rewarding, without denying the importance of
fieldwork and synchronic studies.

Centered on the seminal work of
Alexander Vovin (1961–2022), the workshop intends to show how this
combination could be possible in practice. Professor Vovin had been
involved in its planning from the start, and intended to contribute with
a keynote speech. His untimely passing prevented us from including his
contribution. This initiative will also be an homage to the memory of
Alexander Vovin and his legacy by a number of scholars who had been
working in close contact with him or with his style of scholarship as a
source of inspiration.

PROGRAM
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CQS73K4tOVSg6ghpDMZktSZI2h1sg0H_/view?usp=sharing


Zoom meeting ID: 879 7711 4958

Italian School of East Asian Studies
École française d'Extrême-Orient