Paper short abstract:

The notation of Romanized Japanese in 16th and 17th centuries is mainly in Portuguese style, but some examples in manuscripts show the influence of other languages. I will show the multilingual process of Japanese Romanization using the examples of Nihon Ōkokuki, a Spanish text by Ávila Girón.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation, I will describe the multilingual process of Romanization of Japanese in the Kirishitan documents in Late Middle Japanese.

In documents written by Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Romanization of Japanese vocabulary follows the Portuguese style Romanization devised by the Jesuits, regardless of whether the main text is written in Portuguese or not. This is evidenced not only by Jesuit texts, but also by the Dominican’s prints.

However, in manuscript documents, not only the Portuguese style notation is used, but there are also examples of notation influenced by the language of the main text. For example, both Portuguese style and English style notation are used in the manuscript text by Englishman John Saris (1579/80-1643). Similarly, in the Relación del Reino de Nippon (Nihon Ōkokuki) by Bernardino de Ávila Girón (?-1619?), the Romanization of Japanese vocabulary is based on the Portuguese style, but partially influenced by Spanish. This is probably because the main text is written in Spanish.

Nevertheless, among the extant manuscripts of Relación del Reino de Nippon, only the copy in the Jesuit Archives in Rome (ARSI), which is annotated by the Jesuit priest Pedro Morejon, shows no Spanish influence in the Romanized Japanese. It can be assumed that the Jesuits corrected the notation of Romanized Japanese from the Spanish-influenced style to the “normative” Portuguese style.

In general, the notation of Romanized Japanese in the Kirishitan documents is treated as material that reflects the phonology of Late Middle Japanese. However, especially in manuscript material, the language of the text and the language used by the author can affect the notation. Furthermore, we must consider the modification of notation due to the Jesuits’ normative consciousness.