A Historical Study on Conditional Expressions from the Perspective of the Interaction of Regions and Registers

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This paper discusses the mechanism of transitions observed in the usage of conditional expressions in the Japanese language from ancient times to the present time, as well as the factors that promoted such transitions. The paper also points out the necessity to take into account the fact that the Kamigata dialect changed its position from a central language to a regional one, while the Edo/Tokyo dialect changed its position from a regional language to a central one in order to explain the changes in the usage of conditional expressions from the second half of the Edo period onward. Furthermore, the study presents the prospect that the changes observed in the grammatical history of colloquial Japanese, especially those made during the Meiji period and afterward, might have been affected by the existence of a standard language.