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Late Middle Japanese
Late Middle Japanese
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Late Middle Japanese
日本語
RegionJapan
EraEvolved into Early Modern Japanese in the 17th century
Japonic
Early forms
Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
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Late Middle Japanese (中世日本語, chūsei nihongo) was a stage of the Japanese language following Early Middle Japanese and preceding Early Modern Japanese.[1] It was a period of transition in which the language shed many of its archaic features and became closer to its modern form.

The period spanned roughly 500 years from the 12th century to the 16th century and is itself customarily divided into Early and Late periods.[2] Politically, the first half of Late Middle Japanese was the end of the Heian period, known as Insei and the Kamakura period. The second half of Late Middle Japanese was the Muromachi period.

Background

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The late 12th century was a time of transition from the aristocratic society of nobles in the Heian period to the feudal society of the warrior class. Accompanying that change, the nation's political center temporarily transitioned from historical Kyoto to Kanto alongside the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. This move resulted in a significant blend between the dialects of Kyoto and Kanto, shaping the language of the time.

During this period, various Buddhist movements found their footing, leading to an overall increase in literacy.[3]

In the mid-16th century, Portuguese Christian missionaries arrived in Japan. Alongside Western technology and philosophy, the Portuguese brought various loanwords to the Japanese language.[4]

In an attempt to spread Christianity among the locals, many Portuguese missionaries studied Japanese, producing a number of dictionaries and linguistic grammars such as the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam and Nippo Jisho, in addition to producing translations of Japanese literary works. Today, these materials serve a vital role in the study of medieval Japanese language.

Phonology

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Vowels

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There were five vowels: /i, e, a, o, u/.

  • /i/: [i]
  • /e/: [je], [e]?
  • /a/: [a]
  • /o/: [wo], [o]?
  • /u/: [u]

Syllable-initially, /e/ and /o/ were realized with semivowels [j] and [w], respectively, a result of earlier mergers inherited from Early Middle Japanese.[5]: 323  According to Nakata (1972), it is unclear how they were realized when they were preceded by a consonant.[6][clarification needed] Frellesvig (2010) argues that consonants were always palatalized before /i, e/, as in Early Middle Japanese.[5]: 322–323 

In addition, there were two types of long o, [ɔː] and [oː], known respectively in Japanese as kaion (開音; lit. 'open sound')[7] and gōon (合音; lit. 'closed sound').[8] The vowel sequence /au/ contracted into [ɔː], and /ou/ and /eu/ contracted into [oː] and [joː], respectively:[9]

  • /ɸayaku/ "quickly" > /ɸayau/: [ɸajaku] > [ɸajau] > [ɸajɔː]
  • /omou/ "think": [womou] > [womoː]

Consonants

[edit]

Late Middle Japanese had the following consonants:

Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
Plosive p  b t  d     k  ɡ  
Affricate   t͡s  d͡z t͡ɕ  d͡ʑ      
Nasal m n       ɴ
Fricative ɸ s  z ɕ  ʑ      
Liquid     r      
Approximant       j w  

In addition were two phonemes: /N/ and /Q/. "Before a pause, /N/ is a uvular [ɴ]; it assimilates to the place of articulation of a following stop, affricate, or nasal." "/Q/ becomes a phonetic copy of a following obstruent."[10]

  • /s, z/, /t, d/, /n/, /h, b/, /p/, /m/, and /r/ could be palatalized.

Labialized consonants /kw, gw/ appeared during Early Middle Japanese. Labialized consonants before -i and -e merged with their non-labial counterparts.[11] Specifically:

  • /kwi/ > /ki/
  • /gwi/ > /gi/
  • /kwe/ > /ke/
  • /gwe/ > /ge/

The distinction between /ka/ and /kwa/ remained.

The sibilants /s, z/ were palatalized before /i/ and /e/ and had the following distribution:[12]

  • /sa, za/: [sa, za]
  • /si, zi/: [ɕi, ʑi]
  • /su, zu/: [su, zu]
  • /se, ze/: [ɕe, ʑe]
  • /so, zo/: [so, zo]

João Rodrigues noted in Arte da Lingoa de Iapam that the eastern dialects were known for realizing /se/ as [se], rather than [ɕe].[13][14] Note that /se, ze/ has become [se, ze] in Modern Japanese but retained [ɕi, ʑi] for /si, zi/.

/t/ and /d/ were distinguished from the sibilants in all positions but undergo affrication before /i, u/:

  • /ti, di/: [t͡ɕi, d͡ʑi]
  • /tu, du/: [tsu, dzu]

Prenasalization

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Voiced stops and fricatives were prenasalized:[15]

  • /g/: [ᵑɡ]
  • /z/: [ⁿz]
  • /d/: [ⁿd]
  • /b/: [ᵐb]

João Rodrigues made that observation in Arte da Lingoa de Iapam. In addition, the Korean text Ch'ŏphae sinŏ "spelled [...] b, d, z, g with the Hangul letter sequences -mp-, -nt-, -nz-, -ngk-",[12] indicating prenasalization.

The effects of prenasalization may also be seen in the transcription of words such as muma < /uma/ "horse" and mube < /ube/ "truly".

/h/ and /p/

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While the proto-Japonic language contained *[p], by the Old Japanese stage, this had likely already lenited to [ɸ]. Late Middle Japanese reintroduced [p], which had a phonemic contrast with [ɸ] and was treated as a distinct phoneme.

In Early Modern Japanese, [ɸ] became [h]; in many dialects, [h] is still the modern form. [p] is found in mimetic words, such as pinpin and patto, and also occurs instead of h in loanwords from the Sinitic languages in two environments: after moraic /N/ (sanpai), and when geminated (Nippon).[16]

Medial /ɸ/ became [w] before /a/. Before all other vowels, it became silent:[17][18]

  • /-ɸa/: [wa]
  • /-ɸi/: [i]
  • /-ɸu/: [u]
  • /-ɸe/: [je]
  • /-ɸo/: [wo]

Glides

[edit]

/w/ had the following distribution:

  • /wa/: [wa]
  • /wi/: [i]
  • /we/: [je]
  • /wo/: [wo]

The prior merger between /o/ and /wo/ into [wo] during Early Middle Japanese continued into Late Middle Japanese, with /e/ and /we/ merging into [je] by the 12th century.

/j/ had the following distribution:

  • /ja/: [ja]
  • /ju/: [ju]
  • /je/: [je]
  • /jo/: [jo]

Various mergers, /e/, /we/ and /je/ made all realized as [je] and thus indistinguishable.

Syllable structure

[edit]

Traditionally, syllables were of (C)V structure and so there was no need to distinguish between syllables and morae. However, Chinese loanwords introduced a new type of sound that could end in -m, -n, or -t.[19][20][21][22] That structure is the syllable (C)V(C). The mora is based on the traditional (C)V structure.

The final syllables -m and -n were initially distinguished; but by the end of the Early period, both had merged into /N/.[23][24]

Medial gemination

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The final syllables -m, -n, -t before a vowel or a glide underwent gemination and became the consonant clusters -mm-, -nn-, and -tt-.[11][25][19]

-m > -mm-:

  • samwi > sammi "third rank"

-n > -nn-:

-t > -tt-:

  • set'in > settin 雪隠 "toilet"
  • konnitwa > konnitta "as for today"
  • but'on > button "blessing of Buddha"

Onbin

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Main article: Onbin

Onbin (音便; "euphony") are a type of sporadic sound changes and "were not automatic or exceptionless," [26] and their exact causes are still debated. They also appear in earlier stages of the language but were particularly prevalent throughout Late Middle Japanese and had a great effect on its verbal and adjectival morphology.

Verbs:

  • yom- "read": /jomite/ > /joNde/ [joɴde]
  • kuh- "eat": /kuɸite/ > /kuute/ [kuːte] :: /kuQte/ [kutte]

The kuh- example had two possible outcomes. The former was particular of the western dialects, and the latter was particular of the eastern dialects.[27]

Adjectives:

  • /ɸajaku/ "quickly" > /ɸajau/: [ɸajaku] > [ɸajau] > [ɸajɔː]
  • /kataki/ "hard" > /katai/ [katai]

In both words, the medial velar -k- became silent by elision.

Morphology

[edit]

A number of archaic grammatical forms were lost in this period, bringing the language closer to its modern form.

One of the most prominent developments was the replacement of the conclusive form by the attributive,[28] which has a number of effects:

  • It was instrumental in changing from bigrade to monograde verbs.[29]
  • It caused a chain of events in the two adjectival classes that eventually resulted in both merging into one.
  • It weakened the kakarimusubi [ja] system.
  • The verb ar- "be", which was once irregular, began to regularize as a quadrigrade.

Verbs

[edit]

Late Middle Japanese inherited all nine verbal conjugations from Early Middle Japanese:

Verb Class Irrealis Adverbial Conclusive Attributive Realis Imperative
Quadrigrade -a -i -u -u -e -e
Upper Monograde -i -i -iru -iru -ire -i(yo)
Upper Bigrade -i -i -u -uru -ure -i(yo)
Lower Monograde -e -e -eru -eru -ere -e(yo)
Lower Bigrade -e -e -u -uru -ure -e(yo)
K-irregular -o -i -u -uru -ure -o
S-irregular -e -i -u -uru -ure -e(yo)
N-irregular -a -i -u -uru -ure -e
R-irregular -a -i -i -u -e -e

However, throughout the period, bigrade verbs gradually changed into monogrades. The process was completed by Early Modern Japanese, partly a result of the merger of the conclusive and attributive forms.[29]

Adjectives

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There were two types of adjectives: regular adjectives and adjectival nouns.

Regular adjectives

[edit]

The regular adjective was traditionally subdivided into two types: those whose adverbial form ends in -ku and those whose ends in –siku:[30]

Adjective Class Irrealis Adverbial Conclusive Attributive Realis Imperative Notes
-ku   -ku -si -ki      
  -u -ki -i     Early
  -u -i -i     Late
-kara -kari   -karu -kere -kare  
-siku   -siku -si -siki      
  -siu -sisi -sii     Early
  -siu -sii -sii     Late
-sikara -sikari   -sikaru -sikere -sikare  

There were three notable changes that eventually collapsed the two-way distinction into one:

  • In Early Middle Japanese, the -siku conclusive develops a -sisi form.
  • The conclusive and attributive forms merged.
  • In Late Middle Japanese, adjectival suffix -ki was reduced to -i

While the grammatical distinction between the two classes has disappeared, the historic distinction was used to explain certain present forms of -shii adjectives, notably the euphonic changes (音便) that occur in polite form of adjectives (when they are followed by ござる gozaru 'to be' or 存じる zonjiru 'to know').

Adjectival nouns

[edit]

There were two classes of adjectival nouns inherited from Early Middle Japanese: -nar and -tar.

Type Irrealis Adverbial Conclusive Attributive Realis Imperative Notes
Nar- -nara -nari
-ni 		-nari -naru
-na 		-nare   Early
-nara -ni
-de 		-dya
-na 		-naru
-na
-no 		-nare   Late
Tar-   -to -tari -taru     Early
  -to   -taru     Late

The most prominent development was the reduction of attributive -naru to -na.[31] When the conclusive and attributive merged, they both share the new -na. The tar- type becomes more archaic and was continually reduced in distribution. In Modern Japanese, a few naru-adjectives and taru-adjectives remain as fossils.

Hypothetical

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The realis base developed into the hypothetical.[32] The realis described something that had already occurred. That usage began to fade and resulted in the use of the hypothetical for events that have not already occurred. Note that Modern Japanese has only a hypothetical and has lost this realis base.

Imperative

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The imperative traditionally ended either with no suffix or with -yo. During Late Middle Japanese, -i was attached to lower bigrade, k-irregular, and s-irregular verbs:[33]

  • kure + i: kurei "give me"
  • ko + i: koi "come"
  • se + i: sei "do"

João Rodrigues Tçuzu noted in Arte da Lingoa de Iapam that -yo could be replaced with -ro, as in miyo > miro "look."[34] Note that the eastern dialects of Old Japanese in the 8th century also contained the -ro imperative, which is the standard imperative in Modern Japanese.

Tense and aspect

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The tense and aspect systems underwent radical changes. The perfective n-, t-, and r- and the past k-/s- and ker- became obsolete and were replaced by tar- which developed from the perfective aspect into a common past tense. It eventually became ta-, the modern past tense.[35]

Particles

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The new case particle de was developed from ni te.[36]

The conjectured suffix -mu underwent a number of phonological changes: mu > m > N > ũ. Combining with the vowel from the irrealis base to which it attached, it then became a long vowel, sometimes with -y- preceding it, forming the basis of the -ō/-yō volitional form.

See also

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Notes

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Late Middle Japanese

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Late Middle Japanese (LMJ) is a historical stage of the Japanese language spanning approximately 1185 to 1600 CE, encompassing the Kamakura (1185–1333) and Muromachi (1336–1573) periods, and serving as a transitional phase between Early Middle Japanese and Early Modern Japanese. This era marked profound linguistic evolution, including phonological simplifications such as the loss of the glide /w/ before /i/ and /e/, the fricativization of initial /p/ to /h/ (e.g., Old Japanese pito > LMJ hito 'person'), and monophthongization of diphthongs like /au/ to /oː/, which contributed to a sound system increasingly resembling that of Modern Japanese. Morphologically, LMJ saw the decline of classical inflections, such as the exclamatory and conclusive verb forms, alongside the emergence of new auxiliaries like -sase- for causatives, -rare- for passives, and -(a)na- for negatives, leading to a more regularized verbal system with obligatory tense marking (e.g., non-past kaku vs. past kaita 'write'). Syntactically, key developments included the loss of the focus-marking kakari-musubi construction, the expanded role of the nominalizer no in adnominal clauses (e.g., taberu no 'the act of eating'), and a shift toward a tense-based grammar with increased use of case particles like nominative ga, which began differentiating from genitive functions. The lexicon of LMJ expanded notably through Sino-Japanese (SJ) borrowings, introducing verbal nouns and adjectival stems (e.g., sauyaku 'herbal medicine', nikki 'diary') that integrated into native morphology via light verb constructions like o-verb-suru for honorifics. Early European loanwords from also appeared in late LMJ Christian materials, influencing terms in religion and . Writing practices evolved with the adoption of kanji-kana majiribun, a mixed script of and phonetic that better represented vernacular speech, contrasting with the fossilized (bungo) used in formal prose. Dialectal influences, particularly from eastern varieties, began to shape standardization, while prosodic features like word-accent patterns (e.g., high-low-low tones) persisted with modifications. Primary sources for LMJ include setsuwa collections like Konjaku monogatari-shū (early 12th century, transitional) and Uji shūi monogatari (13th century), which preserve vernacular dialogue; drama scripts and poetry from the Muromachi era; and late-period texts such as Jesuit missionary writings (e.g., Feiqe monogatari, 1590s), which document spoken forms through . These materials reveal a language adapting to social upheavals, including feudal warfare and cultural exchanges, ultimately laying the groundwork for the grammatical stability of Modern Japanese.

Introduction

Definition and Time Period

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ) represents the later phase of the Middle Japanese period in the historical development of the , succeeding (EMJ, ca. 800–1200) and preceding Early Modern Japanese (ca. 1600 onward). Scholarly dates for LMJ vary slightly, with some starting at ~1185 CE ( onset) and others at 1200 CE. It is defined by significant grammatical and syntactic innovations that bridged archaic structures with features closer to modern forms, including the reduction of genitive subject marking in favor of nominative particles across clause types, and the loss of certain mono-clausal focus constructions inherited from . These changes reflect a period of consolidation where many EMJ innovations stabilized, while proto-modern traits such as obligatory tense inflections on verbs emerged, marking the erosion of earlier nominalizing verb forms. The chronological boundaries of LMJ are generally set from approximately 1200 to 1600 CE, encompassing a transformative era in Japanese . This timeframe aligns closely with the (1185–1333), the (1336–1573), and the initial phase of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573–1603). These alignments highlight LMJ's correspondence to late medieval , a time when linguistic evidence from diverse genres—beyond elite courtly texts—became more abundant. LMJ's transitional character is evident in its role as a linguistic pivot, where the loss of archaic features like complex predicate systems from and EMJ gave way to streamlined structures anticipating modern usage. This evolution occurred amid feudal societal shifts, including the rise of warrior governance, which facilitated the broader dissemination of the language from aristocratic court circles to and regional elites, influencing its and stylistic diversity.

Distinction from Early and Late Stages

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, approximately 1200–1600) differs from (EMJ, 800–1200) in significant morphological and phonological innovations that mark a transition toward greater simplification and alignment with spoken forms. A key development in LMJ is the merger of the adnominal (attributive) and conclusive verb forms, which were distinct in EMJ to indicate syntactic roles such as modification versus sentence-ending. This merger, occurring likely by the mid-LMJ period, streamlined verb inflections and facilitated more fluid clause chaining in vernacular texts. Additionally, LMJ saw the loss of distinctions among bigrade verbs (including upper and lower subtypes), reducing the complexity of conjugation classes that characterized EMJ's more elaborate system. In comparison to Early Modern Japanese (EMJpn, post-1600), LMJ preserves archaic elements that were reformed or lost in the later period, reflecting its role as an intermediary stage. LMJ maintains four primary verb conjugations (quadrigrade, upper bigrade, lower bigrade, and irregular), whereas Early Modern Japanese standardized the ren'yōkei (continuative) form as the basis for most inflections, effectively merging bigrade classes into a single ichidan pattern. Orthographically, LMJ adheres to the historical system, which preserved etymological spellings from earlier periods (e.g., rendering modern /e/ as ), in contrast to Early Modern developments that began aligning writing more closely with contemporary pronunciation. Overall, LMJ functions as a pivotal bridge in Japanese language evolution, bridging the formal, Sino-influenced structures of EMJ with the vernacular standardization of Early Modern Japanese. This period witnessed accelerating vernacularization, as seen in literary genres like drama and kana-based narratives that increasingly mirrored colloquial speech rather than classical norms. Concurrently, regional dialects began to emerge more prominently, influenced by sociopolitical fragmentation during the and Muromachi eras, setting the stage for the dialectal diversity that characterized Early Modern variations. These shifts underscore LMJ's unique profile as a of consolidation and diversification.

Historical and Sociolinguistic Background

Chronological Periods

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ) encompasses the stage of the from approximately 1185 to 1600 CE, aligning with significant political and cultural shifts in Japanese . This period marks the transition from court-centered aristocratic society to one influenced by the rising warrior class and later by feudal unification efforts. While some classifications extend the onset to the late Insei subperiod of the Heian era (late ), the core timeframe begins in the early . The initial emergence of LMJ features is observed in the Late Heian Insei period (late 12th century), characterized by courtly literature that reflects the lingering elegance of Heian aesthetics amid political instability from cloistered rule. Works from this transitional phase, such as compilations of tales and poetry, illustrate the language's evolution toward more narrative complexity. During the (1185–1333), LMJ developed amid the rise of the warrior class and the establishment of the first shogunate, influencing literary styles toward epic storytelling. This era's language appears prominently in epic tales like the Heike Monogatari, which recounts the and blends historical narrative with dramatic recitation. The Muromachi period (1336–1573) saw LMJ flourish with the patronage of Ashikaga shoguns, fostering artistic forms like linked verse (renga) and Noh drama, which incorporated Zen Buddhist elements into poetic and theatrical expression. These genres, including linked poetry sequences and masked plays by authors like Zeami, highlight the period's emphasis on subtlety and impermanence. In the early Azuchi-Momoyama period (late 16th century), LMJ served as a prelude to national unification under warlords like Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, accompanied by the advent of print culture through woodblock publications. This phase also witnessed brief Portuguese contact via Jesuit missionaries, introducing Christian texts that documented the language.

Cultural and Linguistic Influences

The transition from the aristocratic court culture of the to the feudal warrior society during the (1185–1333) significantly influenced the , promoting the use of vernacular forms over classical Chinese-inspired styles. This shift was driven by the rise of the class, which favored practical, spoken Japanese in legal codes like the Goseibai Shikimoku, written in a Japanized form of that incorporated native grammar and vocabulary, making it more accessible to non-aristocrats. Buddhist movements, particularly Pure Land and sects, flourished in the and Muromachi periods (1185–1573), broadening literacy among commoners through accessible religious practices. emphasized simple faith and nembutsu chants in vernacular Late Middle Japanese, allowing laypeople to engage with sutras without elite education, while sermons and koans promoted oral transmission of teachings that integrated everyday speech patterns. These developments democratized language use, fostering a cultural environment where spoken and written forms converged for broader societal participation. Political decentralization during the feudal era led to emerging regional dialectal variations, notably between the eastern region and the western area, reflecting isolated power centers and limited mobility. The dialect, centered in the east and ancestral to modern speech, developed distinct intonations and simplifications compared to the more conservative dialect (Kyō-kotoba), which retained influences from its status as the imperial cultural hub with varied conjugations and pitch patterns. These differences arose from feudal fragmentation, where local lords enforced regional , resulting in mutually intelligible but phonologically and lexically diverse forms of Late Middle Japanese. In the late 16th century, Portuguese missionaries arrived during Japan's , introducing and initiating the first significant European linguistic contact, which influenced Late Middle Japanese through loanwords and descriptive grammars. Figures like St. Francis Xavier established missions from 1549 onward, leading to the compilation of works such as João Rodrigues's Arte da Lingoa de Iapam (1604–1608), the earliest systematic grammar of Japanese, which documented syntax, honorifics, and vocabulary using Latin models and drew on texts like the Heike Monogatari. This contact not only spread Christian terminology but also advanced metalinguistic awareness, laying groundwork for later systems.

Sources and Orthography

Primary Written Sources

The primary written sources for Late Middle Japanese (c. 1200–1600) consist of a range of literary, historical, and religious texts that document the language's evolution during the and Muromachi periods. These works, primarily composed in script with varying degrees of integration, provide essential evidence for phonological shifts, morphological developments, and syntactic patterns characteristic of the era. Key texts reflect both courtly and warrior influences, capturing the transition from classical to more vernacular styles. Prose works from the early phase include setsuwa collections such as the Uji shūi monogatari (early 13th century), which preserves vernacular dialogue in tales of the supernatural and everyday life, alongside the Hōjōki (1212), authored by the poet and recluse Kamo no Chōmei, which meditates on impermanence amid natural disasters and social upheaval, offering insights into contemporary vocabulary and prose rhythm. Later prose is exemplified by the Tsurezuregusa (c. 1330–1332), a collection of essays by the monk Yoshida Kenkō, known for its anecdotal style and reflections on aesthetics and transience, preserving idiomatic expressions of the mid-Muromachi period. Epic and historical narratives form another major corpus, with the Heike Monogatari (late 13th century), an anonymous epic recounting the between the Taira and Minamoto clans, serving as a foundational source for late medieval narrative language and oral-derived phrasing. The Taiheiki (14th century), also anonymous and chronicling the Nanboku-chō conflicts, extends this tradition through its detailed battle accounts and political commentary, illustrating regional dialectal influences in military prose. Poetic and dramatic sources highlight collaborative and performative genres. Renga collections, such as the Tsukubashū (1356), compiled under the patronage of Nijō Yoshimoto, represent the pinnacle of linked-verse poetry, with over 2,000 verses demonstrating syllable-based linking and seasonal imagery in vernacular form. Noh plays by Zeami Motokiyo (c. 1363–1443), including works like Yuya and Aoi no Ue, embody the era's theatrical language, blending poetic chants (yojō) and prose dialogue to convey supernatural themes and emotional depth. Dictionaries and grammars from the transitional late phase include Jesuit missionary texts, notably the Feiqe monogatari (1592), an early printed adaptation of the Heike monogatari in mixed kanji-kana script, and the Nippo Jisho (1603–1604), a Japanese-Portuguese dictionary compiled by João Rodrigues and others, which records approximately 30,000 entries reflecting Azuchi-Momoyama-era phonology and lexicon, including loanwords and everyday terms. These sources, often employing hiragana and katakana for phonetic accuracy, bridge Late Middle and Early Modern Japanese.

Development of Kana and Writing Conventions

During the Late Middle Japanese period (c. 1185–1600), which encompasses the Muromachi era (1336–1573), hiragana and katakana had already evolved from man'yōgana, the earlier phonetic use of Chinese characters, with their forms largely stabilized since the Earlier Middle Japanese period. Hiragana developed from cursive, grass-script versions of man'yōgana, while katakana arose from abbreviated, angular forms often used in glosses for classical Chinese texts (kanbun kundoku). By the Muromachi period, the kana system comprised 48 basic signs corresponding to the gojūon (fifty sounds) arrangement, minus two obsolete ones, providing a standardized phonographic script for native words and grammatical elements. Historical kana orthography, or rekishi-teki kana-zukai, dominated writing conventions in this era, employing a conservative etymological spelling that preserved Earlier Middle Japanese pronunciations rather than contemporary spoken forms. This approach retained distinctions such as "ye" for the vowel /e/ and the high vowel /wi/, even as mergers like /ye/ and /e/ had occurred in speech by around 950, reflecting a deliberate link to classical literary traditions from the 13th century onward. Such orthography ensured continuity in textual transmission, prioritizing aesthetic and historical fidelity over phonetic accuracy. Texts from Late Middle Japanese typically employed a mixed script known as kanji-kana majiribun, where served logographically for like nouns and verbs, while provided phonographic notation for grammatical particles, inflections, and function words. This convention, established since the mid-Heian period but refined in Muromachi , saw an increasing proportion of usage, particularly in and dramatic works, to better capture colloquial expressions and enhance for non-elite audiences. Prenasalized consonants, such as those in mediae like /b, d, g/, were represented phonetically in , often with nasality indicated through contextual harmony or doubled forms in some annotations. Writing conventions exhibited notable regional and genre-based variations, with eastern dialects (e.g., Kantō) showing more consonantal tendencies in spelling compared to western (Kansai) vocalic preferences, as seen in administrative texts (shōmono). In genres like , scripts (utaibon) employed fuller phonetic representations using historical to support performance recitation, often with cursive kuzushiji and vermillion annotations for choreography. Conversely, poetry, including and linked verse, favored abbreviated forms and conservative spellings to evoke classical elegance, minimizing for rhythmic and allusive purposes. These differences highlight how orthographic choices adapted to functional needs across literary and regional contexts.

Phonology

Vowel System

The vowel system of Late Middle Japanese (LMJ) consisted of five short monophthongal vowels: /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, and /u/. This inventory, inherited from and , remained stable throughout the LMJ period (c. 1200–1600), with no major qualitative shifts occurring within it. The realizations of /e/ and /o/ typically involved onglide insertions, resulting in [je] (or [je]) and [wo] (or [wo]), respectively, as seen in forms like e- 'to get' pronounced [je] and oto 'sound' as [wodo]. These diphthongal realizations persisted from earlier stages and reflected a general tendency for mid vowels to develop palatal or labial onglides in certain phonetic environments. Diphthongs in LMJ underwent systematic reductions to monophthongs, a process largely completed by this period and contributing to the stabilization of the vowel inventory. For instance, /ai/ reduced to /e/, as in /pirai/ > /pirɛ/ > /here/ 'flat'; /au/ to /ɔː/, yielding /kau/ > /kɔː/ 'buy'; /oi/ to /e/, evident in contractions like /ko'i-/ > /koi-/ > /ke-/ (with further merger to /i/ in some cases, e.g., /kopwi/ 'tree' > /ki/); and /eu/ to /joː/, as in /peu/ > /pyoo/. Related reductions included /iu/ > /juː/ and /ou/ > /oː/, collectively known as chōonka (long vowel formation), which introduced or reinforced long vowels without altering the core five-vowel system. These changes primarily arose from syllable contractions and Sino-Japanese loanword adaptations, marking a transition toward the modern vowel phonology. Note that /ɔː/ from /au/ was distinct from /oː/ from /ou/ in LMJ, with later merger in Early Modern Japanese. Vowel length distinctions between short and long forms (e.g., /a/ vs. /aː/) were phonemically established in LMJ, inherited from but further stabilized through the aforementioned reductions and contractions of sequences like /Vu/. Long s were often transcribed with diacritics in sources and could occur in structures such as /CVV/, /CjVV/, or /CwVV/, distinguishing lexical items (e.g., /kyoː/ from Sino-Japanese influences). While no significant mergers or shifts affected the short qualities during LMJ itself, the period laid the groundwork for later developments, such as the eventual loss of distinction between /e/ and [je] in Early Modern Japanese.

Consonant System

The consonant inventory of Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600) consisted of stops, fricatives, nasals, and , reflecting ongoing shifts from while establishing patterns closer to Modern Japanese. The system was primarily obstruent-initial in syllables, with no phonemic contrasts in voicing for most stops except in prenasalized contexts, and allophones influenced by following vowels. Stops included the bilabial /p/, which had shifted to the fricative /ɸ/ (realized as in many contexts) primarily in initial positions by early LMJ, as seen in forms like hana 'flower' from Old Japanese /pana/, with /p/ reintroduced after moraic /Q/ or /N/ (e.g., /Qpa/ [ppa]) contrasting with /ɸ/. Further weakening to /h/ emerged toward the end of LMJ or in Early Modern Japanese. Alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ were retained, though /t/ assibilated to [tɕ] before /i/ (e.g., ti → [tɕi]) and /d/ to [dʑ] before /i/; medial /d/ often lost voicing by late LMJ. Velar stops /k/ and /g/ remained stable, with /g/ appearing as [ŋg] in prenasalized forms but simplifying over time. Fricatives comprised /s/ and /z/, where /s/ palatalized to [ɕ] before /i/ (e.g., si → [ɕi] 'poem') and /z/ realized as [dz] or , potentially [ʑ] before /i/ (e.g., zi 'character'). The fricative /h/ emerged prominently from the historical /p/, with allophones including in open syllables, [ç] before /i/, and [ɸ] before /u/ (e.g., hu [ɸu] 'ear'). Nasals were /m/, /n/, and /ŋ/, the latter deriving from historical velar nasalization or prenasalization of /k/-initial syllables (e.g., ŋga in compounds like kingo 'today'). /m/ and /n/ occurred freely in onset position, while /ŋ/ was allophonic, often surfacing medially before velars. The moraic nasal /N/ could assimilate to [m, n, ŋ, ɲ], as in sinobu [sinomɯ] 'to hide'. Approximants included /w/ and /j/, with /j/ functioning as a palatal glide triggering in preceding stops (e.g., kaj [kaʑ] ''). /w/ was restricted, occurring primarily after /u/ or in diphthongs like /awi/ → [aβi], but weakening and merging with /o/ or /u/ elsewhere (e.g., kwo → ko ''); /w/ was lost before /i/ and /e/ by around 1300. Prenasalization was an established feature for voiced stops and fricatives, particularly in compounds, where they were preceded by homorganic nasals (e.g., /mb/ in tamaboko '', /nd/ in yonda 'read', /ŋg/ in kingo), confirmed by Korean sources from the Chosŏn period such as han'geul transcriptions. This process, inherited from earlier stages, often resulted in nasalized vowels as an intermediate realization before full voicing assimilation, though it began to weaken in central dialects by late LMJ.

Syllable Structure and Gemination

In Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600), the syllable followed a predominantly moraic of (C)V(N), where C represents an optional onset (including glides /y/ or /w/), V a , and N an optional coda limited to the nasal /n/ or a geminate represented as /Q/. This maintained the open syllable core of CV as dominant, with closed syllables occurring only when the coda was /n/ (a moraic nasal) or /Q/ (a non-syllabic mora preceding certain obstruents), ensuring that most syllables ended in a or semivowel. For instance, native words typically adhered to CV like hana 'flower' (/hana/), while Sino-Japanese loanwords introduced limited codas such as /n/ in forms like hon 'book' (/hon/). Bound moraic elements like /Q/ and /n/ functioned prosodically to lengthen the following , contributing to the rhythmic without violating the language's aversion to complex codas. Gemination in LMJ primarily manifested medially as double consonants (/tt/, /kk/, /ss/, /pp/), realized through the mora /Q/ before voiceless obstruents /p, t, , s/, which doubled the following and extended the moraic unit. These geminates arose from processes such as or rendaku-influenced (known as renjō), where historical finals like /-t/ or contractions led to closure, as in taiset-ta 'important-TOP' (/taiset-ta/), transcribed with doubled tt. Examples include maccura 'very black' (/maQ-kura/), where /Q/ precedes /k/, creating a geminate that emphasizes duration and prosodic weight. Unlike initial positions, where no consonant clusters were permitted—maintaining simple onsets like /k/ or /t/—medial geminates provided a means to adapt , such as in ippō 'one direction' (/ippoː/), without introducing illicit syllable-initial clusters. Palatalized affricates like /tʃ/ (from /ti/) and /dʒ/ (from /di/) further simplified potential clusters, appearing as single onsets in syllables such as ti > chi in chikara 'power' (/tʃikara/). This syllable organization underscored LMJ's mora-timed rhythm, with geminates and nasals serving as heavy codas that distinguished prosodic units, though onbin sound changes occasionally altered geminate realizations in connected speech.

Sound Changes and Onbin

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, roughly 1200–1600) featured several key phonological innovations that built upon developments from Early Middle Japanese (EMJ), including systematic sound simplifications known as onbin (音便, "euphonic changes"), which facilitated smoother articulation in connected speech, particularly in compounds and inflected forms. One prominent aspect of onbin was the voicing of voiceless obstruents in the initial position of non-first elements in compounds, a process akin to rendaku, where /k/ became /g/, /s/ became /z/, /t/ became /d/, and /h/ became /b/ intervocalically; for instance, the compound sakura + pana ("cherry blossom + flower") yielded sakurabana ("cherry blossom"). This voicing was not automatic but conditioned by prosodic factors, such as the absence of an initial voiced obstruent within the compound element (per Lyman's Law), and it stabilized in LMJ, influencing lexical compounding across genres like poetry and prose. The shift of initial /p/ to /ɸ/ (realized as ) was complete by early LMJ, with /p/ reintroduced after /Q/ or /N/; further weakening to /h/ emerged toward the period's end, affecting both initial and medial occurrences in derived forms, as seen in EMJ pito ("") becoming LMJ fito, eventually hito in later stages. Intervocalic /p/ had already lenited to /w/ in EMJ (e.g., EMJ kawo from OJ kapo ""), but by LMJ, the loss of /w/ in most contexts (except before /i/ and /e/, lost by ~1300) led to vowel contractions or hiatus resolutions, simplifying onsets across the . Prenasalization was more systematic in LMJ compared to earlier sporadic occurrences, where voiced obstruents were often realized with a preceding nasal homorganic to the following , such as /g/ as [ŋg] or /b/ as [mb]; this phonetic feature, inherited from , is exemplified in forms like LMJ ŋgo for underlying /go/, aiding in the perceptual distinction of voiced stops in rapid speech, and confirmed by Korean Chosŏn-period transcriptions. However, prenasalization began to weaken in central dialects by late LMJ, with full denasalization occurring in Early Modern Japanese, though it persisted in peripheral varieties and influenced patterns. Diphthong monophthongizations accelerated in late LMJ, with /ou/ regularly contracting to /oː/ and /au/ to /ɔː/ (a mid-open distinct from /oː/), processes that had initiated in EMJ but became near-categorical by the 14th–15th centuries; representative examples include OJ /kou/ ("") > LMJ /koː/ and OJ /kau/ ("buy") > LMJ /kɔː/, contributing to the five-vowel system's stability while lengthening mid vowels in open syllables. These changes, alongside onbin, occasionally impacted verb stem alternations, such as in conjunctive forms, but primarily reshaped the phonological inventory for prosodic efficiency.

Morphology

Nominal Morphology

In Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600), nouns exhibited no inflectional morphology for case, , or number, remaining invariant forms that relied on postposed particles to indicate grammatical roles..pdf) This lack of inherent marking distinguished nouns from inflecting predicates like verbs and adjectives, allowing flexibility in usage but necessitating contextual or particle-based disambiguation for plurality or specificity..pdf) was unmarked across the board, with no dedicated suffixes or alternations to denote masculine or feminine , reflecting a broader typological shift away from such categories in . However, prefixes began to emerge as a means of polite elevation, particularly for nouns associated with superiors or sacred contexts; common forms included o-, mi-, and go-, as in o-miya ("honorable palace") or go-zén ("honorable front"), which exalted the without altering the noun's core form..pdf) Pronouns in LMJ similarly lacked inflection, inheriting the non-inflecting nature of nominals while undergoing a profound systemic change from earlier stages..pdf) By the mid-LMJ period, traditional personal pronouns had largely fallen out of use due to social avoidance of self-reference, replaced by lexical nouns or titles for first- and second-person reference; surviving or reintroduced forms included ware (humble first person, e.g., "I"), na (informal second person, e.g., addressing inferiors), and ji (second person borrowed from Chinese, used in formal or literary contexts)..pdf) Third-person reference avoided dedicated pronouns altogether, instead employing as proxies, such as kore ("this one," proximal), sore ("that one," medial), and are ("that one," distal), often combined with nouns for clarity (e.g., kore no hito "this ")..pdf) These forms were uninflected and could take the same honorific prefixes as nouns when demanded, though pronominal use remained rare and contextually sensitive. Possession was primarily expressed through genitive constructions using the particles ga and no, with ga restricted to personal pronouns and human nouns (e.g., wa-ga kokoro "my heart," where wa- is a first-person prefix), while no applied more broadly to inanimate or non-personal nouns (e.g., Ariwara no Narihira "Narihira of the Ariwara clan")..pdf) This distinction reflected sociolinguistic nuances, with ga carrying a sense of intimacy or animacy, but by late LMJ, no increasingly dominated genitive functions, evolving toward its modern role as the default possessive marker and laying the groundwork for its use in nominalization..pdf) Case roles for possessed or possessing nominals, such as nominative or accusative, were indicated via separate particles like ga (shifting to nominative) or wo, but these attachments did not modify the nominal forms themselves..pdf) Nominal derivation in LMJ was limited compared to verbal morphology, relying mainly on compounding rather than affixation or conversion..pdf) Noun-noun compounds formed productively, often with rendaku voicing of the second element's initial consonant (e.g., sakura-bana "cherry blossom," from sakura + hana), incorporating Sino-Japanese loans and native roots..pdf) A nascent form of nominalization appeared through Sino-Japanese verbal noun stems combined with the light verb suru ("do"), creating complex predicates like kenbutsu-suru ("to sightsee," from kenbutsu "sightseeing"), though this was far less pervasive than in later Japanese and primarily affected loanword integration..pdf) Sino-Japanese prefixes (e.g., ko- "child/small," sai- "re-") and suffixes (e.g., -sya "person") also contributed to derivation, yielding forms like ko-sya "young person," but these were affix-like additions to existing nouns rather than systematic inflection..pdf) Overall, derivation emphasized lexical expansion through borrowing and combination over morphological innovation.

Verbal Morphology

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600) verbs inflected according to four primary conjugation classes, a simplification from the nine classes of and : the quadrigrade (yodan) class, comprising the majority of verbs with stems ending in consonants and inflecting across four vowel grades; the upper monograde (kami-ichidan) class, with stems ending in /i/; the lower monograde (shimo-ichidan) class, with stems ending in other vowels; and the irregular class, including kuru 'come' and suru 'do'. These classes determined the forms of core inflections, such as the mizenkei (irrealis base, used for negatives and conditionals), ren'yōkei (conjunctive base, for linking and derivations), rentaikei (adnominal, for nominal modification), shūshikei (conclusive, for sentence endings), and izenkei (realis/hypothetical base). For a representative yodan verb like yomu 'read', the ren'yōkei was yomi- (e.g., linking to auxiliaries), the izenkei yome- (e.g., in hypothetical contexts like yome-ba 'if reading'), and the mizenkei yoma- (e.g., for negation yoma-zu 'not read'). Monograde verbs, such as kami-ichidan miru 'see', showed uniform stems across inflections: ren'yōkei and rentaikei mi-, izenkei mire-, and mizenkei mir-. Irregular verbs deviated, with suru having multiple bases like shi- (ren'yōkei) and se- (izenkei). A major innovation in LMJ was the merger of the rentaikei (-u form) and shūshikei, both converging on the adnominal shape by around the 14th century, which eliminated the earlier distinction and simplified predicate endings from paradigms (e.g., yodan shūshikei shifting from -u to align fully with rentaikei). This merger, complete by mid-LMJ, affected all classes and marked a key step toward Modern Japanese uniformity. LMJ also witnessed the decline of classical inflections, such as the exclamatory and conclusive forms, alongside the emergence of new that regularized the verbal system. These included -sase- for causatives (e.g., yom-sase-ru "to make read"), -rare- for passives and potential (e.g., yom-rare-ru "to be read" or "can read"), and -(a)na- for negatives (e.g., yom-ana-i "do not read"), which attached to the ren'yōkei or mizenkei and contributed to obligatory tense marking by the late period (e.g., non-past yom-u vs. past yom-ita "read"). These developments shifted the language toward a more analytic morphology with synthetic elements. Tense and aspect were expressed through auxiliaries attached primarily to the ren'yōkei or mizenkei. The -ta, derived from earlier -ki via sound changes, attached to the ren'yōkei (e.g., yomi-ta 'read' for yodan), indicating completed action and becoming the dominant retrospective marker by LMJ. The used -nu on the mizenkei (e.g., yoma-nu 'having read'), conveying states, while its negative counterpart -zu (e.g., yoma-zu 'not having read') also appeared on the mizenkei. An emerging progressive construction involved the te-form (ren'yōkei + -te, e.g., yomi-te 'reading') combined with auxiliaries like iru, foreshadowing Modern Japanese ongoing aspect usage, though still optional in LMJ texts. These developments reflected a shift toward analytic expression, reducing reliance on synthetic inflections.

Adjectival Morphology

In Late Middle Japanese (LMJ), adjectives, known as i-adjectives, formed a major inflectional class that conjugated similarly to verbs but retained distinct morphological paradigms influenced by earlier sound changes such as onbin. The core stems ended in -i in non-past forms, with the adnominal -ki shifting to -i and the infinitive -ku to -u due to phonetic . For example, the adjective taka- "high" appeared as taka-i in the conclusive or adnominal form ("high") and taka-u in the adverbial ("highly"). The past tense was marked by -katta, as in takakatta "was high," which emerged as a stable innovation during the LMJ period. LMJ i-adjectives encompassed two historical subtypes inherited from Old and : simple ku-adjectives (e.g., naga-ku "long[ly]") and complex siku-adjectives (e.g., bekasi- "ought to"), distinguished originally by the presence of a -si- element in the stem. By the LMJ era, however, the morphological distinction between ku- and siku-adjectives had largely merged, with both types integrating into the unified i-adjective paradigm and losing separate inflectional markers, though some lexical remnants persisted in compounds. Other forms included the -kute (e.g., takakute "being high and"), used for connective purposes, and conditional variants like -kattara (e.g., takakattara "if high"). Adjectival nouns, a non-inflecting class, differed from i-adjectives by relying on copular elements for predication and attribution, with two primary subclasses: -nar and -tar. These were linked to the copula nari in predicative contexts, as in shizuka nari "is quiet," where "quiet" functions nominally without inherent . The -nar forms reduced attributively to na in western dialects and nwo in eastern ones, facilitating noun modification (e.g., shizuka na hito "quiet person"), while -tar forms often conveyed evidential or nuances but declined in productivity. Many adjectival nouns derived from Sino-Japanese loans, such as yunzoku "unique," integrated via these copular links. Derivational processes enriched the adjectival system, including the suffix -shii, which adjectivalized verbal or nominal bases (e.g., kasikoi-shii from kasikoi- "fearsome," yielding "awesome"). This originated from earlier -si- extensions and fully merged into the i-adjective class by late LMJ, as seen in utsukushii "beautiful." derivations employed prefixes like o-, applied to adjectival stems for respectful modification (e.g., o-taka-i "honorably high"), often in polite or exalted registers. also served derivational roles for intensification, such as koti-koti-si- "unrefined."
Form CategoryKey MarkersExample (taka- "high")Function
Non-past-itaka-iConclusive/adnominal: "high"
-utaka-u: "highly"
Past-kattatakakatta"was high"
Connective-kutetakakute"being high and"
Copular (adjectival noun)nari/nashizuka nari"is quiet"

Particles

In Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600), grammatical particles primarily functioned as enclitic postpositions, attaching phonologically to nominal hosts without altering their morphological structure, thereby marking case relations and functions in a manner distinct from earlier periods. These particles underwent significant evolution, reflecting broader syntactic mergers such as the decline of the kakari-musubi focus system and the specialization of case marking, with forms stabilizing into patterns that persisted into Early Modern Japanese. The nominative and subjective case was marked by ga, which increasingly replaced wa in subordinate clauses and with human or pronominal subjects, signaling a socio-linguistic differentiation where ga conveyed or focus. In contrast, wa served as the primary in declarative main clauses, evolving from pa through sound changes like -p- > -w- > ∅ and retaining its status for emphatic or contrastive highlighting. For the accusative case, wo functioned as the direct object marker, grammaticalized from an existential and subject to phonetic adjustments such as (e.g., settin wo > settinto), with its form shifting to o in later LMJ due to influences. The dative and locative cases employed ni, which indicated direction, location, or purpose, deriving from the copula and expanding multifunctionally, while de emerged for and means marking, specializing from nite forms. Genitive relations were expressed by no, the dominant form for possession and subordination, which broadened to include nominalizer functions by late LMJ, and earlier ga, restricted to pronouns and personal nouns before its nominative shift. Among other particles, mo provided inclusive or additive emphasis, linking elements in coordination; ya served additive or disjunctive roles, often in questions, though declining with the loss of kakari-musubi; and koso marked emphatic focus for unique identification, also waning in the period.

Syntax

Basic Sentence Structure

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ) features a canonical Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, with the verb invariably positioned at the end of the clause, a pattern inherited from earlier stages of the language and maintained through case-marking particles that clarify grammatical functions. This structure accommodates pragmatic flexibility, allowing subjects or objects to shift positions based on emphasis or discourse context, though the verb-final constraint remains rigid. For example, a typical declarative sentence might arrange as "Taroo ga hon o yomu" (Taro reads a book), where particles like ga (nominative) and o (accusative) delineate roles without relying on strict linear order. Central to LMJ syntax is the topic-comment construction, which frequently fronts a topic marked by the particle wa (earlier pa), followed by a comment clause that predicates information about it. This bipartite organization prioritizes topical elements for discourse coherence, often detaching the topic from strict subjecthood, and is prevalent in both literary and vernacular sources. An illustrative example from LMJ texts is "ware wa doko e yuku zo" (As for me, where [do I] go?), highlighting the topic "ware wa" before the interrogative comment. Phrasal organization follows a consistent modifier-head pattern, with attributive elements such as adjectives, genitive constructions, and adnominal clauses preceding the noun they modify, reinforcing the head-final typology of the . Adjectives inflect to adnominal forms and directly adjoin the head, as in "taka-me na sika" (high-eyed deer), while more complex modifiers form relative clauses, e.g., "wotoko mo su naru nikki to ipu mono" (the thing called a that even men come to do). This prenominal positioning extends to genitives, where the possessor precedes the possessed . The copula nari serves equative and identificational functions in LMJ, linking a topicalized subject to a nominal or adjectival predicate, as in "siduka-nari" (is calm). In formal and written registers, nari is typically retained for clarity, but by late LMJ, particularly in informal spoken varieties captured in dialogic literature, the copula is often omitted, yielding elliptical constructions like "kore wa hon" (this [is a] ). Emerging variants such as da or dya appear in non-past contexts, especially in eastern dialects, signaling the transition toward modern copular forms.

Case and Grammatical Relations

In Late Middle Japanese (LMJ), were primarily marked through postpositional particles attached to noun phrases, establishing core argument roles in a . The , indicating the subject of a , was marked by the particle ga, which had fully transitioned from its earlier genitive function in to a dedicated subject marker by the late LMJ period; this shift solidified the distinction from the genitive no, leaving no exclusively for possession and attribution. The wa (from earlier ha) often co-occurred with or replaced ga to highlight thematic or contrastive subjects, as in ware wa ("as for I"). The accusative case for direct objects was consistently marked by wo, functioning to identify the patient or goal of transitive verbs, with little variation from earlier stages; for example, hana wo miru ("see the flower"). Indirect objects and recipients were marked by the dative ni, which also served broader oblique functions such as purposive or benefactive roles. For locative and instrumental obliques, ni combined with the converb te to form de, expressing location or means, as in spatial or manner adjuncts. The ablative kara, denoting source or separation, emerged prominently in late LMJ, gradually supplanting the earlier yori as the standard marker for "from" in both spatial and temporal contexts. Passivization in LMJ was infrequent and typically conveyed through the ni-passive construction, where ni marked an animate agent or experiencer in adversative contexts, emphasizing misfortune or unwanted events rather than neutral promotion of the patient to subject; true agentive passives with inanimate agents remained marginal until later periods. For instance, taro ni yom-areru could imply "Taro is read (unfortunately)" in an adversative sense. Causatives were formed by attaching -saseru (from earlier -su, reclassified as a yodan in LMJ) to the verb stem, altering argument structure to introduce a causee typically marked by dative ni (for permission) or accusative wo (for ), thus adding a new internal argument while the original subject became the causer. This construction, as in kodomo ni hon wo yom-aseru ("make the read the "), reflected growing productivity in expressing or allowance.

Clause Combining

In Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600), clause combining relied on morphological verb forms and particles to link clauses into complex sentences, reflecting a transitional syntax between and Early Modern Japanese. Subordination was a primary mechanism, often employing the ren'yōkei ( or conjunctive form) of verbs followed by the particle te to express sequential, progressive, or conjunctive relations between clauses, as seen in narrative prose where actions unfold in time. For conditional subordination, the ba form—derived from the izenkei (provisional form)—introduced hypothetical or cause-effect clauses, such as in expressions of "..." structures common in literary texts. Coordination in LMJ typically used particles like ya and to to join parallel clauses or elements, with gapping (ellipsis of repeated constituents) frequent in poetry to maintain rhythmic economy. Ya functioned as an additive or disjunctive linker ("and" or "or"), often enumerating items or states in waka and renga compositions, while to could coordinate clauses in informal or poetic registers. Relative clauses modified nouns directly via adnominal verb forms, without relative pronouns or complementizers, placing the clause before the head noun in a head-final structure typical of Japanese. For instance, tabeta hito ("the who ate") illustrates how the adnominal ren'yōkei of the verb tabu ("to eat") directly attributes the action to the noun hito (""), a pattern prevalent in LMJ and . Quotative constructions employed the particle to to embed reported speech, thought, or hearsay, framing the quoted clause before the main verb like iu ("say"). An example from LMJ texts is kare wa "iku" to ita ("he said 'I will go'"), where to marks the boundary between the quoted content and the reporting clause, facilitating indirect discourse in historical narratives.

Lexicon

Vocabulary Changes

During Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600), the native lexicon underwent internal evolution through semantic broadening, where words expanded in meaning to encompass more abstract or generalized concepts. For instance, the noun mono, originally denoting a concrete "thing" or object in , broadened to include abstract nominalizations and even conjunctional roles, as seen in constructions like mono-kara meaning "because," reflecting a shift toward more versatile usage in and . This broadening facilitated expressive flexibility in LMJ texts, allowing mono to nominalize clauses or denote intangible ideas without requiring additional morphological markers. Compound formation became increasingly productive in LMJ, particularly through native combinations that enriched the , often blending conceptual layers while maintaining native grammatical integration. Examples include sakurabana ("," from sakura + pana via voicing), which illustrates heightened lexical creativity driven by phonological assimilation. Hybrid compounds incorporating Sino-Japanese elements with native ones also proliferated, such as sairiji-mono ("vegetarian food," from Sino-Japanese sairiji + native mono). The verb tamau ("give, bestow") evolved into a auxiliary (-tamap- > -tamaw-), reflecting broader morphological simplification. The period also marked the loss of many archaic terms from Early Middle Japanese, replaced by simpler or innovated forms as phonetic shifts eroded older pronunciations and usages. The honorific verb tamau ("give, bestow"), prominent in classical literature, began fading as an independent lexical item, supplanted by streamlined auxiliaries like -tamaw- in honorific contexts, reflecting a broader simplification of the lexicon amid phonological changes such as the loss of prenasalization (e.g., tanabata > [tanabata]). This attrition contributed to a more unified vocabulary, with obsolete forms like the ablative particle yuri 'from' (replaced by kara) giving way to standardized alternatives. Dialectal influences, especially from the Kamakura period (1185–1333), permeated the standard LMJ lexicon through warrior literature such as Heike monogatari, introducing eastern regional terms from Kantō dialects into central usage. These influences included phonetic variants like preserved /kwa/ in compounds (e.g., facqua) and negative forms such as -(a)na- ("not"), which entered mainstream speech via military narratives and , enriching the vocabulary with robust, vernacular expressions.

Foreign Loanwords

During Late Middle Japanese (LMJ, ca. 1200–1600), Sino-Japanese loanwords continued to expand from patterns established in Early Middle Japanese (EMJ), incorporating vocabulary from Early Middle Chinese that reflected ongoing cultural and religious exchanges. The proportion of Sino-Japanese words in the lexicon rose notably, from about 6% in early texts to over 40% by the late period, introducing verbal nouns and adjectival stems (e.g., sauyaku 'herbal medicine', nikki 'diary') that integrated into native morphology via light verb constructions like o-...-suru for honorifics. These borrowings introduced new phonological features, such as syllables with complex onsets like /Cy-/ and /Cw-/ (known as yo'on or "twisted sounds"), and bound moraic phonemes including /N/, /Q/, and /C/, which distinguished LMJ from earlier stages. The intake of these terms increased in written texts, particularly with the rise of kanji-kana majiribun (mixed kanji-kana writing), and included innovations from the To-on variety associated with Zen Buddhism. A notable area of Sino-Japanese influence in LMJ was Buddhist and terminology, building on EMJ foundations to express abstract concepts central to religious practice. For instance, ("enlightenment" or "awakening"), derived from Chinese wu (悟), emerged as a key term in Zen contexts, denoting intuitive comprehension beyond rational understanding. Other examples include (from via Chinese fo), tera (temple, from kṣetra via Chinese sì), and kesa (Buddhist robe, from kaṣāya via Chinese jiāshā), which integrated into LMJ lexicon to support doctrinal discussions and monastic life. These terms often adapted morphologically, with verbs and adjectives becoming more prevalent than in , facilitating their use in compound formations. In the late 16th century, Portuguese contact through trade and missionary activities introduced the first substantial wave of European loanwords into LMJ, primarily via oral transmission in coastal regions like Kyushu. Examples include botan ("button," from Portuguese botão), pan ("bread," from pão), and tabako ("tobacco," from tabaco), which entered the language during the Nanban trade period (1543–1614) and were typically written in kana to approximate foreign sounds. Early Dutch loanwords also appeared in the very late LMJ period following the establishment of trade at Dejima in 1609, influencing terms in technology and trade, though their impact was even more limited than Portuguese borrowings. These borrowings were adapted to fit Japanese phonology, often through epenthetic vowel insertions to break up consonant clusters and substitutions like /b/ for /v/ (e.g., botan rendering the initial bilabial stop). The impact of these foreign loanwords remained limited in LMJ, confined largely to concrete nouns denoting imported goods and everyday objects, without influencing core grammar or syntax. Portuguese and Dutch terms, in particular, proliferated in trade hubs but did not penetrate inland or abstract domains, reflecting sporadic contact rather than systemic linguistic change. Sino-Japanese vocabulary, by contrast, showed broader integration but still adhered to established adaptation rules, ensuring compatibility with native morphology.

Transition to Early Modern Japanese

Major Linguistic Shifts

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ), spanning approximately 1200 to 1600, witnessed profound morphological simplifications that streamlined the verbal system inherited from earlier stages. Verb classes underwent significant consolidation, reducing from the more diverse paradigms of Old and Early Middle Japanese to four primary categories: quadrigrade (yodan), monograde (ichidan), and two irregular classes (s- and k-irregulars), with bigrade verbs largely merging into the monograde class. This reduction reflected a broader trend toward morphological economy, where adnominal and conclusive forms merged, eliminating distinctions that had marked earlier inflections. Concurrently, the copula nari, which had served predicative and nominalizing functions, evolved into da (or dialectal dya), marking a pivotal shift that aligned nominal predication more closely with verbal endings and facilitated the emergence of modern copular forms. Phonological developments in LMJ contributed to greater , completing shifts initiated in prior periods and fixing certain features of the sound system. The fricativization of initial /p/ to /ɸ/ (bilabial fricative, denoted as /h/ in historical ), a shift that had occurred in earlier periods but was standardized in LMJ, affected morpheme-initial positions and unified the bilabial series across dialects, as evidenced in contemporary transcriptions. Prenasalization of voiced obstruents (/b, d, g, z/), a hallmark of LMJ , became more consistently represented in sources like Korean interpretations and Jesuit documents, though it began to wane in some environments, paving the way for the moraic nasal /N/ in modern . These changes, alongside the loss of medial voicing alternations, helped standardize the five-vowel system and consonant inventory, reducing variability from earlier dialectal divergences. Syntactically, LMJ innovations enhanced expressiveness and information structuring, particularly through expanded roles for connective forms. The te-form (-te), originally a , gained prominence in marking aspectual notions such as progressive or states, often linking verbs in serial constructions to convey sequence or completion, as in progressive readings unattested in earlier Japanese. This development coincided with the strengthening of topic prominence, where particles like wa increasingly framed topics, subordinating subject-predicate relations to informational hierarchies and reflecting influences from spoken vernaculars. Such shifts reduced reliance on inflections for tense-aspect and bolstered clause chaining, aligning syntax more closely with modern patterns. Orthographically, LMJ marked the gradual transition from historical kana usage—rooted in man'yōgana derivations and reflecting archaic pronunciations—to forms approximating modern by the late 16th century. This evolution involved simplification of variant graphs () and standardization driven by printing technologies and foreign contacts, such as romanizations in Christian texts, which highlighted pronunciation discrepancies and encouraged phonetic alignments. By the end of the period, kana spellings began consistently representing LMJ , including post-/p/-to-/ɸ/ shifts, setting the stage for Early Modern uniformity.

Legacy in Modern Japanese

Late Middle Japanese (LMJ) morphology forms the foundational basis for the verb conjugation system in modern Japanese, retaining four primary classes—quadrigrade, upper monograde, lower monograde, and irregular—that evolved through mergers and simplifications from LMJ's nine conjugations. The quadrigrade class, comprising about 75% of s, and the monograde classes persist with minimal alteration, as seen in stems like yuk- 'go' and yoN- 'read', which maintain and base patterns into contemporary usage. Additionally, the standard marker -ta derives directly from LMJ periphrastic statives such as -(i)tar- or -tear-, fused from forms like sin-de ar- 'has died', becoming obligatory in modern Japanese for . The phonological system of LMJ endures prominently in modern Japanese, with its five-vowel inventory /a, i, u, e, o/—established by and stabilized in LMJ—remaining unchanged as the core of contemporary . , represented as syllable-final -Q in LMJ (e.g., nipite > nitta ''), evolved into the moraic obstruent /Q/, denoted by the (っ) in modern , which affects consonant length in native words and loan adaptations like beddo ''. This feature, originating from prenasalization loss in LMJ, underscores the language's rhythmic structure today. Syntactic continuities from LMJ to modern Japanese include the rigid subject-object-verb (SOV) order, evident in LMJ prose and unchanged in standard contemporary sentences. The topic marker wa, derived from LMJ pa, retains its contrastive function, as in LMJ examples from texts like Esopo that parallel modern usages such as watasi wa iku 'as for me, (I) go'. Relative clause structures, built on adnominal verb forms in LMJ (e.g., modifying nouns without complementizers), directly inform modern headless nominalizations and prenominal modification, such as tabeta neko 'the cat that ate'. Lexically, LMJ contributed enduring Sino-Japanese compounds that constitute 35-60% of modern Japanese vocabulary, including terms like suyaku 'herbal medicine' and keizai 'economy', which underwent phonological mergers (e.g., /oo/ to /oː/) but preserved semantic integrity. Terms from LMJ Noh theater and setsuwa literature survive in literary and cultural contexts, such as yūrei 'ghost' and honorific expressions like o-...-suru, influencing modern dramatic and performative language.

References

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