OSANAI, Yuko

Research Associate, Ph.D.

Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa,
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
3-11-1 Asahi-cho, Fuchu-shi,
Tokyo, 183-8534, Japan

Email: yosanai[at]tufs.ac.jp

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Research interests: Late Middle Korean, Korean historical linguistics

Studying historical change in the Korean language

My research focuses on the history of the Korean language, and especially the syntax of Late Middle Korean. I have been working on the functions of bound nouns in Late Middle Korean. Bound nouns are nouns that do not occur alone, but instead, are always preceded by some adnominal element (such as a modifier or pre-noun). Bound nouns sometimes function as complementizers, or alternatively as modal forms in particular situations. My research focuses on when and how these functions developed in the history of the Korean language.

Recent interests

During the Choson dynasty, many Japanese-language textbooks were published by the Sayok won (the Interpreters’ School) for training Japanese interpreters, consisting primarily of Japanese-Korean parallel texts. These textbooks are invaluable materials for studying the history of the Japanese and Korean languages, especially because both languages bear strong typological similarities. I am also interested in a contrastive study of Japanese and Korean using these materials.

Research Projects:

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