Dictionary Review: The Encyclopedia of Japanese Linguistics (Nihongogaku Daijiten). Tokyo: Toukyoudou Edition, 2018. 1287 p.

Abstract

The Encyclopedia of Japanese Linguistics (Nihongogaku daijiten), published in 2018, is a new type dictionary concerning Japanese linguistics. The Encyclopedia of Japanese Linguistics, which was compiled over a long period of time from 2006 to 2018 by a collective of prominent native and world linguists, highlights the achievements of modern Japanese and world linguistics in compliance with modern approaches. This dictionary is the first Japanese dictionary in which new linguistic terms and description of the linguistic methods and terms are presented. The dictionary includes more than 800 dictionary entries and introduces almost all epochs and theories of linguistics as well as the most significant concepts of world linguistics from ancient times to the present. The Encyclopedia of Japanese Linguistics was preceded by “The Japanese Linguistic Dictionary” (1955) and “The Japanese Great Linguistic Dictionary” (1980). Both dictionaries were reprinted several times and reflected the achievements of linguistics at the time of their publication, but no longer meet the requirements of the contemporary time. It should be noted the appearance of a large number of new dictionary entries and the expansion of the list of personalities in The “Encyclopedia of Japanese Linguistics” on account of the description of new linguistic approaches. The dictionary also includes a number of appendices, which are described in the following review. Being a fundamental source of linguistics knowledge, the dictionary also makes a significant contribution to the development of Japanese lexicography.