Diego Collados Grammar of the Japanese Language | Page 2

important
document worthy of careful examination by those wishing insight into
the origins of what three centuries later was to become the purview of
descriptive linguistics.
The present translation was begun with the able assistance of Ms.
Roberta Galli whose contribution to my understanding of the Latin text
is most gratefully acknowledged. For his continued encouragement in
this undertaking I am grateful to Professor Roy Andrew Miller. Thanks
are also due to the Graduate School of the University of Kansas for its
support in the preparation of the manuscript and to Ms. Sue Schumock
whose capable typing turned a scribbled, multi-lingual draft into a
legible manuscript. The imperfections are my own.
R.L.S.
Lawrence, Kansas May, 1975

{1}
* * * * *
Introduction
In 1632, as the Christian Century in Japan was drawing swiftly to a
close, three works pertaining to the Japanese language were being
published at Rome by the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
These works were by the Spanish Dominican Father, Diego Collado (d.
1638), who had spent the years from 1619 to 1622 in Japan. Their
publication clearly reflects the vitality of the missionary spirit in that
age as well as the important place reserved for language study in the
propagation of the faith.
The first two works, whose manuscripts had been prepared in Madrid
the year before, were a grammar and a dictionary of Japanese. The third,
prepared in 1631, while the larger works were being seen through the
press, was a guide to the taking of confession written in both Latin and
Japanese.[1] The grammar, drafted in Spanish, was published in Latin
in 1632 under the title Ars Grammaticae Iaponicae Linguae. It is this
work that is translated here. The dictionary, only at the last moment
supplied with Latin glosses to supplement those in Spanish, was
published in the same year with the title Dictionarium sive Thesauri
Linguae Iaponicae Compendium.[2] Taken together these three works
by Collado constitute the final extant efforts of those who studied the
Japanese language first hand during the Christian Century.[3]
Two other grammatical works must be mentioned here as central to the
proper assessment of Collado's Grammar. They are both by the great
Jesuit scholar, Father João Rodnguez (1561-1634);[4] the Arte da
Lingoa de Iapam (Nagasaki, 1604-8, hereafter the Arte), and the Arte
Breve da Lingoa Iapoa (Macao, 1620, hereafter Arte Breve). The first
{2} is by any standards the greatest grammatical study of Japanese
made during the Christian Century. It is further, as we shall see, the
primary source for Collado's Grammar. The Arte Breve, on the other
hand, is not directly related to Collado's work. Indeed it is clear that
Rodriguez' 1620 Macao publication was unknown to Collado.

Nevertheless, since the Arte Breve is an abbreviated version of the Arte
with a purpose similar to the Ars Grammaticae, a comparison of these
two books with respect to the way they systematize the material from
the Arte is included in this introduction to contribute some insight into
the treatment of the Japanese language at the beginning of the
Tokugawa Period.
In presenting this translation two potential audiences are envisioned.
The first, and more restricted, group is that having an interest in the
history of the Japanese language. It is hoped that an English version of
this work will make more readily available this significant material
pertaining to the Japanese language as spoken in the early modern
period. I use the word significant here to avoid granting excessive value
to a work which derives such a large portion of its material and insight
from Rodriguez' Arte.
The second, and wider group for whom this translation is intended is
that which has a need for an edited edition of an important document in
the history of grammatical description. In this area of scholarship
Collado's work is of more than moderate significance. It was accepted
for publication by the prestigious Propaganda Press; and, even if those
more familiar with Japanese than the editorial board of that Press might
have had serious reservations concerning the linguistic accuracy of the
text, it is reasonable to assume that the Press judged it to be a good
example of grammatical description. It thus represents a grammar of a
non-European language which suited the requirements of the day for
publication at Rome.[5]
{3}
In order to permit this translation of the Ars Grammaticae to be of use
in both these areas of scholarship I have made an effort to reduce to a
minimum those places where a knowledge of either Japanese or Latin is
required for the comprehension of the translation. It is sincerely hoped
that the result is not an effort that is satisfying to neither, and thus to no
one.
Because of the derivative nature of the text, this translation has put

aside a number