Diego Collados Grammar of the Japanese Language | Page 7

description. Given concise grammatical descriptions on the one hand and over-simplified versions of previous works on the other, the Ars Grammaticae Iaponicae Linguae unfortunately falls among the latter.
In his shorter work, the Arte Breve of 1620, Rodriguez retains the same general format, but makes every effort to reduce the description to its barest essentials. Thus:
BOOK I
A General Note on the Language 1-2 An Essay on How to Learn the Language 2v-6 The Orthography 6-8 Composition of the Syllables 8v-9v The Way to Write and Pronounce the Letters 10-12v The Declension of Nouns 13-18 The Conjugation and Formation of Verbs 18-52 {14}
BOOK II
The Rudimenta 52-59v The Syntax 59v-66v
BOOK III
The Written Language 67-75 The Various Kinds of Names 75v-98v
Of particular interest in the context of Collado's grammar is the manner in which Rodriguez displays the verbal system. While the Ars Grammaticae presents the verbal system as a series of alterational rules to be applied to the base forms, the Arte Breve goes even further than the Arte to differentiate the formational rules from the conjugational displays. Rodriguez tries several devices to elucidate his material. For example, Charts A and B below represent very early attempts to use a bordered format for linguistic description.
In order to indicate the differences to be found between the descriptions presented by Rodriguez and Collado, I have extracted the formational rules from the Arte Breve and, setting aside only two short appendices dealing with variant forms, present them here in their entirety.
THE CONJUGATION AND FORMATION OF THE TENSES AND MOODS OF THE VERBS
All the verbs of this language may be reduced (se reduzem) to four affirmative and three negative conjugations. This is because the negative conjugation of the adjectival verb, which we discussed before,[11] agrees with the second of the three conjugations; and the conjugation of the substantive verb S[vo]rai, S[vo]r[vo], or soro, which is an abbreviated form of Samburai, sambur[vo][12] both in the affirmative and the negative is reduced to the third conjugation. At this point we will treat the three affirmative and three negative ordinary conjugations of the regular personal verbs.[13] Following this, and on account of its particular usage and formation, we will discuss the conjugation of the adjectival verb.
The verbs of this language do not change (na? f[~e] variedade) to show person and number as do those of Latin; rather, one form (voz) {15} is used for all persons, singular and plural. Number and person are understood according to the subject (Naminativo [sic]), or pronoun, which is joined to the verb. The moods of the verb, which in this language have distinct forms for the tenses, are indicative, imperative, conjunctive, conditional, and preterit participle. The remaining moods are made up of these forms joined to certain particles. Each mood has but three tenses which have distinct forms; these are preterit, present, and future. These forms are signified by the Japanese terms (vocabulos) Quaco, ghenzai, mirai. The preterit imperfect and pluperfect are made up of the present, preterit, and preterit participle together with the substantive verb, as will be seen below in the conjugations.
Concerning the formation of the tenses and moods of the verbs in general, one is reminded that to understand the actual root (raiz) and the natural formation of all the tenses and moods, both affirmative and negative, it is extremely important to take notice of the usage of the Goyn,[14] which are the five vowels (cinco letras vogaes) in the syllables which are below each aforementioned formation; and that it is also important to understand Canadzucai,[15] which is the way to write with Firagana as well as the way one joins together syllables, or letters, to form other words (palauras), while noticing which syllable is changed by which, what constitutes long, short, or diphthongal syllables, which combinations cause contraction (sincope), which cause augmentation (incremento) of the verb, whether one makes a syllable liquid (liquescit)[16] or not, and how the tenses of the moods are written with the same Cana.[17] The term Goyn, not only indicates the syllables, or Cana, which are transformed to others, such as Fa, Fe, Fi, Fo, Fu, which are changed to the closely related sounds Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu and Pa, Pe, Pi, Po, Pu; but it also indicates another kind of change from one sound to another in the same order (ordem), as happens among the syllables Fa, Fe, Fi, Fo, Fu. Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu. Ma, Me, Mi, Mo, Mu, {16} etc. where often by rule (regna) Ma is changed to Mi; or to the contrary Bu to Ba and Bi to Ba, and likewise for others. The greater part of the formation of the tenses of each mood is confined to such changes, as is clearly seen in the way one writes the tense forms with Cana. It is to this that another