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Akinaga Kazue

あきなが かずえ

Akinaga Kazue

Aliases: 鳥越一枝
Pen Names: Torigoe Kazue（Legal/birth name (married name)）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1928-06-23 （Higashi-Ryogoku, Honjo-ku, Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan (now Higashi-Ryogoku, Sumida, Tokyo, Japan)）
Died
2017-09-29 age 89
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Philologist (Japanese), Japanese linguist, University professor
Active Years
1950-2017
Affiliations
Waseda University Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Memberships
Phonetic Society of Japan
Influenced By
Kindaichi Haruhiko

Education

Oin High School
Period: 中等教育
Year of Graduation: 1949
Country: Japan
Graduated from a prominent girls' high school
Waseda University, School of Letters, Arts and Sciences I
School of Letters, Arts and Sciences I / Japanese literature
Degree: 文学士
Period: 1949-1951
Year of Graduation: 1951
Country: Japan
Entered by transfer and submitted undergraduate thesis on Sei Shonagon
Waseda University Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Japanese linguistics / Philology
Degree: 文学博士
Period: 1956-1972（修士・博士課程を含む研究期間）
Country: Japan
Completed graduate study focusing on shōten-marked Kokin Waka-shū manuscripts

Awards

Shinmura Izuru Prize (10th)
1991
Work: Studies on Shōten-annotated Kokin Wakashū manuscripts
Organization: Shinmura Izuru Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Meikai Japanese Accent Dictionary (editorial work)

1958 Dictionary / reference

Worked in the Sanseido editorial office compiling and editing a reference accent dictionary based on extensive Tokyo accent survey cards.

accentphonologydictionary compilation
Translations
  • Chinese translation of appendix (translated by Li Fan)

Studies on Shōten-Annotated Kokin Wakashū Manuscripts

1991 Academic research (classical Japanese literature / Japanese linguistics)

A life-work study examining shōten (phonetic/intonation marks) in Kokin Wakashū manuscripts, providing important material for accent history and textual interpretation.

shōten (phonetic marks)textual criticism of classical literaturehistory of accent

Dictionary of Tokyo Dialect

2004 Dictionary / dialect study

A dictionary compiling half a century of collected materials from Tokyo's downtown districts, recording rare or obscure expressions to preserve the Tokyo dialect.

dialect documentationTokyo dialectlexical preservation

Bibliography

  • Meikai Japanese Accent Dictionary (editorial involvement)
  • Studies on Shōten-Annotated Kokin Wakashū (data, index, research volumes)
  • Dictionary of Tokyo Dialect
  • Numerous academic papers (accent history, phonetics, dialect studies)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
scholarlyhistorical-criticaldetailed annotation based on quantitative data
Recurring Motifs
accent (pitch/intonation)shōten (textual phonetic marks)recording of dialects and colloquial speech

Legacy

Made significant contributions to Japanese accentology and the study of shōten in classical texts, strengthening the material basis for dialect studies through preservation and dictionary compilation of the Tokyo dialect; influenced many subsequent researchers.

Academic Societies

  • Phonetic Society of Japan

Archives

  • Waseda University Library (related materials, survey cards)
  • National Diet Library (holds publications)

Quotes

  • If the Tokyo dialect disappears, modern literature and rakugo will no longer be fully understood.
    Source: Interview / article related to the dictionary publication (summarized remark) (2004)

Trivia

  • Legal name (married name) was Torigoe Kazue
  • Worked at Sanseido editorial office compiling Tokyo accent cards used for a major accent dictionary
  • Served as professor and later emeritus professor at Waseda University