Setsuyōshū

The Setsuyōshū or Setchōshū (節用集, "Economical Collection" or "Collection [of words] for Everyday Use") was a popular Muromachi Period Japanese dictionary collated in iroha order and subdivided into semantic categories. The title word setsuyō means "reduce usage; economize" and alludes to the Lunyu (compare the Kagakushū). "Confucius said: 'If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people'." (tr. Muller )

The origins of the Setsuyōshū are unclear. The oldest extant edition is dated 1496 CE, and the text was probably compiled shortly before the Bunmei era (1469–1487 CE). Despite much speculation about the dictionary's anonymous author, Bailey (1960:47) concludes "a nameless fifteenth-century Zen priest is the likeliest candidate."

Unlike many early Japanese dictionaries of Chinese characters that were intended for literati, the Setsuyōshū was a true Japanese language dictionary and entered vocabulary current in Muromachi times. Each main entry gives the word in kanji (Chinese characters), notes Japanese pronunciation in katakana on the right, and occasionally adds etymologies and comments on the bottom.

There are numerous Setsuyōshū editions (over 180 from the Edo Period) and many vary in content and format. Most versions collate words according to their first syllable under 43-47 iroha divisions (bu 部) with 9-16 semantic subdivisions (mon 門), which usually begin with "Heaven and Earth" (Tenchi 天地) and end with "Unclassified words" (Genji 言辞). This arrangement combines both Iroha Jiruishō phonetic ordering and Kagakushū semantic classifications.

The Japanese linguist Hashimoto Shinkichi analyzed differences among early Setsuyōshū editions and found three categories, distinguished by the first word beginning with i- appearing under the first '"Heaven and Earth" heading. The dictionaries' initial word is either Ise (伊勢 "old name for Mie Prefecture"), Indo (印度 "India"), or inui (乾 "northwest"). "Ise editions" have few appendices, put place names near the beginning of subject headings, and are probably the oldest redaction. "Indo editions" have many appendices, including place names, and clearly have been supplemented from the 1444 CE Kagakushū. "Inui editions" are usually printed with movable type, have more entries and corrections, and are the newest version.

Setsuyōshū has a parallel with Webster's informally meaning "English language dictionary". Nakao (1989:37) notes this dictionary "remained popular for so long that the name Setsuyoshu was used as a generic term for Japanese dictionaries (with the entries arranged in the order of iroha)."

References

Bailey, Don Clifford. (1960). "Early Japanese Lexicography". Monumenta Nipponica 16:1–52.
Nakao, Keisuke. (1998). "The state of bilingual lexicography in Japan: learners' English–Japanese / Japanese–English dictionaries." International Journal of Lexicography 11.1:35–50.
Takanashi Nobuhiro 高梨信博. (1996). "節用集 (Setsuyōshū)." In Nihon jisho jiten 日本辞書辞典 (The Encyclopedia of Dictionaries Published in Japan), Okimori Takuya 沖森卓也, et al., eds., pp. 167–170. Tokyo: Ōfū. ISBN 4-273-02890-5

External links

饅頭屋本節用集, 5 Muromachi editions of Setsuyōshū, Tsukuba University Library
室町時代の節用集, 4 Muromachi editions of Setsuyōshū, Gifu University Library
節用集, rare edition Setsuyōshū, Kyoto University Library

Dictionaries of Japanese

Monolingual dictionaries

Classical Japan	Tenrei Banshō Meigi Shinsen Jikyō Wamyō Ruijushō Ruiju Myōgishō Iroha Jiruishō

Medieval Japan	Jikyōshū Kagakushū Onkochishinsho Wagokuhen Setsuyōshū Rakuyōshū

Modern Japan	Kokushi Daijiten Shin Meikai kokugo jiten Dai Kan-Wa Jiten Kōjien Sanseido Kokugo Jiten Nihon Kokugo Daijiten Nihon Kingendaishi Jiten Daijirin Nihongo Daijiten Daijisen

Bilingual dictionaries

Print	Nippo Jisho Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary Nichi-Ran jiten The Modern Reader's Japanese-English Character Dictionary Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary Dictionary of Sources of Classical Japan

Electronic	Wordtank EDICT WWWJDIC Gjiten Kiten Eijirō Wordtank Wordtank G50 Moji

List of Japanese dictionaries

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