幕末·明治期の「お~になる」の研究 人情本·歌舞伎台本を中心に

Abstract

This article reports research into the actual status of the use of the phrase “o~ni-naru” from the end of the Edo Period through the Meiji period. The examples in this article were cited from materials such as Ninjobon (a romantic genre of fiction), and the kabuki scripts (traditional drama performed by male actors). The content of the article can be summerized as follows. The earliest occurrence of the phrase of “o~ni-naru” is found in the Kansei period, and during the late Edo period, as far as the above materials were checked. This phrase was used just as often as another phrase “o~nasaru”, although the style of Japanese changed around 1877. The phrase of “o~ni-naru” was more frequently used thereafter, and 65 cases of the respective expressions “o~ni-naru” were found in the shorthand note, Tadayoshi"s historical data (in 1892), even though there are only 10 cases of the respective expression “o~nasaru”. In this research, the result of the investigation of Tadayoshi"s historical data suggested that a generational shift between the two respective expressions must have begun, although the result is hardly of a general nature. The phrase “o~nasaru”, which represented a high degree of respect during the late edo period, was used around 1877 as, despite the generalization of the phrase “o~ni-naru”, this phrase could similarly represent a high degree of resp.