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The ''Nihon shoki'' ([[720]]) and ''Kojiki'' ([[712]]) are generally considered the earliest surviving major-length works in Japanese. Other documents from the [[Shosoin|Shôsôin Imperial Repository]] of similar age should similar linguistic forms. While the ''Nihon shoki'' was written almost entirely in ''kanji'', the ''Kojiki'' employed a more thoroughly indigenous (non-Sinic) form. Buddhist texts written in Chinese began to be notated, or re-written, in various ways at this time to become legible as Japanese, marking the beginning of some of the earliest forms of ''kundoku''.
The ''Nihon shoki'' ([[720]]) and ''Kojiki'' ([[712]]) are generally considered the earliest surviving major-length works in Japanese. Other documents from the [[Shosoin|Shôsôin Imperial Repository]] of similar age should similar linguistic forms. While the ''Nihon shoki'' was written almost entirely in ''kanji'', the ''Kojiki'' employed a more thoroughly indigenous (non-Sinic) form. Buddhist texts written in Chinese began to be notated, or re-written, in various ways at this time to become legible as Japanese, marking the beginning of some of the earliest forms of ''kundoku''.
''Katakana'' began to be used in combination with ''kanji'' in the 11th century, if not earlier. This took place in three different ways: (a) as ''furigana'' pronunciation guides alongside the characters in ''kanbun'' texts, (b) as ''okurigana'', interspersed along with ''kanji'' to provide prepositions, particles, verb & adjective conjugations, and so forth in ''wabun'' texts, or (c) as the dominant mode of writing, with only a more limited distribution of ''kanji''. One famous early example of this is seen in a famous 13th century handscroll manuscript copy of the ''[[Hojoki|Hôjôki]]'', which uses ''katakana'' (and no ''hiragana'') extensively throughout the text, and which most often serves today as the model for ''katsuji'' (modern type-printed) versions of the text.
In Heian and early medieval ''kanji''-heavy texts, where ''kana'' were used directly in the text (i.e. not as ''furigana'' to the side of a ''kanji''), they were generally written smaller, and to one side, within the column of characters. By the 13th century, however, they were being written full-size and centered within the column. To a certain extent, ''katakana'' came to be used to give a text a more Chinese feel, while ''hiragana'' was reserved for texts with a more Japanese feel, including collections of ''[[waka]]'' poetry and ''[[monogatari]]'' tales.
===Medieval===
===Medieval===
==References==
==References==
*Nakashima Takashi, Ogawa Yasuhiko, Unno Keisuke, lectures, Wahon Literacies symposium/workshop, UCLA & UC Santa Barbara, 31 Aug to 4 Sept, 2015.[http://www.alc.ucla.edu/event/wahon-literacies/]
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[[Category:Resource Articles]]
[[Category:Resource Articles]]
