Details of the Researcher

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Zisk Matthew Joseph
Section
Graduate School of International Cultural Studies
Job title
Associate Professor
Degree

  • 博士（文学）（東北大学）

  • 修士（文学）（東北大学）

Research History 3

  • 2020/04 - Present
    Tohoku University　Graduate School of International Cultural Studies　Associate Professor

  • 2020/04 - Present
    Yamagata University　Institute of Arts and Sciences　Adjunct Lecturer

  • 2012/04 - 2020/03
    Yamagata University　Graduate School of Science and Engineering　Assistant Professor

Education 4

  • Tohoku University　Graduate School of Arts and Letters　Department of Japanese Linguistics

    2009/04 - 2013/03

  • Tohoku University　Graduate School of Arts and Letters　Department of Japanese Linguistics

    2007/04 - 2009/03

  • Penn State University　College of the Liberal Arts　Japanese / Comparative Literature

    2002/09 - 2006/05

  • Tohoku University　Faculty of Arts and Letters　Department of Japanese Linguistics (One-year study abroad)

    2004/10 - 2005/08

Committee Memberships 7

  • The Society for Research in Kunten Language　Steering Committee member

    2024/04 - Present

  • The Society for Japanese Linguistics　Vice Editor-in-Chief of Language in Japan

    2021/11 - Present

  • The Society for Japanese Linguistics　Committee for the Promotion of Internationalization chairperson

    2021/11 - Present

  • Japan Society for Cultural studies of Chinese Characters　Council member

    2021/04 - Present

  • The Society for Japanese Linguistics　Public Relations Committee chairperson

    2021/06 - 2024/05

  • The Society for Research in Kunten Language　Committee member

    2020/10 - 2024/03

  • The Society for Japanese Linguistics　Public Relations Committee member

    2016/06 - 2019/05

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Professional Memberships 3

  • Japan Society for Cultural Studies of Chinese Characters

  • The Society for Research on Kunten Language

  • The Society for Japanese Linguistics

Research Interests 9

  • glossing

  • translation

  • descriptive linguistics

  • morphology

  • historical linguistics

  • borrowing

  • language contact

  • history of the Japanese language

  • Japanese linguistics

Research Areas 2

  • Humanities & social sciences / Linguistics /

  • Humanities & social sciences / Japanese linguistics /

Awards 2

  1. 2023 Chinese Character Culture Research Incentive Award: 1st Place

    2024/03　The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation　Zisk, Matthew. 2024. Grammaticalization in Kuntengo: Focusing on Imitational Borrowing from Literary Sinitic. Chinese Character Culture Research, 14

  2. 2008 Chinese Character Culture Research Incentive Award: 2nd Place

    2009/03　The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation　Zisk, Matthew. 2009. The influence of Chinese characters on native Japanese words: Taking Literary Sinitic xiě (写) and Japanese utus-u as an example. Chinese Character Education Research, 10: 6-45

Papers 33

  1. A Comparison of Morphogram-driven Linguistic Innovations Throughout the Sinographic Cosmopolis and Beyond

    Matthew Zisk

    Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America　10　(1)　5889-5889　2025

    Publisher: Linguistic Society of America

    DOI： 10.3765/plsa.v10i1.5889 　

    eISSN： 2473-8689

    More details Close

    This paper looks at six types of borrowings and contact-induced innovations in the Sinographic Cosmopolis that were driven by the use of morphograms as a borrowing medium. Namely, I look at the following phenomena, using examples from Sinitic languages, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese: pseudo-readings (Sinoxenic character readings with no apparent Sinitic model), loan derivations (patterns of derivation following a lexically flexible sinogram model), semantic modification (the reassociation of sinograms with words bearing no semantic relation), spelling innovation (the ad hoc use of sinograms as rebuses), loan styles (the use of Literary Sinitic as a means of encoding vernacular languages) and hybrid styles (a style of writing mixing Literary Sinitic and vernacular elements). Parallels are drawn with other contact scenarios involving morphographic scripts, such as Sumerian cuneiform in the ancient Middle East, emphasizing the often-overlooked role of written medium as an innovative force in language contact.

  2. The Word Formation of Directly Translated Expressions in Kundoku Texts of the Early Heian Period: Focusing on Konkо̄myо̄ saishо̄о̄-kyо̄ (Golden Light Sutra), Saidaiji MS Invited

    Zisk, Matthew

    In: Saitō Michiaki & Xiū, Déjiàn. Studies in Japanese Lexicology. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.　244-275　2024

  3. Editor's Introduction to the Inaugural Volume

    Irwin, Mark, Zisk, Matthew

    Language in Japan　1　3-4　2024

    DOI： 10.20666/lij.1.0_3 　

  4. Grammaticalization in kuntengo: Focusing on imitational borrowing from Literary Sinitic (Kanken Chinese Character Culture Research Incentive Award: 1st Place) Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Journal of Chinese Character Culture　(14)　2024

  5. Sinograms from the perspective of the "Foreigner" Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Japan Society for Cultural Studies of Chinese Characters (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Chinese Character Culture. Maruzen Publishing.　356-357　2023

  6. The history of kun-yomi Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Japan Society for Cultural Studies of Chinese Characters (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Chinese Character Culture. Maruzen Publishing.　222-223　2023

  7. Sinogram semantics in Japan: The creation of new meanings Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Japan Society for Cultural Studies of Chinese Characters (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Chinese Character Culture. Maruzen Publishing.　214-215　2023

  8. Sinogram semantics in Japan: The adoption of preexisting meanings Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Japan Society for Cultural Studies of Chinese Characters (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Chinese Character Culture. Maruzen Publishing.　212-213　2023

  9. Studies on the Japanese language published outside Japan: Focusing on research in Europe and America Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    Studies in the Japanese Language　19　(1)　73-76　2023

    DOI： 10.20666/nihongonokenkyu.19.1_73 　

  10. Grammaticalization in kuntengo: Focusing on imitational borrowing from Literary Sinitic Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Narrog, Heiko & Aoki, Hirofumi (eds.). Grammaticalization In Japanese and neighboring languages. Hituzi Syobo.　2023

  11. Glossing glosses: Methods for transcribing and glossing Japanese kundoku texts Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Cinato, Franck et al. (eds.) Glossing Practice, Comparative Perspectives. Lexington Books　47-82　2023

  12. The influence of Chinese characters on the meanings of Japanese words Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    The Window of Kanji　3　(2)　29-35　2021

  13. The lexicon of Nihon ryōiki Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Satō Takeyoshi (ed.). Studies in the Japanese lexicon volume 2, the lexicon of Old and Early Middle Japanese: The age of continental immigrants and nobles. Asakura Shoten　116-132　2021

  14. The strengths and weaknesses of Japanese linguistic terms as seen from their English translations Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    Japanese Linguistics　40　(2)　126-137　2021

  15. Introduction to Japanese dictionaries: Dictionaries of the past and present Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    AJALT　43　38-42　2020

  16. A brief overview of Japanese dictionaries, past and present Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    AJALT　43　42-43　2020

  17. Dependent words and dependent forms (translation of Hattori, Shirō. 1950. Fuzokugo to fuzokukeishiki. Gengo kenkyū 15: 1-26) Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    Pioneering Linguistic Works in Japan　1-32　2019

  18. Japanese-influenced and Japanese-innovated sinogram meanings: From the perspective of borrowing typologies Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    Japanese Linguistics　38　(7)　42-53　2019

  19. Using digital texts Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Ōki, Kazuo (ed.). An introduction to researching Japanese historical linguistics. Hitsuji Shobō　233-260　2019

  20. Collecting examples Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Ōki, Kazuo (ed.). An introduction to researching Japanese historical linguistics. Hitsuji Shobō　211-232　2019

  21. The semantics of Chinese characters Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Okimori, Takuya & Hiroyuki Sasahara (eds.). Japanese library: Kanji. Asakura Shoten　28-52　2017

  22. Origin of the Japanese writing expressions nor-u and nos-u: From the perspective of semantic borrowing through the medium of Chinese characters Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Diacritic Language and Diacritic Materials　139　28-52　2017

    Publisher:

    ISSN： 0454-6652

  23. Translating the headwords of An encyclopedia of Japanese language and linguistics: A look at the translation process and various hurdles Invited Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Studies on Early Modern Japanese　6　39-57　2017

  24. Middle Chinese loan translations and loan derivations in Japanese Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Japanese/Korean Linguistics　24　315-329　2017

  25. A classification of borrowings through the medium of Chinese characters and Literary Sinitic in Japanese and discussion of borrowing motives Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    In: Saitō, Michiaki & Masahiko Ishii (eds.). Approaches to Japanese lexicology: Syntactic, morphological, quantitative, historical and contrastive studies. Ōfū　197-213　2015

  26. Motives for Semantic Borrowing and Calquing from Old Chinese into Japanese Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    LSA Annual Meeting Extended Abstracts 2015　33:1-33:5　2014/01

  27. Development of a Borrowing Model for Literary Sinitic Loans in Japanese Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Proceedings of the Society for Japanese Linguistics 2013 Autumn Conference　207-212　2013/10

  28. A study of semantic borrowing through the medium of Chinese characters in Japanese

    Matthew Zisk

    PhD dissertation (Tohoku University)　2013

  29. Semantic borrowing through the medium of Chinese characters in epistemic expression: The influence of Literary Sinitic míng (明) on the semantic development of Japanese akas-u Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Studies in the History of Japanese Orthography　13　105-156　2012

  30. Semantic borrowing in kanbun kundoku: The semantic influence of Literary Sinitic zhù (著) on Japanese arapas-u Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Diacritic Language and Diacritic Materials　125　53-78　2010

    Publisher:

    ISSN： 0454-6652

  31. The Influence of Literary Sinitic 明 míng on Japanese akas-u Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Proceedings of the Society for Japanese Linguistics 2009 Autumn Conference　23-30　2009/10

  32. The influence of Chinese characters on the Japanese lexicon

    Matthew Zisk

    Master's thesis (Tohoku University)　2009

  33. The influence of Chinese characters on native Japanese words: Taking Literary Sinitic xiě (写) and Japanese utus-u as an example (Kanken Chinese Character Culture Research Incentive Award: 2nd Place) Peer-reviewed

    Matthew Zisk

    Kanji Education Research　10　6-45　2009

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Misc. 8

  1. List of Japanese Functional Morphemes (2024.09.10)

    Matthew Zisk

    2024

  2. Classical and Modern Japanese Glossing Rules (2024.09.10)

    Matthew Zisk

    2024

  3. List of Japanese Functional Morphemes (2024.12.31)

    Matthew Zisk

    2024

  4. Classical and Modern Japanese Glossing Rules (2024.12.31)

    Matthew Zisk

    2024

  5. List of Japanese Functional Morphemes (2024.07.01)

    Matthew Zisk

    2024

  6. Classical and Modern Japanese Glossing Rules (2024.07.01)

    Matthew Zisk

    2024

  7. List of Japanese Functional Morphemes (2023.08.20)

    Matthew Zisk

    2023

  8. Classical and Modern Japanese Glossing Rules (2023.08.20)

    Matthew Zisk

    2023

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Books and Other Publications 2

  1. Japanese Linguistics

    Mark Irwin, Matthew Zisk

    Asakura Publishing　2019

    ISBN: 9784254516814

    More details Close

    Thorough coverage of Japanese linguistics in 86 self-standing units. Features: * Thorough coverage of Japanese linguistics in 86 self-standing units * Includes topics never covered previously in general treatments in English: anti-honorifics, prescriptive grammar, Japanese pidgins & creoles, role language, non-verbal communication, kokuji, names, language in sub-culture, Tōhoku and Kyūshū dialects, JSL education & software, discriminatory vocabulary, the kokugo curriculum, loanword prohibition & reform, public signage, braille, research on the Japanese language, Japanese language tests and examinations For readers who are: * non-native speakers of Japanese studying both in their home country and in Japan * native speakers studying and teaching the Japanese language in English

  2. An Encyclopedia of Japanese Language and Linguistics

    Takeyoshi Satō, Tomiyoshi Maeda, Mayumi Kudō, Ryūzō Sakanashi, Fuminori Sakano, Seiju Sugito, Teruhiro Hayata, Yoshifumi Hida, Masataka Murakami, Masataka Yamanashi, Masaaki Yamanashi, Tadayuki Yuzawa, Kazuhiko Yoshida, Takashi Kobayashi, Matthew Zisk

    Asakura Publishing　2014

    ISBN: 9784254510348

Presentations 44

  1. A Comparison of Sinogram-driven Linguistic Innovations throughout the Sinographic Cosmopolis

    Matthew Zisk

    2025 LSA Annual Meeting (@Philadephia)　2025/01/12

  2. The Significance of Early Christian Sources in Japanese Historical Linguistics

    The Sixth Tohoku Conference on Global Japanese Studies (@ Tohoku University)　2024/12/07

  3. The Origins of the Network for the Study of Glossing and the Handbook of Glossing

    Matthew Zisk, Pádraic Moran

    The 131st Meeting of the Society for Research on Kunten Language　2024/10/20

  4. Proposal of a Glossing Standard for Late Middle and Early Modern Japanese

    Matthew Zisk

    2024/09

  5. Are Japanese Particles Clitics? (revisited)

    Matthew Zisk

    Discussion on Glossing Japanese Dialects (@Tohoku University)　2024/02/02

  6. Tips for writing academic papers on Japanese linguistics in English: Focusing on terminology and glossing Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    The Linguistic Society of Japan Workshop on Strengthening the International Dissemination of Information (Workshop #4)　2023/12/02

  7. Handbook of Glossing: Project Overview

    Handbook of Glossing Workshop　2023/09/28

  8. Proposal of a Glossing Standard for Modern and Classical Japanese

    Matthew Zisk, Mark Irwin

    17th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS 2023)　2023/08/20

  9. Morphemic Boundaries and Phonemicization in the Description of Classical and Modern Japanese

    Matthew Zisk

    2nd Meeting of the 2022 Academic Year for Research Project: "Development and Utilization of a Shōmono Corpus for Researching the History of the Japanese Language"　2023/03

  10. Towards a Multilanguage Dictionary of Japanese Linguistic Terminology and a Universal Glossing Standard for Japanese International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    Linguistics Terminology, Glossing and Phonemicization (LiTGaP) Winter Workshop 2023　2023/02

  11. Proposal of a Glossing Standard for the Description of Classical and Modern Japanese

    Matthew Zisk

    1st Meeting of the 2022 Academic Year for Research Project: "Development and Utilization of a Shōmono Corpus for Researching the History of the Japanese Language"　2022/12

  12. Rethinking the classification of Literary Sinitic borrowings in Japanese: Taking into account secondary borrowing processes

    Matthew Zisk

    The 125th Meeting of the Society for Research in Kunten Language　2021/10

  13. Japanese words and expressions originating in kanbun kundoku Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    The 7th Lecture Series of the Kanji Culture Research Center: Ancient Japan and Kanji　2021/07

  14. The influence of Chinese characters on the Japanese language and vice versa International-presentation Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    The 2020 International Conference of the Kyungsung University Center for the Study of Chinese Characters in Korea　2020/12

  15. A History of Views on Verbal Inflections in Japanese Linguistics International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    1st International Conference on Linguistic Terminology, Glossing and Phonemicization (LiTGaP 2020)　2020/02

  16. A Reevaluation of Grammaticalization in Kundoku: Focusing on Loan Derivations

    Matthew Zisk

    4th Workshop on Grammaticalization in Japanese and Neighboring Languages (GJNL-4)　2019/11

  17. A Proposal for an Online Glossing Encyclopedia International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    Glossing from a Comparative Perspective　2019/06

  18. How We Can Use Historical Linguistics to Make Language Learning More Interesting Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    321st Meeting of the International Association of Japanese Studies　2019/03

  19. Middle Chinese Imitational Borrowings in Konkōmyō saishō'ō-kyō, Saidaiji MS: Focusing on Loan Derivations and Loan Syntax

    Matthew Zisk

    3rd Workshop on Grammaticalization in Japanese and Neighboring Languages (GJNL-3)　2018/12

  20. Methods for English Transcription of Kundoku and Gugyeol Texts International-presentation Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    55th Conference of the Society for Gugyeol Studies　2018/08

  21. Glossing Glosses: A Look at Contemporary Glossing Methods of Kundoku Texts and a Proposal for a Universal Standard International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    Glossing cultural change: Comparative perspectives on manuscript annotation, c. 600–1200 CE　2018/07

  22. Semantic Borrowing through Kanji in Japanese Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    Kanji Culture Research Center Tokyo Lecture Series: The Forefront of Kanji Research　2018/06

  23. Toward a Set of Glossing Rules and Abbreviations for Citing Kundoku Texts

    Matthew Zisk

    118th Meeting of the Society for Research in Kunten Language　2018/05

  24. What Do Kanji Represent: A Reevaluation of the Term ‘Logogram’ Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    319th Meeting of the International Association of Japanese Studies　2018/03

  25. Three Types of Semantic Influence from Chinese through Kundoku Glossing on the Japanese Language International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    14th International Conference on the History of the Linguistic Sciences　2017/09

  26. The Origin and Development of Kun-yomi in Japan Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    302nd Meeting of the International Association of Japanese Studies　2016/12

  27. Sources Used in the Glossing of Classical Chinese Texts and Their Influence on Modern Japanese Orthography International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    Tapping Immaterial Resources: Glossing Practices between the Far East and the Latin West, c. 600 C.E.　2016/12

  28. Types of Grammaticalization in Kundoku from the Perspective of Borrowing

    Matthew Zisk

    1st Workshop on Grammaticalization in Japanese and Neighboring Languages (GJNL-1)　2016/11

  29. Formation Principles and Diffusion of Chinese Loan Translations and Loan Derivations in Japanese International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    24th Japanese/Korean Linguistics Conference　2016/10

  30. What the Kun-yomi Selection Process Tells Us about the History of Literacy in Early and Late Middle Japanese Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    Workshop for the Establishment of an International Joint Research Project on Japanese Historical Texts: Establishing the History of Literacy as a Novel Interdisciplinary Research Area in Classical Studies　2016/09

  31. Kambun Kundoku (Vernacular Reading of Chinese Texts) and Linguistic Borrowing International-presentation Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    Séance Scientifique, Samedi 12 Decembre 2015: From Punctuation to Morphosyntactic Glosses: East and West, Past and Present　2015/12

  32. Translating An Encyclopedia of Japanese Language and Linguistics Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    292nd Meeting of the International Association of Japanese Studies　2015/06

  33. The Influence of Literary Sinitic 学 xué on the Semantic Development of Japanese manab-u and maneb-u

    Matthew Zisk

    111th Meeting of the Society for Research in Kunten Language　2014/11

  34. Motives for Semantic Borrowing and Calquing from Old Chinese into Japanese International-presentation

    Matthew Zisk

    Linguistic Society of America 2014 Annual Conference　2014/01

  35. What is Borrowable?: A Look at Borrowing Typology in Japanese Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    278th Meeting of the International Association of Japanese Studies　2013/12

  36. The Role of Kanbun Kundoku and Prescribed Readings in Linguistic Borrowing

    Matthew Zisk

    Japan Society for Historical Linguistics 2013 Annual Conference　2013/12

  37. Development of a Borrowing Model for Literary Sinitic Loans in Japanese

    Matthew Zisk

    The Society for Japanese Linguistics 2013 Autumn Conference　2013/10

  38. The Influence of Kanji and Kanbunkundoku on the Japanese Language Invited

    Matthew Zisk

    270th Meeting of the International Association of Japanese Studies　2013/03

  39. Semantic Borrowing through the Medium of Kanji in Japanese akiram-u and its Cognates

    Matthew Zisk

    106th Meeting of the Society for Research in Kunten Language　2012/05

  40. Semantic Borrowing in Japanese Expressions of Writing: The Semantic Influence of Literary Sinitic 載 zài on Japanese nos-u and nor-u

    Matthew Zisk

    11th Meeting of the Hotaru ga Ike Language Research Center　2011/10

  41. The Influence of Kanji on Pre-modern Japanese Expressions of Writing: Focusing on Japanese nos-u and Literary Sinitic 載 zài

    Matthew Zisk

    103rd Meeting of the Society for Research in Kunten Language　2010/10

  42. The Influence of Literary Sinitic 明 míng on Japanese akas-u

    Matthew Zisk

    The Society for Japanese Linguistics 2009 Autumn Conference　2009/10

  43. Influence and Developments in the Japanese Lexicon from Literary Sinitic 明 míng

    Matthew Zisk

    355th Meeting of the Tohoku University Japanese Linguistics Society　2009/09

  44. The Influence of Kanji on the Japanese Lexicon

    Matthew Zisk

    350th Meeting of the Tohoku University Japanese Linguistics Society　2009/02

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Research Projects 8

  1. Construction and Publication of a Shо̄mono Corpus and its Application in Comprehensive Studies of Japanese Historical Linguistics

    Hirofumi Aoki, Toshinobu Ogiso, Yūho Kitasaki, Yuki Watanabe, Miwako Murayama, Matthew Joseph Zisk, Shingo Yamamoto, Nagahiro Yoshida, Makoto О̄tsuki, Sawako Yamamoto

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)

    Institution: Kyushu University

    2024/04 - 2029/03

  2. A Comparative Study of the Influence of Glossing on the Historical Development of Japanese and the Languages of Europe

    Matthew Joseph Zisk

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

    Institution: Tohoku University

    2024/04 - 2027/03

  3. Construction of a Shо̄mono Corpus and its Application in Japanese Historical Linguistics

    Hirofumi Aoki, Toshinobu Ogiso, Yūho Kitasaki, Yuki Watanabe, Miwako Murayama, Matthew Joseph Zisk, Shingo Yamamoto, Nagahiro Yoshida, Makoto О̄tsuki, Sawako Yamamoto

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)

    Institution: Kyushu University

    2021/04 - 2025/03

  4. Development of a multilingual dictionary of Japanese linguistics terminology and a glossing standard for Japonic languages

    Matthew Joseph Zisk, Mark Irwin, Seunghun Lee, Kunihiko Kuroki, Kan Sasaki, Michinori Shimoji, Heiko Narrog, Li Shen (~2020.03.31), So Miyagawa (2021.04.01~)

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

    Institution: Tohoku University

    2019/04 - 2023/03

  5. Basic research on grammaticalization in Japanese and neighboring languages

    Narrog Heiko, Kairong Yang, Asako Miyachi, Toshio Ōhori, Satoshi Uehara, Reijirou Shibasaki, Jialiang Li, Matthew Joseph Zisk, Michinori Shimoji, Noriko Onodera, Hirofumi Aoki, Haruko Saneda, Yūho Kitasaki, Naoyuki Ono

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)

    Institution: Tohoku University

    2016/04 - 2021/03

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    During the first four of the five years, we were able to conduct four consecutive workshops with the topic “Grammaticalization in Japanese and Neighboring Languages”. Presenters and other participants did not only include the direct participants in this research project but also other researchers from both abroad and within Japan. Through these workshops we were able to make more people in the broad research community aware of this project and instigate new research on the topic. Furthermore, the PI (Narrog) was able to visit the University of Cologne during the first four years and promote collaborative research with Prof. Bernd Heine there. Although activity involving face-to-face personal interaction became impossible in the fifth year, the PI and the other investigators were able to publish a large amount of research on the topic, including a monography and a handbook. A paper collection directly reflecting the collaboration in this project is in preparation.

  6. Reevaluation of the role of kanbun kundoku in the formation of the Japanese language from a contact/cross-linguistic perspective

    Matthew Joseph Zisk

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)

    Institution: Yamagata University

    2016/04 - 2019/03

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    The main purpose of this project was to reevaluate the role of kanbun kundoku ('vernacular reading of Classical Chinese') in the formation of the Japanese language from both a language contact and a cross-linguistic perspective. Kanbun kundoku is the practice of interpreting a Classical Chinese text character-by-character into the vernacular (in this case, Japanese). Due to it's metaphrastic nature, the kanbun kundoku process has heavily influenced the native Japanese vocabulary. In the course of this project, I searched for imitational loans (Japanese words coined after Chinese models) in a number of early Japanese glosses of Classical Chinese texts. Through my survey, I discovered that Classical Chinese has heavily influenced both the semantics and word formation of native vocabulary. I also discovered a number of imitational loan strategies unique to kanbun kundoku. Such strategies could be said to be the byproduct of language contact via a logographic script such as kanji.

  7. Semantic Borrowing through Chinese Characters and Vernacular Reading in Japanese from a Language Contact Perspective

    Matthew Joseph Zisk

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)

    Institution: Yamagata University

    2013/04 - 2016/03

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    In this research, I investigated the causes and effects of semantic borrowing as well as other forms of linguistic borrowing through kanji and the vernacular reading of Chinese texts (kanbun) in Japanese. I found that in addition to semantic loans, a large number of calques, both lexical and morphosyntactic, from Chinese are observed in Japanese and these loans are a direct result of two sociolinguistic phenomena unique to Japan: teikun (prescribed readings of kanji) and kanbun kundoku (vernacular reading of kanbun or 'text transposition'). In order to survey the spread of such borrowed forms to native literature, it was necessary to survey a large number of pre-modern, especially Late Middle Japanese (LMJ), texts. Thus, another crucial part of this project consisted of digitalizing such texts. In total, my team and I digitalized 17 LMJ kanji-kana mixed script texts totaling approximately 1,730,000 characters and plan to release the database on the world wide web in the near future.

  8. Semantic Borrowing through Chinese Characters in Japanese

    Matthew Joseph Zisk

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Research Fellowship for Young Scientists

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows

    Institution: Tohoku University

    2011/04 - 2012/03

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Teaching Experience 21

  1. Japanese I/J (Advanced Japanese Reading Comprehension)　Tohoku University

  2. English I-A/II-A/III　Tohoku University

  3. Special Seminar in Language Sciences A/B　Tohoku University

  4. Special Seminar in Theoretical Linguistics A/B　Tohoku University

  5. Special Lecture in Language Sciences A/B　Tohoku University

  6. Seminar in Language Sciences A/B　Tohoku University

  7. Special Lecture in Theoretical Linguistics A/B　Tohoku University

  8. Seminar in Theoretical Linguistics A/B　Tohoku University

  9. Introduction to Language Sciences (English) / Introduction to Japanese Linguistics　Tohoku University

  10. History of the Japanese Language II / Introduction to Classical Japanese　Tohoku University

  11. History of the Japanese Language I / History of the Japanese Language　Tohoku University

  12. Introduction to Japanese Linguistics　Yamagata University

  13. Cultural Studies of Chinese Characters　Aichi University

  14. English A1/A2/B1/B2/C1/C2　Tohoku University

  15. English through Multimedia　Yamagata University

  16. English for Communication A/B　Yamagata University

  17. Introduction to Classical Japanese　Yamagata University

  18. Kanji I/II　Yamagata University

  19. History of the Japanese Language I/II　Yamagata University

  20. English A/B　Yamagata University

  21. Introduction to Japanese I/II　Yamagata University

Show all Show first 5

Media Coverage 3

  1. Prof. Matthew Joseph Zisk receives the 1st Place Chinese Character Culture Research Incentive Award!

    kanji café　The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation　https://www.kanjicafe.jp/detail/11029.html

    2024/06/19

    Type: Internet

  2. The Reason I Live in Japan (February 10, 2020)

    TV Tokyo　The Reason I Live in Japan　https://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/broad_bstvtokyo/program/detail/202002/25632_202002100856.html

    2020/02/10

    Type: TV or radio program

  3. US Graduate Student from Tohoku University Achieves a Remarkable Feat: Student Wins Kanken Research Incentive Award of Excellence

    Kahoku Shinpo Publishing Co.　Kahoku Shinpo Publishing

    2009/06/08

    Type: Newspaper, magazine

Academic Activities 2

  1. Linguistics Terminology, Glossing and Phonemicization Winter Workshop 2023 (LiTGaP 2023)

    Tohoku University

    2023/02/14 - 2023/02/16

    Activity type: Academic society, research group, etc.

  2. First International Conference on Linguistic Terminology, Glossing and Phonemicization (LiTGaP 2020)

    Denkoku no Mori, Yonezawa

    2020/02/22 - 2020/02/24

    Activity type: Academic society, research group, etc.