An etymological dictionary of the japonic languages
It is a paradoxical situation that with Japan being the third modern economy and Japanese, the main Japonic language, being the 10th in the world in terms of native speakers and the most widely studied Asian language, the Japonic language family still lacks an etymological dictionary.
The present research project will rectify this situation. The benefits of an etymological dictionary of Japonic are obvious: not only it will be of a great use to the specialists working on pre-modern Japan and Ryukyuan islands in various disciplines; it will have its impact on modern studies, especially on linguistic identities in East Asia. And offer a new reading of regional linguistic identities
The Etymological Dictionary of the Japonic languages has never been compiled, and the time for the realization of such a project is ripe, as it would have been impossible to carry on 30 or 40 years ago, since many important resources available now did not yet exist then such as numerous dictionaries and descriptions of dialects and historical stages of the language development. The same is true regarding the editions of many textual sources and compilation of their indexes. One very important difference with the previous era is also the fact that nowadays many sources are available electronically, which greatly facilitates the search and management of information. This project is highly innovative because it provides a presentation in context based on the extensive use of the IT technology, as compared to the previous research on Japonic etymology which was essentially word-list-oriented. In contrast with the current practice, where only word entries with their translations were provided (and often without any reference to the source), thanks to internet link to database, and cross-referenced entries, the electronic etymological dictionary will present the words in their textual historical and cultural context.