Bungo Manual: Selected Reference Materials for Students of Classical Japanese (Cornell East Asia Series)

Rating:
Summary: A good book, but best supplimented with another
Review: This book is a good refernce grammar, and very good for the student of Classical Japanese. However the Japanese vocabulary in the book is not explained well. I would recomend anyone who buys this book to buy a good grammar or dictionary with it.

Rating:
Summary: A must for students of Classical Japanese!
Review: This reference manual is a concise, yet thorough overview of the Japanese language of the classical era. As stated in the preface, its mere aim is to "bring together useful materials from Japanese reference works in a form convenient for Western students using the classical language." And so it does, with many references from the more well known writings, such as Genji Monogatari, Makura no sooshi, and Man'yooshuu, among others. The manual is carefully divided into various sections, based on grammatical function; vocabulary items are then introduced, with its various semantic values and its Modern Japanese cognate, or equivalent. Subsequently, examples are taken from a piece of classical literature to illustrate the particular vocabulary item's function--this method helps to maintain a high level of retention. Overall, this is a wonderful little book that is a lot more valuable than it actually costs...it is an investment that is priceless!