I'm currently trying to make my way through 羅生門 but I ran straight into issues with some of the older script on the first page. Thankfully I know my kanji well enough that 旧字体 shouldn't be too big of a problem, but there are some things that are holding me up (for example ゐる instead of いる and what I believe to be a 待っている written as まつてゐる). Does anyone have any general tips for what to expect/what to keep in mind when you are reading these texts?
by nugget_iii
3 comments
You’ve already seen the lack of small kana. There may also be a lack of 濁点. Also greater use of repeaters: 々, of course, but also ゝ, and its katakana equivalent, possibly with or without 濁点. Also, some kanji usage which would be non-standard today. One I recall from Soseki’s こゝろ was 這入る for はいる, and in another text 身家 for 身内.
Why don’t you read a version with modern orthography? They have it on Aozora.
Read a primer on ye olde orthography if you want to read it without modern reforms.
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