文語

• 読み: ぶんご
• ローマ字: bungo
• 漢字の分解: 文 (bun) — writing, sentence, text; 語 (go) — language, word
• 発音: /bɯɴ.ɡo/

意味

Written language; literary language. The classical or formal style of Japanese used in writing.

A noun referring to the written or literary register of Japanese, as opposed to 口語 (kougo, spoken/colloquial language). In linguistic study, 文語 specifically refers to classical Japanese (文語体) based on the grammar and vocabulary of the Heian and Kamakura periods, which persisted in formal writing until the Meiji era. Modern usage also broadly distinguishes written style from conversational style.

例文

1. 古典文学を読むには文語の知識が必要だ。
2. 文語と口語では文法が大きく異なる。
3. この表現は文語的で現代の会話では使わない。

使い方ガイド

場面: linguistics, education, literature

トーン: academic

起源と歴史

From Sino-Japanese: 文 (bun, writing/sentence) + 語 (go, language/word). Literally 'written language' — the variety of language used in literary and formal texts.

文化的背景

時代: Classical

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Educated