Ask any long-term student of Japanese which book they couldn¡¯t live without, and chances are they¡¯ll name A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. For decades, it has been quietly sitting on desks, a reliable companion whenever a classroom explanation fell short.
Now, 36 years after its publication, The Japan Times has released a fully revised edition of this indispensable guide. What¡¯s new isn¡¯t just the examples or formatting ¡ª it¡¯s the reflection of how Japanese itself has shifted, from changes in politeness and gendered speech to modern interpretations of core grammar points like ¤È¤¤¤¦ (to iu) and ¤À/¤Ç¤¹ (da/desu).
First off, the dictionary itself is called ÈÕ±¾ÕZ»ù±¾ÎÄ·¨´Çµä (Nihongo kihon ²ú³Ü²Ô±è¨ jiten) in Japanese. Breaking that î}Ãû (daimei, title) down results in this: ÈÕ±¾ÕZ (Nihongo, Japanese), »ù±¾ (kihon, basic/standard), ÎÄ·¨ (²ú³Ü²Ô±è¨, grammar) and ´Çµä (jiten, dictionary). Note that the word for ¡°dictionary¡± is usually ´Ç•ø (jisho), but ´Çµä is used when referring to more specialized reference works.
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