Chapter 3

The Written Language 184v-206v Names, Titles, etc. 206v-212v The Arithmetic 212v-239

{12}

Given these differing formats[10] it is clear that Collado is unable to cope adequately with the more complex aspects of the grammar, specifically those syntactic constructions to which Rodriguez devotes almost an entire book.

An analysis of Collado's description and a listing of the portions of Rodriguez' grammar from which material was taken yields the following:

_Collado_ _Rodriguez_

Phonology (3-5) {Parts of Speech (55-58) {Book III (173-179v)

Nouns (6-13) {Declensions (1-2v) {Parts of Speech (59-61)

Adjectives (9-11, 32-33) {Declensions (2-2v) {Conjugations (47-52) {Parts of Speech (61-67)

Pronouns (13-18) {Declensions (2v) {Parts of Speech (67-68)

Verbs (18-49) {Conjugations (6v-54v) {Parts of Speech (69-73) {Syntax (83v-112v)

Adverbs (49-57) {Parts of Speech (73v-77) {Syntax (113-125)

Prepositions (57-59) {Parts of Speech (73-73v) {Syntax (140-148v)

Conjunctions (59-60) {Parts of Speech (76-76v) {Syntax (130-137)

Exclamations (60-61) {Parts of Speech (76-76v) {Syntax (125-130)

Syntax (61-66) Book II (83-168)

Arithmetic (66-75) Book III (212v-239)

Written Language (74-75) Book III (184v-206v)

Two aspects of Japanese were not able to be described with any degree of satisfaction by Collado; the adjectives (_adjectiva_) and the prepositions (_praepositio_). His difficulties, attributable to the basic structural difference between Latin and Japanese, were compounded by the fact that Rodriguez too was unable to find a satisfactory solution to their description.

With respect to the adjectives, Collado attempts to deal with their functions in the manner appropriate to Latin, that is as a sub-class of {13} nouns (pp. 9-11). He also recognizes their formal similarity to the verb and treats them briefly as a sub-class of the substantive verb (pp. 32-33), but his heavy reliance upon the semantic categories of Latin does not permit him to follow Rodriguez who is able more clearly to recognize their formal as well as their functional distinctiveness.

Concerning prepositions, Collado was confronted with an all but insurmountable taxonomic problem. Here too Rodriguez was unable to develop a completely satisfactory descriptive framework. In the _Arte_ the term _posposição_ is used for those particles which function in a manner similar to the Latin prepositions; e.g., _tameni_, _taixite_, and _tomoni_ (cf. 73-73v and 140-148v); the term _artigo_ is used for those particles having the functions of the inflectional endings of Latin; e.g., _ga_, _ye_, and _ni_ (cf. 1-2, 78, and 137-140); and the general term _particula_ is used to cover the broad spectrum of particles that include adverbs, conjunctions, and exclamations, as well as those otherwise unaccounted for elements which end phrases, clauses, and sentences; e.g., _no_, _nite_, and _yo_ (cf. 77-78 and 144-154v).

Collado, rather than attempting to refine the system suggested by Rodriguez, follows the _Arte_ in listing as _praepositio_ those elements which translate the Latin prepositions (pp. 57-59) but uses the term _particula_ to cover all the other particles of the language.

This tendency of Collado's to retreat from the challenging problems left unresolved by Rodriguez constitutes the greatest weakness of his description. Given concise grammatical descriptions on the one hand and over-simplified versions of previous works on the other, the _Ars Grammaticae Iaponicae Linguae_ unfortunately falls among the latter.

In his shorter work, the _Arte Breve_ of 1620, Rodriguez retains the same general format, but makes every effort to reduce the description to its barest essentials. Thus: