At the Faculty of East Asian Studies, Elisabeth de Boer is professor of Japanese Linguistics.
ERC Starting Grant japanische Schriftzeichen (EN)
RUB, Marquard
ERC Starting Grant 2016
Genealogical tree of Japanese
The results provide insights into the routes through which the Japanese language was distributed.
Professor Elisabeth de Boer is investigating the origins of the Japanese language and how it spread. The Japanese dialect takes very different forms in various regions of the country. Contrary to expectations, the dialects in some regions that are very far apart from each other nevertheless have very similar features. In the first step of her project, de Boer is creating a family tree of the dialects using field studies, linguistic analyses and research involving documents written in older dialects. The results are intended to offer insights into the paths of prehistoric migrations that spread Japanese across the islands.
The ERC Starting Grant of Elisabeth de Boer is endowed with 1.5 million euros. The project starts in 2016.
ERC Starting Grant projects