The Japanese language is often under attack by linguists, translators and even amateurs for having a seemingly vague set of rules, making it near impossible to ever fully grasp all of the language's facets. Roy Andrew Miller guides the reader through these often contradictory allegations by evaluating Japanese in the light of linguistic science. He also pays particular attention to the problems inherent in certain systems for describing the language, and to questions posed by published translations from Japanese literature.

Roy Andrew Miller was Professor of Japanese in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington.

Introduction
1 The Language and the Script
2 Square Pegs, Round Holes
3 Native Guides and Foreign Tourists
4 The Semantic Fallacy
5 Time, Tense and Aspect
6 Translation and Translators
7 The Chicken or the Egg
Postscript
Notes
Index