Architectureの訳語をめぐって

Abstract

This paper focuses on the concept of architecture; how this word was accepted during the end of the Tokugawa shogunate to Meiji Restoration and which Japanese word was used. As a result, the following was made clear. 1. The concept of architecture was introduced along with the western construction. 2. The word architecture, the art of unifying accomplishment, was first translated in the book, Rapounitsitaiyakuzisho, in 1595 as a study of “sumikane.” During the mid Edo period, its definition has changed to the art of building a house and the art of making a house, which resembles the definition of the word construction. 3. The word “kentsikuhaku” in the book called A Pocket Dictionary of the English and Japanese Language (1862) and the word “zoukadsutsu” in the book called Hutsugomeiyo (1864) appeared during the end of the Edo period. 4. The same pattern continues till the Meiji restoration. “Kentsiku” and ”zouka” began to be differentiated as two different words after 20 years of Meiji restoration. 5. Since Tokyo University changed its course name from “zouka engineering” to “kentsiku engineering” in Meiji 20th, the translated word for “architecture” has become “kentsiku.” That is to say, architecture does not only mean building or construction. It also contains the basics required to build something, the art of building a house, and the study of Sumikane, which has finally become to be translated as “kentsiku.” Currently, the word architecture is used literally in Katakana along with “kentsiku.” Architecture in katakana retains a meaning of a master as well.