Mashiho Chiri () (February 24, 1909 June 9, 1961) was an Ainu linguist and anthropologist. He was best known for creating Ainu-Japanese dictionaries.

Biography

Chiri was born on February 24, 1909 in what is now

Noboribetsu is a city in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Part of Shikotsu-Toya National Park, it is southwest of Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, Japan. His older sister is

Yukie Chiri was a Japanese transcriber and translator of Yukar (Ainu epic tales). Life Yukie Chiri was born into an Ainu people, Ainu family in Noboribetsu, Hokkaidō during the Meiji (era), Meiji era. At the time, increasing immigration of Japanese peopl ...

and his aunt is

Imekanu , also known by her Japanese name , was an Ainu missionary and epic poet. Along with her niece, Yukie Chiri, she wrote down and preserved numerous Ainu yukar she learned from her mother. Life and work Imekanu belonged to an Ainu family of ...

. Though they were both native Ainu speakers, Chiri was not. He was taught Japanese, and learned the Ainu language when he was in high school. He graduated from the

Hokkaido Muroran Sakae High School Hokkaido Muroran Sakae High School (北海道室蘭栄高等学校, ''Hokkaidō Muroran Sakae Kōtō Gakkō'') is a high school in Muroran, Hokkaidō, Japan, founded in 1917. Hokkaido Muroran Sakae High School is one of high schools administra ...

. He had excellent grades, but couldn't afford go to college. Instead he worked at a local government office. Later, Kindaichi Kyosuke recognized his intelligence and invited Chiri to stay at his house in Tokyo and attend the . Chiri took him up on his offer, and graduated in 1933. He then studied at the

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

and graduated from the literature department in 1937. He was the first Ainu to enter the university. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

at the same university. Chiri taught at a girls' school and researched at a museum in

Karafuto Karafuto Prefecture ( ja, 樺太庁, ''Karafuto-chō''; russian: Префектура Карафуто, Prefektura Karafuto), commonly known as South Sakhalin, was a prefecture of Japan located in Sakhalin from 1907 to 1949. Karafuto became t ...

for three years before taking a temporary position at

Hokkaido University , or , is a Japanese national university in Sapporo, Hokkaido. It was the fifth Imperial University in Japan, which were established to be the nation's finest institutions of higher education or research. Hokkaido University is considered ...

in 1943. He became a full professor in 1947, and was awarded a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

on December 22, 1954.

Ainu language

Chiri's academic work focused on the

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu, is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isolate ...

. He won the 1954

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

for writing a classified Ainu language dictionary. He worked with to study the Ainu names for places, eventually creating an Ainu place name dictionary that helped to give a better understanding of place names in

. Chiri also translated Ainu stories, which were passed down orally because the Ainu did not have a written language. His translation style was meant to reflect the performative nature of how the stories were told, and he did this by writing them in colloquial Japanese and improvising. He also translated certain words like "

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

" and "

ejaculation Ejaculation is the discharge of semen (the ''ejaculate''; normally containing sperm) from the male reproductory tract as a result of an orgasm. It is the final stage and natural objective of male sexual stimulation, and an essential componen ...

" into

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

in order to avoid

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

, though they were written using

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

in his translations. This style was criticized by later scholars for summarizing content and adding new sentences, and some re-translated his work in a more traditional style.

Selected bibliography

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiri, Mashiho 1909 births 1961 deaths Japanese Ainu people Japanese anthropologists Linguists from Japan Hokkaido University faculty 20th-century anthropologists 20th-century linguists People from Hokkaido

Biography

Ainu language

Selected bibliography

Further reading

References