古こ文ぶん

こ

ぶ

ん

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

classical Japanese literature; ancient writings

Refers to Japanese literary works from the Edo period and earlier, often studied in school as 'kobun'.

高こう校こうで古こ文ぶんを勉べん強きょうするのは大たい変へんだ。
Studying classical Japanese literature in high school is tough.
彼かれは古こ文ぶんの先せん生せいになりたいと思おもっている。
He wants to become a teacher of classical Japanese literature.

noun

ancient Chinese script; pre-Qin Chinese characters

historical term

Historical term for Chinese characters used before the Qin dynasty unification of writing.

この博はく物ぶつ館かんには古こ文ぶんの拓たく本ほんが展てん示じされている。
Rubbings of ancient Chinese script are displayed in this museum.

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Usage patterns

古こ文ぶんを読よむto read classical Japanese literature
夏なつ休やすみの課か題だいで古こ文ぶんを読よんだ。
I read classical Japanese literature for my summer homework.
古こ文ぶんの授じゅ業ぎょうa class on classical Japanese literature
古こ文ぶんの授じゅ業ぎょうで源げん氏じ物もの語がたりを勉べん強きょうしている。
We're studying The Tale of Genji in classical Japanese class.
古こ文ぶんを現げん代だい語ご訳やくするto translate classical Japanese into modern Japanese
先せん生せいがこの古こ文ぶんを現げん代だい語ご訳やくしてくれた。
The teacher translated this classical Japanese text into modern Japanese for us.

Kanji

古old
文sentence, literature, style

Related words

古こ典てんN2sense 1
古文 specifically means classical Japanese writing itself, while 古典 is the broader word for 'classics' from any culture or era.
文ぶん語ごN1
古文 refers to classical Japanese texts studied in school, while 文語 refers more broadly to the grammatical/stylistic system used in such writing.
漢かん文ぶんN1
古文 broadly means classical Japanese literature, whereas 漢文 specifically denotes classical Chinese texts or kanji-only writing studied in Japan.

Opposites

現げん代だい文ぶん sense 1
古文 refers to classical Japanese writing, while 現代文 is modern Japanese prose, and the two are taught as contrasting subjects in Japanese schools.
現げん代だい語ごN2
現代語 is the language as spoken and written today, while 古文 refers to classical Japanese texts and the language they were written in.

Don't confuse with· 5

漢かん文ぶんN1sense 1
古文 is classical Japanese literature, while 漢文 is classical Chinese text as read in Japan; students often study both together and mix up the terms.
古こ典てんN2
古典 is the classic work itself (e.g. a novel or poem), while 古文 refers to the classical Japanese language or writing style used in such works.
古こ墳ふん
古墳 (こふん, an ancient burial mound) and 古文 (こぶん, classical Japanese writing) sound almost identical but refer to completely different things.

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古こ文もん書じょ
古文 means classical Japanese literature or grammar, whereas 古文書 refers to actual old documents and manuscripts, not a literary style.
古こ語ご
古文 refers to classical Japanese texts or writing studied in school, whereas 古語 refers to the individual old words or the old language itself.

Word family

中ちゅう古こ文ぶん
Heian-period kana writing
古こ文ぶん学がく
paleography; study of ancient writings
擬ぎ古こ文ぶん
classical style; pseudo-classical writing

Etymology

Compound of 古 (old, ancient) and 文 (writing, script). The Japanese sense developed from the general meaning of 'old writing' to specifically denote classical Japanese literature.