was a professor at Kyoto University. His work encompasses research on a variety of Tibeto-Burman languages, having made great contributions in particular to the deciphering of the Tangut language.
Biography Born in Osaka, Nishida graduated from the Kyoto University Faculty of Letters in 1951. In 1958 he became assistant professor at Kyoto University. During his studies Ishihama Juntarō and Izui Hisanosuke had a formative impact on him.Yabu, Shirō 藪 司郎 (2014). “Professor Nishida, Tatsuo and the study of Tibeto-Burman languages.” Memoirs of the research department of the Toyo Bunko 72: 180.
In 1958 he was awarded the Japan Academy Prize. In 1962 he received his PhD for his study of Tangut characters. In 1992 he retired as a professor. In 1994 he received the Asahi Award, and in 2005 the Kyoto Culture Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
He died in Kyoto in September 2012.
Nishida's approach, dubbed "philological linguistics" by Shōgaito Masahiro, involved the linguistic study of textual works and the integration of fieldwork on contemporary languages with philological study. In the context of this overall approach, one of his major theoretical contributions was the notion of "sonus grammae", the phonology that is implied by a script system as analytically as differentiable from the phonology of a language that uses the particular script system at a certain time and place.Yabu, Shirō 藪 司郎 (2014). “Professor Nishida, Tatsuo and the study of Tibeto-Burman languages.” Memoirs of the research department of the Toyo Bunko 72: 181, 187.
Works
Books
1964. Shina-Chibetto shogo hikaku kenkyū ryakushi シナ・チベット諸語比較研究略史I (Brief history of the comparative study of Sino-Tibetan languages I). Ajia Afurika bunken chōsa hōkoku アジア・アフリカ文獻調査報告 (Asia-Africa studies bibliographical survey report) 53. Tokyo: Ajia Afurika Bunken Chōsa Iinkai アジア・アフリカ文獻調査委員會. 1964-66. Seikago no kenkyū: Seikago no saikōsei to Seika moji no kaidoku 西夏語の研究：西夏語の再構成と西夏文字の解読讀 (A study of the Hsi-hsia language: Reconstruction of the Hsi-hsia language and decipherment of the Hsi-hsia script). 2 vols. Tokyo: Zauhō kankōkai 座右寶刊行會 (Chinese translation, Xixiayu yanjiu: Xixiayu de gouni yu Xixia wenzi de jiedu 西夏語研究：西夏語的構疑興西夏文字的解讀. Trans. Lu Zhonghui魯忠慧; ed. Nie Hongyin聶鴻音. Xixia yanjiu 西夏研究 [Xixia studies] 7. Beijing: Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Chubanshe中國社會科學出版社, 2008.) 1966. Ikiteiru shōkei moji: Mosozoku no bunka 生きている象形文字：モソ族の文化 (Living pictographic writing: Culture of the Moso people). Tokyo: Chūō Kōronsha 中央公論社. (Enlarged and revised ed., Ikiteiru shōkei moji. Tokyo: Gogatsu Shobō 五月書房, 2001.) 1967. Seika moji: Sono kaidoku no purosesu 西夏文字：その解讀のプロセス (Hsi-hsia writing and the process of its decipherment). Tokyo: Kinokyniya Shoten 紀伊國屋書店. (Repr., Tokyo: Kinokuniya Shoten, 1995; England ed., Seika moji: kaidoku no purosesu. Tokyo: Tamagawa Daigaku Shuppanbu 玉川大學出版部, 1980; Chinese translation, Xixia wenzi jiedu 西夏文字解讀. Trans. Na Chuge 那楚格 and Chen Jianling 陳健鈴. Yinchuan 銀川: Ningxia Renmin Chubanshe 寧夏人民出版社, 1998). 1970. Seibankan Yakugo no kenkyū: Chibetto gengogaku josetsu 西番館譯語の研究：チベット言語學序説 (A study of the Tibetan-Chinese vocabulary Hsi-fan-kuan i-yu: An introduction to Tibetan linguistics). Ka-i Yakugo kenkyū sōsho 華夷譯語研究叢書1. Kyoto: 松香堂Shōkadō. 1972. Mentenkan Yakugo no kenkyū: Biruma gengogaku josetsu 緬甸館譯語の研究：ビルマ言語學序説 (A study of the Burmese-Chinese vocabulary Mien-tien-kuan i-yu: An introduction to Burmese linguistics). Ka-i Yakugo kenkyū sōsho 2. Kyoto: Shōkadō. 1973. Tosu Yakugo no kenkyū: Shin gengo Tosugo no kōzō to keitō 多續譯語の研究：新言語トス語の構造と系統 (A study of the Tosu-Chinese vocabulary Tos i-yu: The stricture and linage of Tosu, a new language.) Ka-i Yakugo kenkyū sōsho 6. Kyoto: Shōkadō. 1975-77. Seikabun Kegonkyō 西夏文華嚴經 (The Hsi-hsia Avataṁska Sūtra). 3 vols. Kyoto: Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu 京都大學文學部. 1979. Roro Yakugo no kenkyū: Rorogo no kōzō to keitō 倮儸譯語の研究：ロロ語の構造と系統 (A study of the Lolo-Chinese vocabulary Lolo i-yu: The stricture and linage of Shui-liao Lolo.) Ka-i Yakugo kenkyū sōsho 6. Kyoto: Shōkadō. 1980. The structure of the Hsi-hsia (Tangut) characters. Trans. James A. Matisoff. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Culture of Asia and Africa. 1982. Ajia no mikaidoku moji: Sono kaidoku no hanashi アジアの未解讀文字：その解讀の話 (Yet undeciphered scripts in Asia: On their decipherment). Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten 大修館書店. (Enlarged and revised ed., Ajia kodai moji no kaidoku アジア古代文字の解讀. Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Shinsha 中央公論新社, 2002.) 1984. Kanji bunmeiken no shikō chizu: Higashi Ajia shokoku wa kanji wo ikani toriire hen’yō sasetaka 漢字文明圈の思考地圖：東アジア諸國は漢字をいかに採り入れ、變容させたか (Ways of thinking in civilizations using Chinese characters: How did the countries of East Asia adopt and transfigurate Chinese characters?). Kyoto: PHP Kenkyūjo PHP研究所. 1986. Ikyō no tami to Orudosu no kōbō 異境の民とオルドスの興亡 (Foreign peoples and the rise and fall of Ordos.) NHK Dai kōga NHK大黄河 (The great Huanghe) 2. Tokyo: Nippon Hōsō Shuppan Kyōkai 日本放送出版協會. (Co-written with NHK Shuzaihan NHK取材班.) 1989. Seika moji no hanashi: Shiruku Rōdo no nazo 西夏文字の話：シルクロードの謎 (On Xixia script: Mysteries of the Silk Road). Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten. 1990. Hakuba Yakugo no kenkyū: Hakubago no kōzō to keitō白馬譯語の研究：白馬語の構造と系統 (A study of the Baima-Chinese vocabulary Baima i-yu: The stricture and linage of Baima Language.) Ka-i Yakugo kenkyū sōsho 7. Kyoto: Shōkadō Shoten. (Co-written with Sun Hongkai 孫宏開.) 1995. Moji biiki: Moji no essensu wo meguru 3tsu no taiwa 文字贔屓：文字のエッセンスをめぐる3つの對話 (‘Script fan’: Three conversations on the essence of writing system). Tokyo: Sanseidō 三省堂 (Co-written with Kōno Rokurō 河野六郎.) 1997. Seika ōkoku no gengo to bunka 西夏大國の言語と文化 (The language and culture of the Kingdom of Xixia). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten 岩波書店. 1998. Seikago kenkyū Shinron 西夏語研究新論 (New approach to the study of the Xixia language). Ed. Nishida Sensei Koki Kinenkai 西田先生古希記念會 (Society for the commemoration of the 70th birthday of Prof. Nishida). Kyoto: Nishida Sensei Koki Kinenkai. 2000. Higashi Ajia shogengo no kenkyū I: Kyodai gengogun Shina-Chibetto gozoku no tembō 東アジア諸言語の研究I：巨大言語群シナ・チベット語族の展望 (Studies in East Asian languages 1: Prospects for the huge Sino-Tibetan language family). Kyoto: Kyōto Daigaku Gakujutsu Shuppankai 京都大學額術出版會. 2005. Roshia Kagaku Akademī Tōyōgaku kenkyūjo Sankuto Peteruburuku shibu shozō Seikabun “Myōhō Rengekyō” shashinban (Kumārajīva yaku taishō) ロシア科學アカデミー東洋學研究所サンクトペテルブルク支部所蔵西夏文「妙法蓮華經」寫眞版 (鳩摩羅什譯對照) (Текcт Сутры Лотоса на тангутском (Си Ся) языке: из коллекции Санкт-Петербургского филиала Института востоковедения Российской академии наук / Xixia version of the Lotus Sutra: from the collection of the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Tokyo: Soka Gakkai 創價學会. 2007. Seikago kenkyū to Hokekyō 西夏語研究と法華經 (Xixia language studies and the Lotus Sutra). 4 pts. in one. Tokyo: Tōyō Tetsugaku Kenkūjo 東洋哲學研究所. (Orig. pub, in Tōyō Gakujutsu Kenkū 東洋學術研究 (The journal of Oriental studies) 44, no. 1 : 209–36; 44, no. 2 : 191–216; 45, no. 1 : 232–72; 45, no. 2 : 208–47. Repr., in Seikago kenkyū shinron, 2012). 2009. Seikabun “Myōhō Rengekyō” yakuchū 西夏文『妙法蓮華經』譯注 (Annotated translation of the Xixia version of the Lotus Sutra). Vol. 1. Tokyo: Tōyō Tetsugaku Kenkūjo. 2012. Seikago kenkyū shinron 西夏語研究新論 (New studies of the Xixia language). Ed. Nishida Tatsuo Hakushi Ronshū Kankō Iinkai 西田龍雄博士論集刊行委員会. Kyoto: Shōkadō.
Edited books 1981. Sekai no moji 世界の文字 (Written systems throughout the world). Kōza gengo 講座言語 (Lectures on language) 5. Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten. 1986. Gengogaku wo manabu hito no tame ni 言語學を學ぶ人のために (For those learning linguistics). Kyoto: Sekai Shisōsha 世界思想社. 1994. Current issues in Sino-Tibetan linguistics. Osaka: Organizing Committee of the 26th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics. (Co-edited with Kitamura Hajime 木村甫 and Nagano Yasuhiko 長野泰彦.) 1999. Каталог тангутских буддийских памятников: Института востоковедения Российской Академии Наук. Киото: Университет Киото. (Co-edited with E. I. Kychanov and Arakawa Shintarō.) 2001. Sekai moji jiten 世界文字辭典 (Scripts and writing systems of the world). Gengogaku daijiten bekkan 言語學大字辭典別巻 (The Sanseido encyclopaedia of linguistics: Additional volume). Tokyo: Sanseidō 三省堂. (Co-edited with Kōno Rokurō and Chino Eiichi 千野榮一.)
Translations 1958. (Bernhard Karlgren). Chūgoku no gengo: Sono tokushitsu to rekishi ni tsuite 中國の言語：その特質と歴史について (The Chinese language: An essay on its nature and history). Tokyo: Kōnan Shoin 江南書院. (Co-translated with Ōhara Nobukazu 大原信一, Tsujii Tetsuo 辻井哲雄, and Aiura Takeshi 相浦杲; Repr., Sekai gengogaku meicho senshū: Higashi Ajia gengohen 2, 世界言語學名著選集：東アジア言語編 2, vol, 3. Tokyo: Yumani Shobō ゆまに書房, 2000.) 1978. (Sebastian Shaumyan). Tekiyō bunpō nyūmon 適用文法入門 (Applicational grammar: As a semantic theory of natural language/Аппликативная грамматика как семантическая теория естественного языков). Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten. (Supervision, co-translated with Funayama Chūta 船山仲他.) 1981. (Roy Andrew Miller). Nihongo to Arutai shogo: Nihongo no keitō wo saguru 日本語とアルタイ諸語：日本語の系統を探る (Japanese and the other Altaic languages). Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten. (Supervision, co-translated with Kondō Tatsuo 近藤達夫, Shōgaito Masahiro 庄垣內正弘, Hashimoto Masaru 橋本勝, and Higuchi Kōichi 樋口康一.)
Articles 1953. Birumago on’in taikei no kōzōteki bunseki ビルマ語音韻體系の構造的分析 (A structural analysis of the phonemic system in the Burmese language). Tōhōgaku 東方學 (Eastern studies) 7: 105–21. 1954. Tonematica Historica: Tonēmu ni yoru Tai shogo hikaku gengogakuteki kenkyū Tonematica Historica：トネームによるタイ諸語比較言語學 (Tonematica HIstorica: A study of Tai comparative linguistics with reference of toneme). Gengo Kenkyū 言語研究 (Journal of the Linguistic Society of Japan) 25: 1-46. 1955-56. Myazedi hibun ni okeru chūko Birumago no kenkyū Myazedi碑文における中古ビルマ語の研究 (Studies in the ancient Burmese language through the Myazedi Inscriptions). 2 pts. Kodaigaku 古代學 (Palaeologia) 4, no. 1 (1955): 17–32; 5, no. 1 (1975): 22–40.
1955. Makku-Suigo to Kyōtsū Taigo マック・スイ語と共通タイ語 (Mak-Sui languages and common Tai). Gengo Kenkyū 28: 30–62. 1957. Seikago on saikōsei no hōhō 西夏語音再構成 (The method of reconstruction of the His-hsia language). Gengo Kenkyū 31: 67–71. 1957. Chibettogo Birumago goi hikaku niokeru mondai チベット語・ビルマ語語彙比較における問題 (Tibetan and Burmese: Some problems concerning the comparison of their vocabularies). Tōhōgaku 15: 48–64. 1957-58. Tenri Toshokan shozō Seikago monjo nitsuite 天理圖書館所蔵西夏語文書について (On Xixia documents in the Tenri Central Library). 2 pts. Bibu-ria: Tenri Toshokanpō ビブリア：天理圖書館報 (Biblia: Bulletin of Tenri Cen-tral Library) 9 (1957): 11–17; 11 (1958): 13-20/ 1958. Pakupa daiji kokubun パクパ大字刻文 (Dhāraṇī inscription in ‘Phags-pa of Chü-yung-kuan). In Kyoyōkan 居庸關 (Chü-yung-kuan: The Buddhist arch of thefourteenth century A.D. and the pass of the Great Wall northwest of Peking), vol. 1, ed. Murata Jirō 村田治郎, 148–60. Kyoto: Kyōto Daigaku Kōgakubu 京都大學工學部 (Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University). 1958. Seika daiji kokubun 西夏大字刻文 (Dhāraṇī inscription in Hsi-hsia of Chü-yung-kuan). In Kyoyōkan, vol. 1: 170–86. Kyoto: Kyōto Daigaku Kōgakubu. 1958. Kanji daiji kokubun 漢字大字刻文 (Dhāraṇī inscription in Hsi-hsia of Chü-yung-kuan). In Kyoyōkan, vol. 1: 187–203. Kyoto: Kyōto Daigaku Kōgakubu. 1958. Pakupa shōji kokubun パクパ小字刻文 (Hymn inscription in ‘Phags-pa of Chü-yung-kuan). In Kyoyōkan, vol. 1: 243–69. Kyoto: Kyōto Daigaku Kōgakubu. 1958. Seika shōji kokubun西夏小字刻文 (Hymn inscription in Hsi-hsia of Chü-yung-kuan). In Kyoyōkan, vol. 1: 279–306. Kyoto: Kyōto Daigaku Kōgakubu. 1958. Chibettogo dōshi kōzō no kenkyū チベット語動詞構造の研究 (A study of the Tibetan verbal structure). Gengo Kenkyū 33: 21–50. 1958. Chibettogo to Birumago ni okeru tonēmu no taiō ni tsuite チベット語とビルマ語におけるトネームの對應について (Tonemic correspondences between Tibetan and Burmese). Gengo Kenkyū 34: 90–95.