Encho's narratives, recorded with the newly developed stenography, were highly appreciated as the literature which united the written and spoken language. These narratives became a criterion for the literary men of the modern period. Encho, however, was not the first to achieve this unity of the written and spoken language. There were some other attempts made in those days. The questions then are: why Encho's attempt became the criterion, how it differs from the others, and what are the merits and demerits of using it as a criterion. I've discussed Encho's unification of written and spoken language and its limitations, refering to "the Refined Tokyo Dialect," and analyzed it in connection with Ukigumo (Floating Clouds) by Futabatei Shimei. Shimei must have had various restrictions in taking after the unification of written and spoken language of Encho's, which I also have discussed in this report.
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