Was casually browsing through the Wikipedia page on modern Japanese literature and came across this line that has been bugging me for a bit. For context, I've included a bit of the beginning of the sentence, followed by the part I'm interested in bolded:
言文一致の結果、日本語の書き言葉は、それまで日本文学において重きをおかれていた漢文の伝統から切り離され、明治中期には現代の日本語の書き言葉に直接連なる文体が確立した。
Any time I've come across the verb 確立する, it's always been presented as a transitive verb (他動詞), with を specifying what is being established. One example would be something like 「方針を確立する」.
Yet in the quoted passage above, it looks to me as though 確立する is functioning as an intransitive verb (自動詞). I understand the passage to read as:
As a result of the unification of written and spoken Japanese, written Japanese was separated from the tradition of kanbun, which, up until then, had held significance in Japanese literature; and a formal writing style directly related to the modern Japanese written language was established during the middle of the Meiji period.
Once again, I've bolded my translation of 確立する. I've translated it as "was established" (even though I appreciate it's not a passive verb in this context) mainly because I can't figure out how to make the verb work as a transitive verb in translation.
Can this verb function as either an intransitive or a transitive verb given specific contexts? I know that's not necessarily true of all する verbs. I also wonder if perhaps I've mistranslated as a result of assuming that 確立する must be an intransitive verb in this context.
