Paper short abstract:

This talk will propose that the stative/attributive meaning of the Japanese X wa Y o shiteiru pattern is established based on the dynamic meaning, namely the agentivity of suru by presenting linguistic facts that suggest that suru retains a ‘vestige’ of active meaning even in this usage.

Paper long abstract:

The Japanese linguistic pattern in the form of X wa Y o shiteiru, which uses the verb suru in the predicate, has various usages as follows.

(1) Musume wa nawatobi o shiteiru. ‘My daughter is doing jump rope.’

(2) Tsuma wa akai neiru o shiteiru. ‘My wife is wearing red nail polish.’

(3) Musume wa ureshi-souna kao o shiteiru. ‘My daughter is making a happy face.’

(4) Otousan wa marui kao o shiteiru. ‘My father has a round face.’

The interpretation of each of these usages should be described using different verbs when translated into English. Of these, the usage shown in (4) is interesting in that it describes the state or attribute of an object using the verb suru, which typically represents the performance or execution of an action or activity. Why is the verb suru, whose primary meaning is dynamic, used in this usage that expresses a static meaning? According to Kageyama (2004), suru here is a mere ornament used to establish the form of a sentence and has no practical sense. Contrary to this view, this talk, by presenting linguistic facts that suggest that suru retains a ‘vestige’ of active meaning even in this usage, will propose that the stative/attributive meaning of the pattern in question is also established based on the dynamic meaning, namely the agentivity (cf. Lakoff 1977; Lions 1977), of suru. The fact that the active sense of suru is even used to denote such static meanings is an intriguing issue from a cross-linguistic perspective. It raises the question of whether linguistic patterns with verbs that conceptualize the action or activity represent a state or attribute of an object can be found in languages other than Japanese.

Selected References

Kageyama, T. 2004. Kei-doushi-koubun toshiteno ‘aoi me o shiteiru’ koubun. Journal of Japanese Grammar 4(1), 22-37.

Lakoff, G. 1977. Linguistic Gestalts. Papers from the Thirteenth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 236-287.

Lions, J. 1977. Semantics Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, London and New York.

Paper short abstract:

This paper attempts at a re-evaluation of the Japanese word class system with focus on so-called no-modifiers by defining syntactic criteria for a subcategorization into subgroups of different nominal and adjectival status. The theoretical and empirical adequacy is shown based on a corpus study.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I attempt at a (re-) evaluation of the Japanese word class system, focusing on those modifiers that appear with the element -no in attributive position, in classical Japanese linguistics simply labeled as nouns. I show that what I label `no-modifiers’ should make up a category in its own rights, and that this category is more diverse, but also of greater significance for the Japanese word class system than previously assumed. I put forth a taxonomy of no-modifiers based on syntactic criteria and a division into dedicated subgroups which show a gradual change from nominal to adjectival status. Then I show how this process allows us to sort relevant lexemes into these subgroups which I exemplify based on a corpus study.

The array of possible parts of speech that appear with -no in attributive position ranges not only from nouns to numeral classifiers to modifiers sometimes called no-adjectives (Muraki 2012). In fact, most elements appearing with -no show mixed behavior. We find among others variation in the elements appearing in attributive position (-no vs. -na) or in contextual behavior (referential vs. modificational). It is generally argued that such variation, which with different exponents is observable in other languages as well, does not arise as an individual phenomenon but is related to the general logic and properties of individual grammatical systems and that for each language, specific criteria for class membership need to be put forward (McNally / Swart 2015). I argue that the category of no-modifiers is made up of several, I could establish seven, subgroups which can be ordered from more adjectival to more nominal. Besides the criteria mentioned above, elements in attributive position, and Reference vs. Property, I put forth the criteria Gradability and Nominalization as determining factors.

These criteria do not only make theoretical predictions, they have also proven empirically adequate and testable. I have performed a corpus study in the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Japanese (BCCWJ) by testing relevant lexemes appearing with -no (#=2300) and show how this subcategorization allows us to re-analyze and sort relevant lexemes into these subgroups.

Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates COVID-19-related borrowings, discusses their functions, and investigates their perception in Japanese media discourse. It argues that such borrowings overall were perceived negatively as ‘confusing, unnecessary', and even ‘dangerous, repulsive, causing discomfort and fear’.

Paper long abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immense impact on people’s lives worldwide bringing new concepts and lifestyle adjustments that found their reflection in the languages. The Japanese language had to reflect the changes in Japanese society by creating, adapting, and borrowing new lexical items both of foreign and native origin describing various COVID-19-related phenomena appearing across all the news media. However, the increased use of loanwords received a mixed reception as being confusing and hindering.

Previous research (Rebuck 2002) highlights that foreign-origin words in Contemporary Japanese mainly have one of the three following functions: 1) filling a lexical gap; 2) creating a special stylistic effect; 3) euphemistic. The functions of the new wave of foreign (mostly English) origin words were also utilized for one of the abovementioned functions. For example, some words such as パンデミック/pandemikku/ were re-introduced to fill the lexical gaps, however, most English-origin words have established native or Sino-Japanese near-synonyms and were brought in for creating special stylistic effects or euphemistic purposes. For example, 東京アラート[Tōkyō arāto] ‘Tokyo alert’ was chosen as the name of the campaign for raising awareness of the pandemic and facilitating the COVID-19 prevention measures most likely because the Sino-Japanese near-synonym 警告 [keikoku] ‘warning’ is frequently used and would not be standing out as much. The euphemistic use can be demonstrated by the example of preferring ロックダウン[rokkudaun] over 都市封鎖 [toshifūsa] which still has strong wartime associations.

The present study investigates English-origin COVID-19-related borrowings, discusses their functions, and investigates the perception of the new loanwords inflow by the Japanese media discourse. The results suggest that the use of foreign-origin words for the explanation of COVID-19-related phenomena led to the increase of ‘confusing, unnecessary’ to ‘dangerous, repulsive, causing discomfort and fear’. Thus, instead of the softening effect of the euphemistic function and the stylistic effect for the attention-drawing, the opposite effect was achieved with katakana-go developing more negative connotations.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between national identity and foreign language education. Analysing changes in English textbooks used in Japan since the post-war period, this paper argues that the focus has shifted from cultural input to output, reflecting the evolution of Japanese identity.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the relationship between national identity and foreign language education in Japan. English language classes have continuously been part of the compulsory education in Japanese middle schools for more than seventy years, and English is the first foreign language learned by the majority of the Japanese population. However, it has been pointed out by many scholars that the level of English language competency in Japan has never been at a satisfactory level. According to data provided by the ETS in 2019 on the average score of TOEFL, Japan ranked 27th out of 29 countries in Asia. In response to such a situation, the Japanese government introduced a large-scale reform in English education in 2020. As a result of this reform, English lessons were officially made mandatory in elementary schools, while the total number of hours dedicated to English was increased throughout the nine years of compulsory education. However, it was not only the increase of English language classes that characterised the reform. The contents of the English language textbooks used in Japan were also revised significantly. Indeed, Japanese English textbooks have gone through several phases of revision since the post-war period. The paper analyses how the contents of major English textbooks used in Japanese schools have changed from the 1950s to the 2020s. Based on the methodology of critical discourse analysis, it traces changes in terms of the main topics, characters, and images used in textbooks after each phase of revision. The purpose of the analysis is to investigate how Japanese national identity has impacted English language education in that country, and what the latest reform suggests in terms of the role of Japan vis-a-vis the rest of the globe. It will be argued that the focus in English language education has shifted from an outbound to an inbound flow of people, and from cultural input to cultural output which demonstrates the growth of interest in transmitting new values to the external world. It will be concluded that this change in language education discourse reflects the evolution of Japanese identity within the international community.