Japanese Linguistics An Introduction

by Yamaguchi, Toshiko

• ISBN13: 9780826487902
• ISBN10: 0826487904
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-04-08
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

This introduction to Japanese linguistics is designed to introduce students to all of the main areas of the subject. What makes this book distinct from other textbooks on Japanese linguistics is that linguistics is introduced by means of authentic texts which students might encounter in contemporary Japan. The book covers:
* Speech sounds and sound structures
* Japanese vocabulary
* Writing in Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Roman letters
* Word structures, ideograms, morphemes and compounding * Sentence structure
* Word meaning

Each chapter contains an explanation of the key concepts of Japanese linguistics, followed by activities, which are designed to promote the students' active understanding of the forms and functions of the language in authentic texts. This textbook will be an essential introduction to Japanese linguistics for advanced undergraduates, and postgraduates, studying either Japanese language, or linguistics.

Author Biography

Dr. Toshiko Yamaguchi, visiting lecturer at the National University of Singapore

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xi
How to use this book	p. xiii
Speech sounds	p. 1
What are speech sounds?	p. 1
Vocal tract	p. 2
Structure of vocal tract	p. 2
Oral cavity versus nasal cavity	p. 2
Articulators	p. 3
Phonetic transcription	p. 4
Classifications of speech sounds	p. 5
Voiced versus voiceless	p. 5
Consonants versus vowels	p. 5
Place of articulation	p. 6
Manner of articulation	p. 7
Rounded versus unrounded	p. 8
Front/back	p. 8
High/mid/low	p. 9
Sound structure	p. 15
Phonemes	p. 15
Assimilations	p. 17
Allophones	p. 17
Vowel devoicing	p. 19
Vowel gemination	p. 20
Sequential voicing	p. 20
Alterations	p. 26
Sandhi	p. 26
Other alterations	p. 27
Mora	p. 30
Pitch accent	p. 33
Vocabulary	p. 40
Native-Japanese words	p. 40
General	p. 40
Expressions for body parts	p. 42
Weather expressions	p. 44
Sino-Japanese words	p. 45
General	p. 45
Multiple readings	p. 48
Foreign loanwords	p. 50
General	p. 50
Patterns of adoption	p. 52
Hybrids	p. 57
Vocabulary and text	p. 59
Old and new newspaper articles	p. 61
Vocabulary and mimetic words	p. 63
The writing system	p. 72
Kanji and Hiragana	p. 73
Katakana	p. 15
Expressing foreign loanwords	p. 75
Insufficiency of traditional katakana scripts	p. 75
Providing the pronunciation of words	p. 79
Accentuating words	p. 80
Euphemisms	p. 84
Roman letters	p. 85
Numerals and symbols	p. 87
Numerals	p. 87
Symbols	p. 90
Changes in the writing system	p. 96
Word structure	p. 98
Meaningful units	p. 98
Ideograms	p. 99
Free and bound morphemes	p. 100
Inside the compound	p. 101
Nominal compounds	p. 103
E1 opposes E2	p. 104
E1 parallels E2	p. 104
E1 is repeated	p. 105
E1 modifies E2	p. 105
E2 is part of E1	p. 106
E1 acts on E2	p. 107
E2 acts on E1	p. 107
Affixation	p. 110
Prefixation	p. 112
Suffixation	p. 113
Verbal compounds	p. 119
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 123
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 123
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 124
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 125
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 126
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 126
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 127
[Characters not reproducible] as V2	p. 128
Manner + V2 (change verb)	p. 129
V1 (action verb) + manner	p. 130
Two similar events	p. 131
Fused compounds	p. 131
Word meaning	p. 133
Relations between words	p. 134
Homonymy	p. 134
Synonymy	p. 138
Polysemy	p. 144
Antonymy	p. 146
Hypernyms and hyponyms	p. 148
Meronymy	p. 150
Meaning components	p. 152
Sentence structure	p. 157
Subject and predicate	p. 157
Topic and comment	p. 158
Topics other than [Characters not reproducible]	p. 161
Types of verbs	p. 162
Change of state verbs	p. 163
Passive verbs	p. 165
Indirect passive	p. 166
Causative-passive	p. 168
Donative verbs	p. 171
States and actions with [Characters not reproducible]-forms	p. 175
States	p. 175
Actions	p. 175
Case particles	p. 188
Receiving an action	p. 188
Direction	p. 189
Location	p. 190
Instrument	p. 191
Participation	p. 192
Reciprocity	p. 192
Experiencer	p. 193
Basic sentence patterns and spoken language	p. 195
Noun modifications	p. 201
References	p. 208
English index	p. 213
Japanese index	p. 219
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