Emotive and interjectional uses of demonstratives ko/so/a in Japanese and i/ku/ce in Korean

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Other Title
  • コ・ソ・アとi・ku・ceの感情的直示用法と間投詞的用法について
  • コ・ソ・ア ト i・ku・ce ノ カンジョウテキ ショクジ ヨウホウ ト カントウシテキ ヨウホウ ニツイテ
  • コ ソ ア ト i ku ce ノ カンジョウテキチョクジヨウホウ ト カントウシテキ ヨウホウ ニ ツイテ
  • コソアとikuceの感情的直示用法と間投詞的用法について

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Abstract

Since Sakuma (1951), Watanabe (1952), and Kamio (1990), it has been widely assumed that demonstratives in Japanese are distinguished by personal deixis, rather than by distal deixis. The demonstrative ko- is for what is directly related to the speaker, so- for what is directly related to the hearer, and a- elsewhere. Basically, demonstratives in Korean, too, have been similarly described in the light of this explanatory device, which may be called the 'personal deixis principle'.In this paper, I examine "emotive" and “interjectional" uses of these demonstratives in Japanese and Korean, and show that the same three-way distinction based on the personal deixis principle, that is, (i) closeness to the speaker, (ii) closeness to the hearer and (iii) other situations, is maintained even in these uses. The findings in this study can be summarized as follows. First, the three-way distinction of deixis of Korean and Japanese is determined by the level of involvement and psychological distance of the speaker. Second, there is a point in common and a point of difference in emotive and interjectional uses of demonstratives in Korean and Japanese. The point in common is that the opposition between Japanese ko- and so- and that between Korean i- and ku- both reflect the contrast between the territory of the speaker and that of the hearer. The difference between the two languages manifests itself when so- and a- in Japanese and ku- and ce- in Korean are used to modify "abusive words" , that is, words that imply an abusive and insulting characterization of their referents.

Journal

  • 言語文化

    言語文化 8 (4), 761-790, 2006-03-10

    Doshisha Society for the Study of Language and Culture

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