A Study on Expressions with the Body Part Word "Mouth"

DOI NINJAL

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 身体部位詞「口」の派生表現に関する一考察

Abstract

The word ""mouth"" is not only used to signify a body part but also to express several other meanings. In this study, I investigate the meanings and frequency of usage of such expressions using the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese, in comparison with a Japanese dictionary, IPAL, and Word List by Semantic Principles. The meanings are classified into ""language,"" ""eating and drinking,"" ""things coming in and out,"" ""expressions and attitudes,"" ""kinds,"" and ""other,"" with ""language"" being the most frequently appearing. Expressions related to language and eating and drinking are easily associated with the basic functions of the mouth; however, others, such as those related to ""kinds,"" have meanings that have expanded beyond that. Since many expressions with ""mouth"" are widely used idiomatically, they would be easier to understand if example sentences are provided in the semantic classification. I show that in the Word List by Semantic Principles, the presentation of example sentences can make the usage of the word ""mouth"" easier to understand.

Journal

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top