Earticle

It is widely said that shi conjunctive postposition has two functions. One is to connect more than two phrases or clauses in a parallel relation. Another function is to present one or more causes or reasons for a result or an affirmation stated in the main clause. However, if we closely examine the function and the meaning of shi, not only in a sentence but in context, we can observe when shi connects phrases or clauses, they always act as causes or reasons for a result or an affirmation. From these observations we can conclude that shi conjunctive postposition connects two or more phrases or clauses in a parallel relation and make them act as causes or reasons in wide context.

This paper is concerned with the semantics of the aspect markers –iru, -teiru, and –teari used in Uji Shūi Monogatari, which is believed to have been written in the first half of the 14th century. Although there are a small number of problematic cases, there is a strong tendency to select V-teiru when the event referred to is both intentional and spatiotemporally specific. The meaning of each form is summarized as follows: · Progressive → V-teiru, V-iru · Resultant state, Long-term state, Habitual → V-teari (V-teiru) Although very close in meaning to V-teiru, V-iru has a preference for verbs denoting the posture or location of an animate entity, which may suggest its decline as an aspect marker. Particularly in Uji Shūi Monogatari, on the other hand, there are examples in which V-iru is used to indicate the continuation of dynamic situations when such verbs as arau (wash) and tataku (hit) appear in the V slot. It is further argued that the existence of examples such as oki-tachi (get up)-teiru, in which the lexical meaning of iru (be) is weakened in favor of the interpretation in which the resultant state is in focus, indicates that it has entered a new stage as an aspect marker.

Verbal expression is a direct means of affecting people, and the value of humanities is also embodied via language. By using language, people can move the hearts of others and deliver a desirable and positive image. When proper language education is provided to help members of the society use language to respect one another, they will be able to fight less and build a mature and sound society. There are vast changes happening in the use of the Korean language including the decline and misuse of honorifics, the universalization of status words, the generalization of feminine expressions, the rising frequency of blunt remarks, the increase of improper uses of English words, and the expanding of wrong words, expressions, and reading by punctuation. This study set out to examine the meanings of language education and propose instructions for three areas influencing language education: home, broadcasting media, and school in order to prevent the society from facing undesirable changes due to the wrong use of language based on the actual state and evaluation of Korean uses. An analysis of the Korean language through various cases would present more accurate uses of the language to Korean language learners; thus, promoting their accurate and natural understanding of the language as foreigners and offering some useful clues to the research of the language. Both the Korean and Japanese languages are moving along the same path of changes. It will be essential to make research efforts for the contrast and comparison of changes to these languages.

In this study, we attempted to conduct a vocabulary survey of the Korean and Japanese elementary school textbooks for 4th year to find similarities and differences between frequently used words of each word class based on the items of parts that resulted in a significant differences between the two textbooks. A brief summary of the findings is as follows. 1) In the case of the pronouns, the Korean textbook was found to be used 269 times in combination with the first person pronoun, “Na,” “ Nae,” and “Jeu”. Japanese textbooks also used the first person pronoun 72 times, such as “Watashi(35)”, “Watashitachi(13)”, “Ore(13)”, and “Boku(11)”. In Japanese textbooks, however, the use of the demonstrative pronoun “Sore(24)” is high, but individual usage of the personal pronoun is low, while the names in the novel are used frequently like ‘Yumiko(23)’ and ‘Matsui San(13)’. 2) In the case of the verbs, both textbooks tend to have similarity in high usage of verbs representing the movement, presence verbs and action verbs. In Korean textbooks, the action verb “hada(218)” was used overwhelmingly, followed by “Ittda(115)”. For Japanese textbooks, “Aru(41)” was most commonly used which correspond to Korean “Ittda”, and “Omou(35)” and “Kanggaeru(38)” were also often used to indicate thought. 3) In the case of the adjectives, in Korean textbooks, the word “Jota(79)” is was most frequently used word to express feelings, and “upda(78)” comes the next which indicates existence. On the other hand, Japanese textbooks were used 35 times both “ii(25)” and “yoi(10)” which correspond to Korean word “Jota(79)”. The second high frequency word is “shiroi(17)” which indicates color. 4) In both textbooks, onomatopoeia used more than mimetic words. In particular, for Japanese language, it is good information for Japanese language learners to know that Hiragana and Katakana, Katakana and hiragana marks are mixed in the usage of the language.

This study illuminates the concept of ‘Grammar’ defined by Kurokawa Mayori and searches for its types in “Kokoku Bunten Shogaku”. The book was written by Kurokawa Mayori, a kokugaku scholar, and published in 1873. Though he was a kokugaku(styudy of nation) scholar, his book was based on the western-style system such as 3 basic parts of speech(noun, verb, postposition) and additional 6 parts of speech(numeral, pronoun, adjective, adverb, conjunction, exclamation). One of the most interesting features of the book is the fact that he defined ‘Grammar’ as rules of sentences. This definition demonstrates that his idea about ‘Grammar’ is different with current one. We tried to explain his idea according to expressive factors, morphosyntactic categories, and linguistic types. As such, we could understand the perspective on grammatical categories in the 19-century Japan and reveal the value of “Kokoku Bunten Shogaku” on historical grammar of Japanese.

The present paper investigates how the three honorific variants of the utterance verb <Iu>, ① Ooseninaru･② Ooserareru and ③ Ossyaru, were used in the spoken Japanese version of the New Testament. What was found is as follows: 1) Ooseninaru was used when 1. the honorific agent was＜God＝Lord＝Father> or <Divive Jesus＝Lord>, 2. the utterance act was abstract, and 3. the utterance described large-scale contents. 2) Ooserareru was used when 1. the honorific agent was <God＝Lord> or <Jesus＝human Jesus>, 2. the utterance act was concrete, and 3. the utterance act was addressed from ＜God＝Lord＞ or ＜human Jesus＞ to particular individuals. 3) Ossyaru was used when 1. the honorific agent was <Jesus＝human Jesus>, <ordinary person＝Jesus＞or＜all the other people＞in conversation-style utterances and 2. the contents of the speech act were concrete.

This study is about the listener’s response in Korean and Japanese conversation. The target of the analysis is the host’s responses to the guest’s utterance in the Korean and Japanese talk shows. Listener’s responses were classified as back-channels and responses other than back-channels. Then, the frequency of each category is examined. The following are the results of the analysis. First, types of back-channel include listening, understanding, interest, admiration, sighing, surprise, unexpected, and agree by function. As a result of investigating the frequency of back-channels according to functions, The Japanese speakers use the back-channels of surprise such as ‘えー(eh)’ more than the Korean speakers. On the other hand, the Korean speakers uses the back-channels of admiration or sighing more common than the Japanese speakers. Second, listener’s responses other than back-channels are evaluated, repetitive, confirmed, preoccupation(Sakidori), and presentation of understanding. As a result of examining the frequency of each expression, the Japanese speakers conducted more evaluations than the Korean speakers, and the Korean speakers were more likely to present their understanding and preoccupation than the Japanese speakers.

This paper focuses on the features and tendencies that can be seen in the change from the adverbial usage to the interjectional usage, by taking the examples of “ikanimo”, “nakanaka”, and “makotoni” used in affirmative response utterances. As a result, the first common feature found in all three words is that the interjectional usage was used in the Middle and Early Modern Japanese, even though the initial examples of the adverbial usage represented different meanings from each other. Second, the response utterances by these three words do not have only the function corresponding to the counterparts such as “hai” and “ee” in the response- only format, it expresses the content that it is right and also has the function of showing consent and agreement about what the other person says. Third, the interjectional usage of three words was the response utterances to YES-NO Interrogative Sentences (only one example of WH Interrogative Sentences). Fourth, examples of modifying a noun predicate that does not have relative degree was used in the process of changes from the adverbial usage to the interjectional usage.

This study was able to identify and classify four types of patterns of meanings and form. It is based on the results of a contrastive linguistic analysis of idioms appearing in lower, intermediate, and advanced Japanese study materials, in contrast to those of Korean idioms. In other words, we have differentiated following traits in Japanese and Korean idioms: 1) A type (Complete Symmetry), 2)A′ type (Partial Symmetry) 3)B type (Dissymmetry), 4) ⏀ type(Asymmetry). Following the results of a basic quantitative and semantic analysis, we came to understand the following: First, there were a large quantity of semantic types corresponding to the types of idioms in the order of type A⟶A′⟶B⟶⏀. Secondly, the semantic degree of difficulty is also in this order of type A⟶A′⟶B⟶⏀, and thus, for educational purposes, should also be presented in this order. Finally, the way of thinking between both countries, as well as similarities in ways of expression and conception, decrease through this semantic order of A⟶A'⟶B⟶⏀, and therefore we can see an increased tendency towards abstract thinking rather than concrete ways of thinking. Thus, needless to say, a larger semantic degree of difficulty also shows a larger degree of difference between cultures and language customs between the two countries. As for future research, we would like to further examine, select and present definitions and standards such “basic idioms” and “medium and high-level idioms”, based on the classification of these four types. Finally, following these prior conclusions, we conclude it would be suitable to write learning materials on “level-specific idioms” as part of Japanese language learning materials.

In this study, the characteristics and differences of two languages such as Korean and Japanese were analyzed by analyzing and reviewing the discourse style in the promise cancellation scene from the viewpoint of discourse type, discourse structure, and discourse strategy. The type of discourse can be divided into a cancellation intention expression type, a reason presentation type, and an alternative proposal type. When analyzing and comparing discourse styles between different genders and between same genders, it was found that Korean and Japanese showed similar discourse style such as explaining the reason first and expressing the intention of cancellation or presenting an alternative. However, from the viewpoint of the ratio deviation, Japanese men and women seem to prefer the reason presentation style more than the Korean men and women. In the discourse structure, in the analysis of the discourses between different genders and between the same genders, Koreans (both men and women) preferred straightforward “Reason + Intention” style. In Japan, however, women preferred “Reason + Alternative” style, although males showed similar results to Koreans. It is found that Japanese women showed overwhelming dominance in the discourse style of indirect expression of the cancellation intention. Discourse strategies are categorized into implication type implicitly showing the intention of cancellation and non-implication type that does not imply the intention of cancellation at all. Korean men and women used non-implication type strategies. Japanese women have similarities in that they take the same non-implication strategy as Korean women, but Japanese men are adopting an implication strategy. They used different strategy from that of Koreans and Japanese women.

本研究では、約束の取消し場面での談話スタイルを談話タイプ･談話構造･談話ストラテジーの観点から分析考察し、日韓両言語の特徴と相違点について調べてみた。 談話タイプは、取消しの意思タイプ･理由提示タイプ･代案の提示タイプに分けられ、日韓異性と同性間の談話スタイルを比較分析した結果では、韓日(男女)で取消し理由を先に言ってから続いて取消しの意思や代案を提示するという同様の談話スタイルを見せていた。ただし、比率偏差の観点からは、日本の男女の方が韓国の男女より理由提示タイプをより好むことが分かった。 談話構造では異性間および同性間の分析でも、韓国の場合は、男女ともに直接的な<取消しの理由+取消しの意思>タイプで、日本の場合は、男性は韓国と似ているが、女性は＜取消しの理由+代案提示>タイプとなっている。これによって、日本の女性の場合は、間接的に取消しの意思を言う談話スタイルでは韓国の女性に比べて圧倒的に優勢であることを示していた。 談話ストラテジーには、約束の取消しを先に暗示する暗示性と全く示唆していない無暗示性に分類される。この談話ストラテジーの中で韓国の男女はともに無暗示性のストラテジーを行っていた。 日本の女性も韓国の女性のような無暗示性のストラテジーをとるという点では共通点があるものの、男性の場合は、暗示性のストラテジーを取っており、韓国の男性と違う様相を見せていることがわかった。 本研究により、異文化コミュニケーション談話スタイルの相違点が原因で起こりうる誤解の素地を減らすのに一助となるとともに、両国間の円滑なコミュニケーションに役立つことができると考えられる。

The 155th Akutagawa prize for literature goes to 36-year-old Sayaka Murata. Her novel is called “Konbini Ningen,” which means “Convenience Store People.” For that the media latched onto the author’s background rather than the novel itself. Murata continues to work part-time as a convenience store clerk, and gains inspiration for characters and plots from her work environment. The novel itself is really about how extraordinary people have to become average in order to survive. The protagonist, Keiko Furukura, has always been viewed as “strange” by others, including her family, who once thought she required treatment. She doesn’t react to circumstances the way “normal” people do, but she recognizes her differences and tries her best to fit in. In order to become a “regular person,” she begins working at a convenience store. There, she studies and copies other people. Convenience stores are the perfect place for this sort of project because they are run according to a job manual issued by management. Working there, she feels she has “become part of the machine of the world.” In truth, she is still the same person, but now “disguised as a member of society.” The protagonist, Furukura’s final choice to become ‘manualized human being’ rather than an individual human being leaves us to think about an Ethical problem in contemporary Japanese literature and its surrounding.

村田沙耶香の｢コンビニ人間｣が第155回芥川賞を受賞することになった。韓国や日本での本作への関心は作家本人が約18年間コンビニアルバイトと続けており、受賞した当初もバイトを続けているという作家の得意な履歴へと向かわれた。特に韓国での関心は本作が｢コンビニエンスストア｣を題材にしていることが浮彫りになって注目されている節がある。一方日本での反響は作品から読み取られるリアリティへの共感を高く評価した書評と主人公の造形が非現実的であり、｢自意識｣を欠落している主人公に対する否定的な評価に二分される。 しかし、何よりもこの作品が日本で大きな反響を呼んだのは、得意な主人公の人物造形にあるだろう。主人公古倉恵子は、既存の日本近代文学には描かれたことのない、｢近代的自我｣が欠落している人物であり、彼女によって日本近代文学が深化してきた｢近代的自我｣は一つの終焉を向かえ、歴史的事象となってしまった。社会という共同体と対地する地点を見出せる｢内面｣或は｢近代的自我｣を持ち得ない共同体その自体を一つの｢虚構｣にしてしまい、このような作品からは以後日本社会が進むべき道は見えてこないのである。

Being the eleventh novel of Murakami Haruki, After Dark features Chinese prostitutes and the Chinese underworld that make up the core characters of the work. This paper intends to investigate images of the Chinese and their linkage to the Japanese metropolis. In particular, there will be detailed discussion of Mari, a Japanese college student, and her relationship with Mr. Shirakawa, an office worker. By analyzing the significance of Mari’s sister, Eri’s slumber there is an attempt to configure the Chinese image of the novel. Furthermore, by means of describing the Chinese elements in the novel, this paper reconstructs the Chinese perspective of Murakami Haruki and raises an innovative argument on the novelist’s vision of Chinese images.