Subjectivity-based language typology and its correlation with other language typologies: A cognitive-typological research

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02618
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Uehara Satoshi 東北大学, 高度教養教育・学生支援機構, 教授 (20292352)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Narrog Heiko 東北大学, 文学研究科, 教授 (40301923) ; 小野 尚之 東北大学, 国際文化研究科, 教授 (50214185)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 主観性 / 主体性 / 認知言語学 / 言語類型論 / アジア言語

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study has re-examined the research outcomes on the so-called “subjective” expressions, which are known to abound in, and be one of the characteristics of, the Japanese language, and upgraded them into the study of “subjective typology” in the research field of Linguistic Typology, which specializes in characterizing and typologizing the world languages. It has devised the theoretical constructs necessary for cross-linguistic study, such as the definition and subtypes of subjective expressions to identify them among similar expressions. With such theoretical constructs, it has also analyzed languages as to which languages possess which subtypes of subjective expressions and made many research findings including the one that Korean is one language whose system of subjective expressions is similar in type and structure to that in Japanese, but that such languages are rather limited in number.

Free Research Field

言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで語順類型等いわば客観的事象の表現形式の言語間差異を取り上げてきた言語類型論に、主観性表現による言語類型の方法を提案しその研究を行った。主観性表現の類型論的特徴を明確にし、日本語と同じ類型に属し同程度の主観性表現の体系を有する言語は数言語に限定されていること等を明らかにした。今後さらに対象言語を増やし主観性表現による言語類型を精緻化することにより、言語のより詳細でより多様な類型化が可能となる。
また、主観性表現に関して日本語と他の類型に属する言語間の自然な(非)対応関係のパターン化は、(機械)翻訳上・言語教育上・言語政策上の意義が大きい。