A cognitive study on language typology of speech event conception

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00563
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University of Education
• Principal Investigator: Izutsu Katsunobu 北海道教育大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (70322865)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 井筒 美津子 藤女子大学, 文学部, 教授 (00438334) ; 小熊 猛 金沢大学, 国際基幹教育院, 教授 (60311015)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 発話事象 / 直示 / 語用論的標識 / 話者 / 聴者 / (間)主観性 / 談話

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study explored variability and typological possibility of a speech event conception: the conceptualization of a speech event in which speakers envisage themselves as participating while speaking. Cognitive linguistics has posited a stage-based model of speech event, but it does not, unfortunately, account for the diversity of speech event conceptions found even in only some more than ten languages examined in this study, let alone linguistic differences closely associated with those diverse event conceptions in each language. This study examined specific expressions that involve speech events as integral part of their meaning and function in the relevant languages, thereby elucidating possible conceptualization types of speech event and proposing to view the similarities (and dissimilarities) among those types from the perspective of linguistic relativity rather than linguistic universality.

Free Research Field

言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究成果は、言語の表現形式、それにより表象される概念化、達成が意図される目的、といった言語コミュニケーション全般に関わる理解を大きく押し広げることに寄与する点で学術的意義がある。同時に、同一あるいは類似した言語体系内での誤解や誤伝達に加えて、異なる言語・文化・社会の間で生じ得る意思疎通上の問題の新たな掘り起こし、記述、分析、解明のために役立つ基礎研究の一部となり得る点で社会的意義は大きい。言語による概念化の違いに由来する、もしくはそうした違いを生じる、発話事象に関わる社会・文化的な前提、価値観、世界観といったものの理解とそこに含意され、工夫され得る人間行動的な方策の社会的な応用も期待される。