Gradability in Idephones and Grammatical Integration

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12385
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Nagoya University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: Kawahara Koji 名古屋外国語大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (70582542)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: イデオフォン / 段階性 / 回帰的併合 / 間投詞 / 進化的連続性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Language distinguishes humans, showing complex abilities to convey both abstract and concrete ideas. Ideophones are sensory-imagery words that mimic the sounds or sensations they describe, often found across various languages. Their study can reveal much about the evolutionary development of language, as these elements share characteristics with the vocal symbols and gestures used by other species.
Similarities in the communication system of humans and other species suggest an evolutionary link. The study of these similarities helps in understanding the deep evolutionary roots of language and the scenarios that might have led to its emergence. The limited use of ideophones in languages indicates that they were more diversely used in proto-languages, reflecting an early stage of language development where expressive and sensory language was more prevalent. This pattern can be seen as a form of "lexical fossilisation".

Free Research Field

言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

言語研究の意義に，ヒトという種に固有の能力の特殊性と一般性を明らかにすることと，その進化的起源について妥当なシナリオを提供するという役割がある．イデオフォンなどの語彙には類像性や音象徴といった特殊性があり，同様の性質は他の種における音声記号やジェスチャーといった記号操作能力においても観察されることがあり，進化的連続性について考える重要なきっかけとなりうる．また，回帰的併合が自由に行われないということは語彙としての定着度が弱いということでもあり，これは原型言語の段階においてはイデオフォンなどの感覚・象徴的な語彙が特に多様に使用された反映であるとも考えられ，語彙の化石化とも考えることができる．