2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
A linguistic anthropological analysis of interaction in Ishigaki : A quest for the intersection between language, gesture, and environment
| Project/Area Number |
21820053
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Linguistics
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| Research Institution | Waseda University |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKEKURO Makiko Waseda University, 法学学術院, 講師 (80434223)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2009 – 2010
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| Keywords | 言語人類学 / 相互行為 / 言語 / ジェスチャー |
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| Research Abstract |
Based on data from video-recordings collected during field visits to Ishigaki Island (the main island of the Yaeyama Islands, the southernmost of several island groups, making up the prefecture of Okinawa, Japan), this study explores how Japanese speakers of Isigaki-dialect express space in their speech and gesture. The study demonstrates that the description of cardinal directions in Ishigaki speakers' speech is frequently matched by and occurs with a parallel directional precision in their gesture. The geography of Ishigaki and housing structures seem to be related to the demand for directional accuracy in their speech and gesture. On this small island surrounded by the sea, the direction of the sea and the south often serve as crucial reference points for people's lives especially during the typhoon season. There is not only linguistic and gestural support but also geographic and support for directional accuracy among Ishigaki speakers. Furthermore, people in Ishigaki change the spatial frame of reference, according to their interlocutors' background. Thus, their use of spatial frame of reference is intersubjectively constructed.
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