1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A new language Order of Japanese Abroad : A Study of the Use of Japanese Honorific Language among Speakers of Japanese Parent age
| Project/Area Number |
09680301
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Japanese language education
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| Research Institution | Tokiwa University |
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Principal Investigator |
YAMASHITA Akemi Tokiwa University, Dept. of Applied International Studies, Associate Professor, 国際学部, 助教授 (10245029)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 1999
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| Keywords | Japanese Language / Honorific expression / politeness / Japanese Brazillians / Japanese Parentage / Language contact migration / Heritage Language / 言語干渉 |
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| Research Abstract |
The project is designed to investigate the ways in which the use of polite Japanese by non-native speakers changes when they in a social and cultural context very different from Japan.
Most Japanese-Brazilians use a fossilized form of Japanese, where their ability to express relative status through language is greatly reduced, despite the fact that status differences are integral to Brazilian society. Japanese, often spoken in the home and taught in school, serve primarily as a marker of minority social identity, rather than a practical tool.
The surprising finding is that nevertheless, the frequency of appropriately used honorific form is much higher in the U.S. than in Brazil.
The half of Japanese Brazilian speakers of Japanese maintain traditional honorific expressions and the rest of them shows more democratic and friendly expressions in Japanese language use, that is, they prefer to use the polite form rather than honorific and hierarchical expression.
It appears that generations, mother tongue and the experience of living in the Japanese colony are three significant variable that correlate with a fully functioning use of linguistic forms that express status hierarchy.
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