2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A descriptive study on aspects of vocabulary in Hong Kong Cantonese.
| Project/Area Number |
13410140
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
言語学・音声学
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| Research Institution | Reitaku University |
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Principal Investigator |
CHISHIMA Eiichi Reitaku University, College of Foreign Studies, Professor, 外国語学部, 教授 (20167513)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
YOSHIKAWA Masayuki The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Associate Professor, 総合文化研究科, 助教授 (30313159)
YAHANASHI Akihumi Kyoto Sangyo University, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Professor, 外国語学部, 教授 (20140973)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2003
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| Keywords | Hong Kong / Cantonese / Hong Kong Cantonese Dictionary / Cultural studies on the Cantonese language / 粤語文化研究論集 / 現代香港広東語語彙 |
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| Research Abstract |
This research project aims at describing aspects of the development of vocabulary in Hong Kong Cantonese. Hong Kong is a famous international city in China, which had been a colony of England since Opium War, 1942. The Chinese people living in Hong Kong were under the political control of England for about 150 years, and their language absorbed some concepts as borrowings from English and (written) Chinese, which make up the modern Cantonese vocabulary. We analyzed the function and structure of modern Cantonese words and phrases from the point of view of style, grammar and sociolinguistic aspects, and studied how they are forming as the elements of vocabulary in relation to their historical development and the cultural background of Hong Kong society. They developed their rich style and plentiful expressions under influences from such languages as English, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese.
The results of our investigation were provided to the description in the "Hong Kong Cantonese Dictionary" which has been compiled by the head investigator of this research project. This is the largest dictionary of Cantonese in the world, which contains more than 40,000 words. The words are ordered according to the romanized pronunciation, parts of speech are indicated and sample sentences given to show their usage. Furthermore, for important words, we also added some descriptions of their grammatical functions. We published a trial version of the dictionary and asked experts to use it and correct mistakes, and are preparing to provide it for Japanese students who learn Cantonese in the near future. At the same time we are making a digital text version of the dictionary with the help of a publishing house to provide it to users on a single computer or on the Internet. We also had annual meetings on the studies of language and culture in Hong Kong and published the proceedings as "Cultural studies on the Cantonese language" in 3 volumes, which includes 18 papers.
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Research Products
(12 results)
