A Cognitive Linguistic Study of English and Japanese Expressions: From the Perspective of (Inter)subjectivity and Objectivity

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K02594
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: English linguistics
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: HORITA Yuko 金沢大学, 歴史言語文化学系, 教授 (90303247)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 認知言語学 / （間）主観性 / 構文研究 / 事態把握 / 他動性 / 主語

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to explicate the relationship between objectivity/(inter)subjectivity, which are associated with Cognitive Grammar (Langacker 1987,1991), and English and Japanese expressions, in particular, related to‘transitivity’or with/without a grammatical subject. The present study has clarified a motivation for certain extended patterns in English cognate object constructions and caused-motion constructions by examining them in terms of‘construal.’Moreover,the parallel corpus I made consisting of a Japanese novel and its English translation helps me compare the two texts understanding the context and especially explore a motivation for the choice of referring expressions (e.g.‘you’or‘we’) in the subject position in English translations of Japanese original sentences without a grammatical subject, from the perspective of (inter)subjectivity.

Free Research Field

英語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

「主語」や「他動性」の問題に関する研究はこれまで多くなされてきたが、それらの個々の研究成果を整理し、改めて「客観性／（間）主観性」の観点から検証し直すことで、日英語の表現形式の根底に働く認知モードが明らかになり、さらには、典型的な表現形式からの拡張パターンについても人間の認知の仕方（概念化）に裏打ちされた動機づけを明らかにすることができる。また、客観性・（間）主観性に基づく類型化の研究に向けて、パラレル・コーパスを用いた、詳細で実証的な分析の必要性とその試みの一端を示すことができたと考える。