Iconicity in the syntax and lexical semantics of sound-symbolic words in Japanese
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Kiyoko Toratani
Abstract
This study offers a response to Akita (2013a) who proposes a relation between the lexical semantics of sound-symbolic words and their realizations in a syntactic structure, drawing on a universal lexical hierarchy termed the Lexical Iconicity Hierarchy (LIH). This study examines Akita’s proposal drawing on data from Japanese mimetics. It suggests the LIH-based proposal may be difficult to maintain in its current format on the basis of (i) a frequency count of mimetics entered in a mid-sized mimetic dictionary and (ii) the syntactic characteristics of phonomimes (e.g., bukubuku ‘bubbling’), working within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar.
Abstract
This study offers a response to Akita (2013a) who proposes a relation between the lexical semantics of sound-symbolic words and their realizations in a syntactic structure, drawing on a universal lexical hierarchy termed the Lexical Iconicity Hierarchy (LIH). This study examines Akita’s proposal drawing on data from Japanese mimetics. It suggests the LIH-based proposal may be difficult to maintain in its current format on the basis of (i) a frequency count of mimetics entered in a mid-sized mimetic dictionary and (ii) the syntactic characteristics of phonomimes (e.g., bukubuku ‘bubbling’), working within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
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General
- Three paradigms of iconicity research in language and literature 13
- Iconicity of logic - and the roots of "iconicity" concept 35
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Sound Meets Meaning
- Iconic inferences about personality 57
- Phonemes as images 71
- Synaesthetic sound iconicity 93
- What’s in a mimetic? 109
- Iconicity in the syntax and lexical semantics of sound-symbolic words in Japanese 125
- A corpus-based semantic analysis of Japanese mimetic verbs 143
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Language Meets Literature
- Iconicity in translation 163
- The days pass … 185
- Visual, auditory, and cognitive iconicity in written literature 207
- Don’t read too much into the runes 219
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Grammar Meets Iconicity
- Iconicity in question 241
- Rethinking diagrammatic iconicity from an evolutionary perspective 259
- Author index 275
- Subject index 277
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
General
- Three paradigms of iconicity research in language and literature 13
- Iconicity of logic - and the roots of "iconicity" concept 35
-
Sound Meets Meaning
- Iconic inferences about personality 57
- Phonemes as images 71
- Synaesthetic sound iconicity 93
- What’s in a mimetic? 109
- Iconicity in the syntax and lexical semantics of sound-symbolic words in Japanese 125
- A corpus-based semantic analysis of Japanese mimetic verbs 143
-
Language Meets Literature
- Iconicity in translation 163
- The days pass … 185
- Visual, auditory, and cognitive iconicity in written literature 207
- Don’t read too much into the runes 219
-
Grammar Meets Iconicity
- Iconicity in question 241
- Rethinking diagrammatic iconicity from an evolutionary perspective 259
- Author index 275
- Subject index 277
