Chapter 3. Monosyllabic and disyllabic roots in the diachronic development of Japanese mimetics
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Shoko Hamano
Abstract
It has been demonstrated that the distinction between monosyllabic and disyllabic roots is critical in synchronic analyses of Japanese sound-symbolic vocabulary (also known as mimetics). This chapter demonstrates the relevance of this distinction for the diachronic development of Japanese mimetic words. Specifically, the chapter traces the development of the syllable-final nasal /N/ and the voiceless fricative /h/ and argues that these elements existed in monosyllabic mimetic roots before they appeared with disyllabic mimetic roots. The chapter suggests that this dichotomy may have implications for broader issues of language evolution.
Abstract
It has been demonstrated that the distinction between monosyllabic and disyllabic roots is critical in synchronic analyses of Japanese sound-symbolic vocabulary (also known as mimetics). This chapter demonstrates the relevance of this distinction for the diachronic development of Japanese mimetic words. Specifically, the chapter traces the development of the syllable-final nasal /N/ and the voiceless fricative /h/ and argues that these elements existed in monosyllabic mimetic roots before they appeared with disyllabic mimetic roots. The chapter suggests that this dichotomy may have implications for broader issues of language evolution.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Abbreviations and symbols ix
- Introduction: Ideophones, mimetics, and expressives 1
-
Part I. Phonology and morphology
- Chapter 1. ‘Ideophone’ as a comparative concept 13
- Chapter 2. The phonological structure of Japanese mimetics and motherese 35
- Chapter 3. Monosyllabic and disyllabic roots in the diachronic development of Japanese mimetics 57
- Chapter 4. Cross-linguistic variation in phonaesthemic canonicity, with special reference to Korean and English 77
- Chapter 5. Classification of nominal compounds containing mimetics 101
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Part II. Semantics and pragmatics
- Chapter 6. Towards a semantic typological classification of motion ideophones 137
- Chapter 7. The sensori-semantic clustering of ideophonic meaning in Pastaza Quichua 167
- Chapter 8. The power of ‘not saying who’ in Czech onomatopoeia 199
- Chapter 9. Mimetics, gaze, and facial expression in a multimodal corpus of Japanese 229
-
Part III. Language acquisition and multilingualism
- Chapter 10. The structure of mimetic verbs in child and adult Japanese 251
- Chapter 11. Iconicity in L2 Japanese speakers’ multi-modal language use 265
- Chapter 12. Ideophones as a measure of multilingualism* 303
- Subject index 323
- Language index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Editors and contributors vii
- Abbreviations and symbols ix
- Introduction: Ideophones, mimetics, and expressives 1
-
Part I. Phonology and morphology
- Chapter 1. ‘Ideophone’ as a comparative concept 13
- Chapter 2. The phonological structure of Japanese mimetics and motherese 35
- Chapter 3. Monosyllabic and disyllabic roots in the diachronic development of Japanese mimetics 57
- Chapter 4. Cross-linguistic variation in phonaesthemic canonicity, with special reference to Korean and English 77
- Chapter 5. Classification of nominal compounds containing mimetics 101
-
Part II. Semantics and pragmatics
- Chapter 6. Towards a semantic typological classification of motion ideophones 137
- Chapter 7. The sensori-semantic clustering of ideophonic meaning in Pastaza Quichua 167
- Chapter 8. The power of ‘not saying who’ in Czech onomatopoeia 199
- Chapter 9. Mimetics, gaze, and facial expression in a multimodal corpus of Japanese 229
-
Part III. Language acquisition and multilingualism
- Chapter 10. The structure of mimetic verbs in child and adult Japanese 251
- Chapter 11. Iconicity in L2 Japanese speakers’ multi-modal language use 265
- Chapter 12. Ideophones as a measure of multilingualism* 303
- Subject index 323
- Language index 325
