Analyzes the mechanisms involved in speech level shift in discourse that contains the "des/mas" forms. Concludes that level shift is often used to signal empathy between speakers and to indicate coherence and the hierarchical positioning of utterances in discourse. (EKN)

Percentages of unexpected pronominal usage in Japanese are listed. Data was gathered from Japanese magazine articles concerning individuals. Tendencies rather than strict rules became evident. (SC)

A study examined the shift from standard spoken Japanese to dialect and compared it to the shift from formal to informal forms, within the context of several theories of code-switching and style-shifting. A five-minute segment was taken from a 30-minute conversation between three female native Japanese-speakers, all familiar with the Osaka…

Presents a case study in which the use of intricate varieties of levels of honorifics in Japanese is more complicated than traditional sociolinguistics has shown. The buraku (Japanese barrio) treated here is situated in the west part of Honshu, Japan, and consists of 13 households. (CHK)

Every language has different systems for expressing third party information. While in some languages grammar rules stipulate how to do this, in both Japanese and English the degree of indirection or direction a speaker should use to express information obtained as hearsay is genuinely a pragmatic language issue. English speakers tend to express…

Reports on two studies of the similarities and differences in communicative style between Japanese- and English-speaking parents. Findings reveal that Japanese mothers pay considerable attention to their children's narratives and facilitate frequent turn exchanges, whereas English-speaking mothers allow their children to take long monologic turns…

A study demonstrates the existence of a wartime register in Japanese newspaper journalism and characterizes its major linguistic and stylistic features. Special emphasis is placed on the aspect of modality as related to point of view. Modality expresses the mode within which the propositional content of a sentence is presented as certain,…

This paper examines two studies on language development and narrative discourse structure by looking at how language shapes and is shaped by culture-specific experiences. Conversations between 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, aged 4-5 years old, and their mothers were analyzed to study differences in narrative elicitation by mothers towards…

This study investigated: (1) whether there is a gender effect in the speech of Japanese learners of English as a Second Language; (2) whether the effect is positive if the interlocutor is female; (3) whether there are associations of gender effect with specific features of speech; and (4) in which linguistic features of learner speech the gender…

This volume contains working papers on a variety of topics in linguistics. They include: "A View of Phonology from a Cognitive and Functional Perspective" (Joan Bybee); "The Geography of Language Shift: Distance from the Mexican Border and Spanish Language Claiming in the Southwestern United States" (Garland D. Bills, Eduardo…

This guide provides an overview of the salient features of the Japanese language from the perspective of the beginning-level English-speaking learner. Chapters address these topics: the Japanese language and its historic and cultural setting; phonology (sounds and syllables, word accentuation; loanwords; connected speech); writing (scripts,…

A study investigated differences in the speech styles used in making requests among five native speakers of Japanese (JJ), five American learners of Japanese (AJ), and Americans speaking English (AE) and their implications for intercultural communication. All subjects were adults. Data were elicited in role-plays of a scenario including the…

Research reports included in this volume of working papers in linguistics are: "Perception of Consonant Clusters and Variable Gap Time" (Mike Cahill); "Near-Merger in Russian Palatalization" (Erin Diehm, Keith Johnson); "Breadth of Focus, Modality, and Prominence Perception in Neapolitan Italian" (Mariapaola…

An essay compares Japanese and American language, reflecting on the fundamental culture-based differences between methods of communication in Japan and the United States. Japanese and Americans have different systems of logic and thought, attitudes, and ways of expressing themselves, all of which are affected by their respective background…

The working papers contained in this volume include the following: "Intercultural Communication and the Analysis of Conversation" (Nessa Wolfson); "Methods of Inquiry into Cultural Expression in Speech Behavior" (Ruth Benander); "'I Really Like Your Lifestyle': ESL Learners Learning How to Compliment" (Kristine…