Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Corpus Linguistics as a Tool for Metapragmatics in Japan

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Abstract

Language change has always reflected transformations of socio-cultural realities. However, in modern Japan, change in ‘the Japanese language’ in its conception as a monolithic vehicle of Japaneseness has been frequently perceived as a deterioration of linguistic substance, and by extension, as an erosion of order and culture. In this paper, software-based corpus linguistics methodology is applied to a corpus of newspaper articles within the framework of discourse analysis, with the aim of describing discourse actors and extracting pragmatic idiosyncrasies of the newspaper-mediated public metalinguistic discourse centred on language decline. My findings suggest that several pragmemes can be correlated with one or more of the main groups of discourse actors. These include the use of symbolic language, implications, objectifying language, and the construction of change as something happening (only) in the present.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Feb. 14, 2020 | Accepted: May 14, 2020 | Published July 3, 2020 | Language: en

Keywords Corpus linguistics • Pragmatics • Discourse analysis • Metalanguage • Language criticism

Copyright © 2020 Berhard Seidl. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-428-8/007


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