会話における人称表現の認知論的考察 - 呼称による人称表現の使用を中心に-

Abstract

This research categorizes and analyzes personal expressions in modern Japanese from a cognitive-linguistic perspective. The study divides these expressions into occupational titles, status titles, kinship terms, and other miscellaneous titles (such as nicknames and names). It particularly explores these expressions through the lens of 'subjective situation perception,' a fundamental aspect of Japanese communication. 1. Occupational Titles: Speakers use occupational titles to profile specific jobs based on the listener’s attributes, reaffirming their roles, and effectively conveying intentions through the use of metaphors and metonymies. 2. Status Titles: Intentional profiling of a personal or listener's status highlights the legitimacy and roles associated with that status. Speakers also employ metonymies to critique behaviors that diverge from the expected norms of status. 3. Kinship Terms: Speakers and listeners adaptively use kinship terms based on the speaker's age through a 'fictive usage' method, which helps categorize individuals as either older or younger, even in the absence of actual kinship or prior information. 4. Other Names: The profiling of notable listener characteristics allows speakers to effectively communicate their intentions through a variety of rhetorical devices, including metaphors, metonymies, and synecdoches. The analysis demonstrates that personal expressions in modern Japanese engage multiple cognitive processes, extending well beyond simple nominal usage. This multilayered function underscores the complex interplay between language and cognition in everyday communication.