Variation and change in Osaka Japanese honorifics: a sociolinguistic study of dialect contact
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Date
28/11/2012Author
Strycharz, Anna Maria
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Abstract
This thesis is a sociolinguistic investigation into the use of local referent
honorific suffixes by speakers of Osaka Japanese (OJ). Its main goal is to add
to our understanding of the variation and change in the use of honorification
among Japanese speakers, by including a combination of methodologies and
frameworks within the scope of one discussion. The analysis covers both
local referent honorific suffixes HARU, YARU and YORU, as well as Standard
Japanese forms, (RA)RERU and so called special verbs. The main focus,
however, is on providing a detailed examination of the local referent
honorific suffix HARU. An analysis of the distribution patterns of this
honorific allows us to explore (i) ongoing changes in its use across three
generations of speakers, and (ii) the indexicality of its meaning in use,
including the changing social meanings attached to the form see in the
analysis of interactions, distribution and metapragmatic comments.
The analysis shows that the use of both local and standard honorifics
in informal conversations of OJ users is decreasing significantly among
younger speakers. However, it also highlights the different linguistic
behaviour of young men and young women in this speech community, and
links their use of HARU with local linguistic and cultural ideologies, showing
how they may be affecting both perceptions and patterns of use of the form.
Additionally, the analysis in this dissertation looks at various levels of
linguistic structure, allowing us to explore whether the Osaka honorific
system does indeed function as a single system, or whether different forms at
different levels of linguistic structure have their own histories and
trajectories. The analysis suggests that the honorific resources available to OJ
users (both standard and local features) need to be seen as a continuum (cf.
Okamoto 1998), rather than separate and distinct systems.
Both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed in the
analysis. The quantitative analysis investigates the ongoing changes in the
frequency of use of HARU, as well as its distribution according to a range of
social and linguistic functions. The qualitative analysis suggests that HARU is
socially meaningful for the speakers, performing multiple functions in the
interpersonal domain of discourse. Combining the two approaches to study
Japanese honorifics in naturally occurring conversations is an attempt at
bridging the gap between a number of previous studies.
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