This book is one of the pioneering historical pragmatic studies of Japanese. It closely illustrates the usage and contributions of some Japanese discourse markers, and reveals their developmental history. The section on Synchronic Analysis explores the previously uninvestigated functions of some discourse markers used in Present Day Japanese. Moment by moment in on-going conversations, where culturally rigidly-defined interactional norms are highly valued, a specific marker is chosen and used by the speakers as their strategy, based on their quite subjective judgment. The section on Diachronic Analysis then demonstrates chronologically how the meanings and forms of the same markers have come into being. Results include some noticeable changes related to the strengthened intersubjectivity. This multi-dimensional study also discusses the relevance of findings to typological characteristics and productivity. Consideration is further given to why certain expressions (rather than others) become discourse markers and independent forms in Japanese.

5.5 The difference between ne and na -- 5.5.1 Special property of na: Camaraderie -- 5.5.2 Plain form da/ru and na -- 5.5.3 Polite form desu/masu and na -- 5.5.4 Gender and na -- 5.6 Summary -- 6. Monopolistic markers yo and sa -- 6.1 Yo -- 6.1.1 Previous studies on yo -- 6.1.2 The function of yo: Ensuring the hearer's understanding -- 6.1.3 The expressive effects of yo and its use in social contexts -- 6.2 Sa -- 6.2.1 Relevant facts -- 6.2.2 Previous studies on sa -- 6.2.3 The function of sa: Presenting the utterance as a matter of course for the speaker -- 6.2.4 The expressive effects of sa and its use in social contexts -- 6.3 Summary -- 7. Monopolistic markers wa, zo and ze -- 7.1 Modal expression daroo/deshoo 'suppose' -- 7.2 Wa -- 7.2.1 Relevant facts -- 7.2.2 Previous studies on wa -- 7.2.3 The function of wa: Delivering the utterance in a firm manner -- 7.2.4 The expressive effects of wa and its use in social contexts -- 7.3 Zo -- 7.3.1 Relevant facts -- 7.3.2 Previous studies on zo -- 7.3.3 The function of zo: Urging the hearer's understanding of an implied message -- 7.3.4 The expressive effects of zo and its use in social context -- 7.4 Ze -- 7.4.1 Relevant facts -- 7.4.2 Previous studies on ze -- 7.4.3 The function of ze: Enhancing the hearer's understanding of the speaker's belief in sharing -- 7.4.4 The expressive effects of ze and its use in social contexts -- 7.5 Summary -- 8. Conclusion -- 8.1 Function of each marker -- 8.2 Implications -- 8.2.1 Involvement in spoken discourse -- 8.2.2 Interface between language and culture -- 8.2.3 Sociocultural understanding in the second/foreign language education -- 8.2.4 Japanese and the expressions of formality and gender -- 8.3 Concluding remarks -- References -- Data sources -- Author index -- Subject index

Discourse markers constitute an important part of linguistic communication, and research on this phenomenon has been a thriving field of study over the past three decades. However, a problem that has plagued this research is that these markers exhibit a number of structural characteristics that are hard to interpret based on existing methodologies, such as grammaticalization. This study argues that it is possible to explain such characteristics in a meaningful way. It presents a cross-linguistic survey of the development of discourse markers, their important role in communication, and their relation to the wider context of sociocultural behaviour, with the goal of explaining their similarities and differences across a typologically wide range of languages. By giving a clear definition of discourse markers, it aims to provide a guide for future research, making it essential reading for students and researchers in linguistics, and anyone interested in exploring this fascinating linguistic phenomenon.

Studies of Discourse Markers so far have concentrated on either the descriptive or the theoretical parameter. This book brings together thirteen papers concerning aspects of lexical instantiations of Discourse Marking devices, ranging from functional descriptions along cognitive, attitudinal, interactive and structure signalling lines to theoretical issues arising from various properties discourse markers display cross-linguistically. Data from English, Finnish, Hebrew, Korean, and Japanese are examined. Also addressed are questions concerning overall accounts, potential sub-classifications, possible form-function correlations and the appropriateness of such frameworks as Relevance Theory for their description. Interestingly, features evident in the distribution and use of lexical discourse markers are shown to affect the assessment of such theoretical constructs as the distinction between conceptual and procedural meaning. A more sophisticated picture emerges than a simple dichotomy between the two. Studies of the grammar of Discourse Markers hence would have to take the observations and suggestions raised in this collection of papers into account.

The linguistic study of Japanese, with its rich syntactic and phonological structure, complex writing system, and diverse sociohistorical context, is a rapidly growing research area. This book, designed to serve as a concise reference for researchers interested in the Japanese language and in typological studies of language in general, explores diverse characteristics of Japanese that are particularly intriguing when compared with English and other European languages. It pays equal attention to the theoretical aspects and empirical phenomena from theory-neutral perspectives, and presents necessary theoretical terms in clear and easy language. It consists of five thematic parts including sound system and lexicon, grammatical foundation and constructions, and pragmatics/sociolinguistics topics, with chapters that survey critical discussions arising in Japanese linguistics. The Cambridge Handbook of Japanese Linguistics will be welcomed by general linguists, and students and scholars working in linguistic typology, Japanese language, Japanese linguistics and Asian Studies.

This book addresses the long discussed issue of Japanese interactive markers (traditionally called sentence-final particles) in a new light, and provides the comprehensive linguistic documentation of the interactional functions of seven interactive markers: ne, na, yo, sa, wa, zo and ze. By adopting three key notions, ‘involvement’, ‘formality’ and ‘gender’, the study not only reveals the functions and pragmatic effects of each marker, but also sheds light on some fundamental issues of the nature of spoken discourse in general, including how speakers collaborate with each other to create and sustain their conversations and how linguistic functions of verbal forms interface with sociocultural norms. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in a wide range of linguistic fields such as Japanese linguistics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and applied linguistics and to teachers and learners of Japanese and of a second/foreign language.

This book investigates phenomena at the grammar–discourse interface with a strong focus on discourse markers, whose development and concrete uses in a given language tend to be based on a close interplay of grammatical and discourse-related forces. The topics range from the transition of linguistic signs “out of” sentence grammar and “into” the domain of discourse to differences between more grammatical vs. more discourse-pragmatic expressions in terms of structural behavior and cognitive processing, and the different, intricate ways in which the usage conditions and meanings of grammatical constituents or structural units are affected by the discourse context in which they are used. The twelve studies in this book are based on fresh empirical data from languages such as English, Basque, Korean, Japanese and French and involve the study of linguistic expressions and structures such as pragmatic markers and particles, comment clauses, expletives, adverbial connectors, and expressives.