Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T14:40:07.261Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Lifespan “Changes from Above” in the Standardization of Japanese Regional Dialects: Levels of Grammar, Lexical Properties and Community Characteristics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2022

Shoji Takano*
Affiliation:
Hokusei Gakuen University
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: stakano@hokusei.ac.jp

Abstract

This paper examines sociolinguistic properties of lifespan changes in language use from a non-Western perspective. Based on real-time studies in a change from above context (standardization) and panel surveys of prosody, the paper demonstrates that the stability of individuals’ language use over time varies along the following interwoven factors: (1) levels of grammar; (2) lexical properties; (3) progressive stages of a community in transition; and (4) locally constructed social identities. While segmental phonology and morphosyntax remain intact, lexical accents and vocabulary items tend to change in close linkage to sociolinguistic properties of individual words. Such changes are also motivated by the coexistence of an incoming standard, revitalized traditional dialect, and newly emerging “diaglossic” in-between variants in a community that is shifting to bidialectalism. Lifespan changes could also be community-specific, varying even within a single dialect region between two communities across which the stages of standardization and members’ locally constructed social identities differ.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aizawa, Masao. (1990). Hokkaido-ni okeru kyootsuugo shiyoo ishiki. In NINJAL Report 11:95–130. Tokyo: Shuuei Shuppan.Google Scholar
Aizawa, Masao. (2009 –2015). Takakuteki apuroochi niyoru gendai nihongo-no dootai- no kaimei. NINJAL Collaborative Research Project.Google Scholar
Amano, Nariaki & Kondo, Kimihisa. (1999). NTT deeta beesu shiriizu, Nihongo-no goi tokusei, Volume 1, Word Familiarity. Tokyo: Sanseido.Google Scholar
Amano, Nariaki & Kondo, Kimihisa. (2000). NTT deeta beesu shiriizu, Nihongo-no goi tokusei, Volume 7, Frequency. Tokyo: Sanseido.Google Scholar
Asahi, Yoshiyuki. (2009–2013). Sesshoku hoogengaku niyoru gengo henyoo ruikeiron-no koochiku. NINJAL Collaborative Research ProjectGoogle Scholar
Auer, Peter. (2011). Dialect vs. standard: a typology of scenarios in Europe. In Kortmann, B. & van der Auwera, J. (Eds.), The Languages and Linguistics of Europe. A Comprehensive Guide. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 485500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, Guy, Cukor-Avila, Patricia, Wikle, Tom & Comer, Jon. (2016). Vernacular maintenance (or the lack thereof) and the apparent time construct. Paper presented at New Ways of Analyzing Variation 45 in Vancouver, Canada.Google Scholar
Bailey, Guy, Wikle, Tom & Tillery, Jan. (1997). The effects of methods on results in dialectology. English World-Wide 18(1):3563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnfield, Kate & Buchstaller, Isabelle. (2010). Intensifiers on Tyneside: Longitudinal developments and new trends. English World-Wide 31(3):252–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, Jack K. (2009). Sociolinguistic Theory. Revised Edition. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Cukor-Avila, Patricia. (2012). Some structural consequences of diffusion. Language in Society 41:615–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cukor-Avila, Patricia & Bailey, Guy. (2013). Real time and apparent time. In Chambers, J. K. & Schilling, N. (eds.), The Handbook of Language Variation and Change, Second Edition. 239–62. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Dollinger, Stefan. (2015). The Written Questionnaire in Social Dialectology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, Daniel Ezra. (2012). Getting off the GoldVarb standard: Introducing Rbrul for mixed-effects variable rule analysis. Language and Linguistics Compass 3(1):359–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kammacher, Louise, Staehr, Andreas & Jorgensen, J. Normann. (2011). Attitudinal and sociostructural factors and their role in dialect change: Testing a model of subjective factors. Language Variation and Change 23:87104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kindaichi, Haruhiko & Akinaga, Kazue. (eds.) (2015). Shin Meikai Nihongo Akusento Jiten, Second Edition. Tokyo: Sanseido.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (1966). The Social Stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (1972). Sociolinguistic Patterns. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (1981). Field methods of the project on linguistic change and variation. Sociolinguistic Working Papers 81. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.Google Scholar
MacKenzie, Laurel. (2017). Frequency effects over the lifespan: A case study of Attenborough's r's. Linguistic Vanguard, 20170005:-1–12.Google Scholar
Milroy, Lesley. (2004). Language ideologies and linguistic change. In Fought, C. (ed.), Sociolinguistic Variation: Critical Reflections. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 161–77.Google Scholar
Nahkola, Kari & Saanilahti, Marja. (2004). Mapping language changes in real time: A panel study on Finnish. Language Variation and Change 16:75921.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nambu, Satoshi, Asahi, Yoshiyuki & Aizawa, Masao. (2014). Ga-gyoo bion-no suitai katei-to sono yooin-ni tsuite: Sapporo-to Furano-no gengo choosa deeta-o riyoo shite (On the change of the allophones of /g/: Using data from sociolinguistic surveys in Sapporo and Furano). NINJAL Research Papers 7:167–85.Google Scholar
Naro, J. Anthony & Scherre, Maria. (2002). The individual and the community in real-time linguistic change: Social dimensions. Paper presented at NWAV 31, Stanford University.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (1951). Gengo Seikatsu-no Jittai: Shirakawashi oyobi hukin-no nooson-ni okeru. NINJAL Report 2, Tokyo: Shuuei Shuppan.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (1953). Chiiki shakai-no gengo seikatsu: Tsuruoka-ni okeru jittai choosa. NINJAL Report 5, Tokyo: Shuuei Shuppan.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (1965). Kyootsuugoka-no Ketei: Hokkaido-ni okeru oyako sandai-no kotoba. NINJAL Report 27. Tokyo: Shuuei Shuppan.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (1974). Chiiki shakai-no gengo seikatsu: Tsuruoka-ni okeru nijuunen mae-tono hikaku. NINJAL Report 52, Tokyo: Shuuei Shuppan.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (1994). Tsuruoka hoogen-no kijutsuteki kenkyuu: Dai sanji Tsuruoka choosa hookoku 1, NINJAL Report 109–1.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (1997). Hokkaido-ni okeru kyootsuugoka-to gengo seikatsu-no jittai (Chuukan Hookoku). NINJAL Interim Research Report.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (2013). Dai yonkai tsuruokashi-ni okeru gengo choosa, Kekka-no gaiyoo. Tookei Suuri Kenkyuujo & Kokuritu Kokugo Kenkyuujo.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (2014). Dai yonkai tsuruokashi-ni okeru gengo choosa, Randamu sampringu choosa-no gaiyoo: Onsei, on-in hen. Tookei Suuri Kenkyuujo & Kokuritu Kokugo Kenkyuujo.Google Scholar
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL). (2015). Dai yonkai tsuruokashi-ni okeru gengo choosa hookokusho: Goi, bunpoo, gengo seikatsu koomoku hen. Tookei Suuri Kenkyuujo & Kokuritu Kokugo Kenkyuujo.Google Scholar
Nichols, Patricia C. (1980). Women in their speech communities. In McConnell-Ginet, S., et al. (eds.), Women and Language in Literature and Society. New York: Praeger. 140–49.Google Scholar
Nichols, Patricia C. (1983). Linguistic options and choices for Black women in the rural South. In Thorne, B., Kramarae, C. & Henley, N. (Eds.), Language, Gender, and Society. Rowley, Massachussetts: Newbury House. 5468.Google Scholar
Ono, Yoneichi. (1980). Hokkaido-ni okeru hyoojungo ishiki. Kokugo Kyooiku Kenkyuu 26–1. Hiroshima University.Google Scholar
Ono, Yoneichi. (1991). Sapporoshi hoogen taninzuu choosahyoo ni tsuite. In M. Katoo (Ed.), Questionnaire Volume from the project report Speech Sound in Eastern Japan. 4159.Google Scholar
Ono, Yoneichi. (1993). Sapporoshi hoogen taninzuu choosa siryoo ni tsuite. In M. Katoo (Ed.), Paper Volume 3 from the project report Speech Sound in Eastern Japan. 5186.Google Scholar
Oushiro, Livia. (2016). Social and structural constraints in lectal cohesion. Lingua 172–173:116–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oushiro, Livia & Guy, Gregory R. (2015). The effects of salience on co-variation in Brazilian Portuguese. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 21(2):156–66.Google Scholar
Ozaki, Yoshimitsu. (1986). Shakaigengogaku teki apuroochi kara miru sapporoshi-no akusento-no hensen: Meishi hen. Nihon Gakuhoo 6:67110.Google Scholar
Raumolin-Brunberg, Helena. (2007). Language change in adulthood. European Journal of English Studies 9(1):3751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sankoff, Gillian. (2005). Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in sociolinguistics. In Ulrich, N. Dittmar, Mattheier, K. J., & Trudgill, P. (Eds.), An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society, vol.2, Second Edition, 10031013. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Sankoff, Gillian. (2006). Age: Apparent time and real time. In Brown, K. (Ed.), Elsevier Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, Second Edition. 110–16. Boston: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sankoff, Gillian. (2013). Longitudinal studies. In Bayley, R., Cameron, R., & Lucas, C. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Sociolinguistic. 261–79. Oxford:Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sankoff, Gillian & Blondeau, Helene. (2007). Language change across the lifespan: /r/ in Montreal French. Language 83:560–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sato, Kazuyuki & Yoneda, Masato. (1999). Doonaru nihon-no kotoba. Tokyo:Taishuukan.Google Scholar
Sato, Ryooichi, Yoneda, Masato, Abe, Takahito, Sato, Kazuyuki & Mizuno, Yoshimichi. (2014). Rigen-no najimido-to akusentogata-no kojinsa: Tsuruoka choosa kara. Proceedings of the 98th Meeting of Dialectological Circle of Japan. 4148.Google Scholar
Sibata, Takesi. (1978). Shakai-gengogaku-no kadai. Tokyo: Sanseido.Google Scholar
Swanenberg, Jos. (to appear). Does dialect loss give more or less variation?: On language creativity and dialect leveling. In Asahi, Y. (Ed.), Proceedings of MethodsXVI: Papers from the Sixteenth International Conference on Methods in Dialectology. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Tagliamonte, Sali A. & D'Arcy, Alexandra. (2004). He's like, she's like: The quotative system in Canadian youth. Journal of Sociolinguistics 8:493514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tagliamonte, Sali A. & D'Arcy, Alexandra. (2009). Peaks beyond phonology: Adolescence, incrementation, and language change. Language 85:58108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Takano, Shoji. (2011). Sapporo hoogen meishi akusento-no jitsujikan choosa: Yamahana chiku paneru choosa, dai ichiji hookoku. Bulletin of Hokkaido Dialect Circle 88:4059.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji. (2013). Hokkaido hoogen-no kyootsuugoka, shinhoogenka-no hanseekigo-no yoosoo: Jitsujikan torendo choosa-niyoru kenshoo. Bulletin of Hokkaido Dialect Circle 89:7691.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji. (2014a). A real-time study of standardization of lexical accents in Sapporo Japanese: What can we generalize from panel samples? Oral Presentation. Sociolinguistics Symposium 20 in Jyväskylä, Finland.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji. (2014b). Sapporo hoogen meishi akusento-no jitsujikan paneru choosa: Dai niji hookoku. Bulletin of Hokkaido Dialect Circle 91:926.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji. (2014c). Sapporoshi hoogen meishi akusento-no kyootsuugoka-ni kansuru jitsujikan paneru choosa, Daisanji hookoku: Barieeshon-o shihai-suru “gengonaiteki yooin”-ni kansuru ichi koosatsu. The World of Everyday Language, the Collected Papers of the Hokkaido Dialect Circle, the 40th Anniversary Issue: 37–50.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji. (2014d). Sapporoshi hoogen meishi akusento-no kyootsuugoka-ni kansuru jitsujikan paneru choosa: Roonensoo washa-no shoogai henka-ni chakumokushite. Hokusei Review 52(1):1329.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji. (2015). Sapporoshi hoogen meishi akusento-no kyootsuugoka-ni kansuru jitsujikan paneru choosa: Henka-o shihai suru kooshoku yooin mappu-no teian. Hokusei Review 52(2):2952.Google Scholar
Takano, Shoji & Ota, Ichiro. (2017). A sociophonetic approach to variation in Japanese pitch realizations: Region, age, gender, and stylistic parameters. Asia-Pacific Language Variation 3(1):540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamminga, Meredith, MacKenzie, Laurel & Embick, David. (2016). The dynamics of variation in individuals. Linguistic Variation 16(2):300-336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tanaka, Yukari. (2011). ‘Hoogen kosupure’-no jidai. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten.Google Scholar
Tillery, Jan. (2000). The reliability and validity of linguistic self-reports. Southern Journal of Linguistics 24(1):5568.Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter. (1988). Norwich revisited: Recent linguistic changes in an English urban dialect. English World-Wide 9(1):3349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, E. Suzanne & Tagliamonte, Sali A. (2016). Vernacular stability: Comparative evidence from two lifespan studies. Paper presented at NWAV45 in Vancouver.Google Scholar
Yokoyama, Shoichi & Sanada, Haruko. (2010). Gengo-no shoogai shuutoku moderu-ni-yoru kyootsuugoka yosoku. Nihongo-no Kenkyuu 6(2):3145.Google Scholar