Involvement and attitudes in spoken discourse : so-called sentence-final particles in Japanese

Abstract

This thesis investigates Japanese interactive markers ne, na, yo, sa, wa, zo, and ze, with particular reference to their functions in spoken discourse. In the literature of Japanese linguistics (e.g. Saji, 1957; Uyeno, 1971 ; Cheng, 1987), these seven markers are widely acknowledged as shuu-joshi 'sentence-final particles' due to the fact that they generally appear in sentence-final positions. These markers are also well known as having conspicuous features in the following three respects. First, they are frequently used in spoken language, whereas they are rarely found in written language (e.g. Uyeno, 1971; Maynard, 1989; Katagiri, 2007). Second, the use of these markers does not affect the truth-condition of the propositional information of an utterance, and yet it plays an important role for the hearer's interpretation of the utterance (e.g. Uyeno, 1971; Kose, 1997). Third, the use of these markers has certain effects on formality and gender. For example, they are more frequently used in casual conversation than in formal conversation (e.g. Uyeno, 1971 ; Maynard, 1989), and some of the markers, i.e. na, wa, zo and ze, are gender-specific and exclusively used by either men or women (e.g. Uyeno, 1971; Tanaka, 1977; Mizutani and Mizutani, 1987). As pointed out in many studies, the use of these markers is almost mandatory in Japanese conversation (McGloin, 1990; Ide and Sakurai, 1997; Hayashi, 2000; Katagiri, 2007), and thus numerous studies have been devoted to the issues related to the use of these markers for decades. Nonetheless, the majority of these studies have tended to focus only on partial aspects of these markers, and consequently the interactive nature of these markers has not fully been explored in an integrated manner. In light of the above-noted general features of the seven interactive markers, the current study assumes that the functions of these markers are closely related to the interactional aspect of language rather than the informational aspect of language, and takes an interactional approach to these markers, in conjunction with the notion of involvement (cf. Chafe, 1982, 1985; Gumperz, 1982; Tannen, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1989; Arndt & Janney, 1987; Lee, 2007; among others). By doing so, this study attempts to provide a synthetic analysis of the seven interactive markers in terms of the speaker's attitude, formality and gender, and shed light on some aspects of the nature of spoken discourse in general, as well as of conversation patterns of the Japanese language in particular. Throughout this study, it will be shown that while the general function of the seven interactive markers is to signal the speaker's attitude of inviting the hearer's involvement, these markers can be divided into two groups according to the different ways of inviting the hearer's involvement: (i) Incorporative: ne, na and (ii) Monopolistic: yo, sa, wa, zo, ze. Further, it will also be shown that these markers deliver different attitudes of the speaker within a respective manner, i.e. incorporative or monopolistic, and invoke their own unique effects which influence certain aspects of formality and gender. By highlighting the general function ofthe seven interactive markers as a device for expressing the speaker's attitude towards the hearer, the current study attempts to make a contribution to our understanding of how the speaker's particular attitude can be manifested by a particular linguistic sign, and how that in turn affects some aspects of formality and gender. The findings of this study are also expected to contribute to Japanese language education with regard to the practical use of the seven interactive markers, as well as to second or foreign language education by suggesting the importance of enhancing socio-cultural understanding.