Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T17:09:19.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The velar nasal in Tokyo Japanese: A case of diffusion from above

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Junko Hibiya
Junko Hibiya
Affiliation:
Keio University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to investigate Japanese as it is spoken in Tokyo within the variationist framework, focusing on the variable (ng). The results of earlier research and observation have shown that this variable has been in the process of change. Speakers at younger age levels favor the newer variant [g], while those at older age levels favor the older variant [ŋ]. Results of quantitative analyses of the data obtained from sociolinguistic interviews with 62 native speakers of Tokyo Japanese allow us to establish the case under investigation as one of diffusion from above. The findings of the present investigation add to the body of research conducted within the variationist framework; they confirm the existence of inherent variation and orderly heterogeneity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Language Variation and Change , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , July 1995 , pp. 139 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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

Bailey, C.-J. (1973). Variation and linguistic theory. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Chamberlain, B. H. (1888). A handbook of colloquial Japanese. Tokyo: Imperial University of Tokyo. (4th ed. 1907, London: Crosby Lockwood & Son; Yokohama, Shanghai, Hong Kong, & Singapore: Kelly & Walsh.)Google Scholar
Fowler, J. (1986). The social stratification of (r) in New York City department stores, 24 years after Labov. Manuscript, New York University.Google Scholar
Guy, G. R. (1990). The sociolinguistic types of language change. Diachronica 7:47–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hepburn, J. C. (1872). A Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionary (2nd ed.). Tokyo: Z. P. Maruya & Co.Google Scholar
Hibiya, J. (1988). A quantitative study of Tokyo Japanese. Doctoral dissertation. University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Hibiya, J. (1991). Denasalization of the velar nasal in Tokyo Japanese: Observations in real time. Manuscript, Keio University.Google Scholar
Hibiya, J. (1994). Merger of [çi] with [∫i]; a sociolinguistic study. In Chiba, S. et al. (eds.), Synchronic and diachronic approaches to language. Tokyo: Lieber Press. 219–229.Google Scholar
Kato, M. (1983). Tokyo ni okeru nenreibetsu onsei chosa (A phonetic survey of six age groups in Tokyo). In Inoue, F. (ed.), Shin hogen to kotoba no midare ni kansuru shakaigengogakuteki kenkyu [A sociolinguistic study of neo-dialect and deterioration of language]. Final Report to the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.Google Scholar
Kindaichi, H. (1955). Tokyogo [Tokyo dialect]. In Gakkai, Kokugo [Japanese Linguistics Society], Kokugogaku Jiten [Dictionary of Japanese linguistics]. Tokyo: Tokyodo.Google Scholar
Kindaichi, H. (1967). Nihongo On'inron [Japanese phonology]. Tokyo: Hanawa Shobo.Google Scholar
Kroch, A. (1989). Reflexes of grammar in patterns of language change. Language Variation and Change 1:199–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labov, W. (1966). The social stratification of English in New York City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1994). Principles of linguistic change. Vol. 1: Internal factors. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Martin, S. (1952). Morphophonemics of standard Japanese. (Supplement to Language, Language Dissertation No. 47.)Google Scholar
Nakamura, A. & Kindaichi, H. (1955). Hyojungo [Standard Japanese]. In Kokugo, Gakkai [Japanese Linguistics Society], Kokugogaku Jiten [Dictionary of Japanese linguistics]. Tokyo: Tokyodo.Google Scholar
Weinreich, U., Labov, W., & Herzog, M. I. (1968). Empirical foundations for a theory of language change. In Lehmann, W. P. & Malkiel, Y. (eds.), Directions for historical linguistics. Austin: University of Texas Press. 95–195.Google Scholar