Publications
Publication details [#48321]
Ono, Tsuyoshi and Kimberly Jones, eds. 2008. Style Shifting in Japanese. (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 180). John Benjamins. vii+335 pp.
Publication type
Book – edited volume
Publication language
English
Keywords
Language as a subject
Annotation
This interdisciplinary volume on style shifting in Japanese brings together a wide range of perspectives and methodologies—including discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, and functional linguistics—to look at a variety of types of style shifting in both spoken and written Japanese discourse. Though diverse in approach, the contributions all reflect the belief that language use is inextricably linked to both context and language structure in mutually constitutive relationships. Topics covered include shifting between "polite" and "plain" styles, the emergence of a "semi-polite" style, speakers' strategic use of gendered styles or regional dialects, shifting between different deictic expressions, and prosodic shifting. This careful and detailed examination advances our understanding of the complex phenomenon of style shifting not only in Japanese, but also more generally.
Articles in this volume
Geyer, Naomi. Interpersonal functions of style shift: The use of plain and masu forms in faculty meetings. 39–70
Ikuta, Shoko. Speech style shift as an interactional discourse strategy: The use and non-use of desu/-masu in Japanese conversational interviews. 71–90
Maynard, Senko K. Playing with multiple voices: Emotivity and creativity in Japanese style mixture. 91–130
Uehara, Satoshi and Etsuko Fukushima. Masen or nai desu – That is the question: A case study into Japanese conversational discourse. 161–184
Okamoto, Shigeko. Speech style and the use of regional (Yamaguchi) and Standard Japanese in conversations. 229–250