Diachrony of personal pronouns in Japanese : a functional and cross-linguistic perspective /
Personal pronouns in Japanese form a heterogeneous category. This book investigates their historical development from a functional perspective. It shows that while nouns give rise to personal pronouns through semanticization of pragmatic inferences, the use of non-nominal forms such as demonstrative...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Amsterdam ; Philadelphia :
John Benjamins Publishing Company,
[2019]
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| Series: | Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science. Current issues in linguistic theory ;
v. 344. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Personal pronouns in Japanese form a heterogeneous category. This book investigates their historical development from a functional perspective. It shows that while nouns give rise to personal pronouns through semanticization of pragmatic inferences, the use of non-nominal forms such as demonstratives and reflexives for person referents can be resolved within their original functions, offering little reason to treat them as personal pronouns. The cross-linguistic investigation into the common sources of personal pronouns reveals that the development of personal pronouns from nouns is largely consistent with grammaticalization, but that of forms of non-nominal origins requires separate mechanisms such as spatial/empathetic perspectives and displacement of semantic features for politeness, showing that a one-size-fits-all approach to diachrony of personal pronouns is not sufficient. This book will be of special interest to researchers and students in historical linguistics, pragmatics, and Japanese linguistics, who take a functional view of language. |
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| Physical Description: | vii, 173 pages ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [161]-169) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9789027202376 9027202370 |