LANGUAGES OF JAPAN

An Introduction to Japanese Phraseology Noriko Katsuki-Pestemer This book explains the main linguistic features of Japanese phraseological expressions, i.e. phraseologisms (PHOs), and is written for students of Japanese and Japanese linguistics. The monograph consists of five chapters: Introduction (Ch. 1), Lexicology and Lexicosemantics (Ch. 2), Morphosyntax (Ch. 3), Semantics (Ch. 4), and Summary and Conclusions (Ch. 5). The book categorises Japanese PHOs into seven types: idioms, similes, aphorisms and quotations, proverbs, koji-seigo (ancient Chinese proverbs and sayings), kanji compounds (kanji-jukugo), and empty phrases. Approximately 400 PHOs are used to depict the main linguistic properties of Japanese PHOs: polylexicality, lexicality and reproduction, rigidity (stability), delexicalization, idiomaticity, and finally short expressions. Some PHOs are explained etymologically to draw the attention of the reader to classical Chinese literary works and the Japanese cultural background. In order to illustrate how Japanese PHOs are used concretely in the media today, c. 70 PHOs in Japanese national newspapers were selected and analysed. Thus, the book elucidates not only linguistic characteristics of Japanese PHOs, but also their practical use. The majority of PHOs explained in the book are analysed morphosyntactically so that the student can also see the agglutination of lexical items and thus learn Japanese grammatical structures. ISBN 9783969391648. LINCOM Studies in Japanese Linguistics 10. 212pp. 2023. Japanese Pronunciation & Accents Geo-social Applications of the Natural Phonetics & Tonetics Method Luciano Canepari & Francesca Miscio University of Venice; Musashino University of Music, Tokyo The new edition of this book applies the principles of Natural Phonetics & Tonetics to describe the pronunciation of Japanese, including intonation, in a precise way never found in earlier treatises (even those by native phoneticians). It includes an introduction to the Natural Phonotonetics Method, which can be used for any other language, as well (without the sadly known limitations of official IPA). The vowels, consonants, structures, and intonation of Japanese are fully described and transcribed, with many examples of words, sentences, and conversations, in addition to the intonationally integrated IPA sample passage 'The North Wind and the Sun'. Different types of Japanese pronunciation are described, including neutral, mediatic, and 20 local accents (and one diachronic stage). A mini-phono-dictionary contains more than 500 words and proper names usually puzzling and challenging especially for foreigners. In addition to the typical Japanese pronunciation by foreign speakers, in the second edition the typical pronunciation of English by Japanese speakers is also included. The text has also been thoroughly amended especially for the transcriptions of its complicated tonetic structures and symbols. ISBN 9783862888252 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Phonetics 17 (2nd edition). 272pp. 2017. The Language and Folklore of West Sakhalin Ainu A Re-edition of Murasaki Kyōko’s ‘Karafuto Ainugo’ with translation and grammatical notes E. Dal Corso Università Cà Foscari di Venezia Originally published in Japanese in 1976 as Karafuto Ainugo – Shiryō (The Ainu language of Karafuto – Materials), the corpus of folktales and conversations that constitutes this volume is to date one of the few resources on the extinct Sakhalin (Karafuto) variety of Ainu (isolate). Together with the corpus of texts, the sketch grammar Karafuto Ainugo – Bunpō (The Ainu language of Karafuto – Grammar), that appeared in 1979, illustrates the language of Haru Fujiyama and Yuk Ōta, who were two of the last native speakers of Sakhalin Ainu born on the Sakhalin west coast. This publication presents a re-edition of both Karafuto Ainugo volumes for the first time in English. All folktales and conversations have been re-transliterated on the basis of the original audios and the texts come with interlinear linguistic glosses, notations, and English translation. The section of the book dedicated to grammatical notes has been fully restructured, with respect to the 1979 original, to discuss the phonology, morphosyntax, and semantics of West Sakhalin Ainu, with a specific focus on nominal and verbal morphosyntax. The book will be of interest to specialists in the Ainu language as well as to readers interested in endangered languages, folklore, morphosyntax, and language typology. ISBN 9783969390795 (Hardbound). LINCOM Studies in Asian Linguistics 95. 596pp. 2021.