Premium
Synchronic and diachronic variation in the use of spatial frames of reference: An analysis of Japanese route instruction[Note 1. This study was made possible by data from the ...]
Author(s) -
Kataoka Kuniyoshi,
Asahi Yoshiyuki
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of sociolinguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1467-9841
pISSN - 1360-6441
DOI - 10.1111/josl.12116
Subject(s) - deixis , norm (philosophy) , linguistics , preference , grading (engineering) , variation (astronomy) , contrast (vision) , geography , sociology , computer science , mathematics , philosophy , epistemology , statistics , artificial intelligence , civil engineering , physics , astrophysics , engineering
By focusing on everyday use of spatial ‘frames of reference’ ( FOR ) in route instruction, we propose some possible explanations for the seemingly contradictory trends observed in FOR ‐based and deixis‐based spatial expressions in Japanese. We examined the data obtained in a series of longitudinal surveys conducted in Japan over 50 years (1953, 1972 and 2008). Our GoldVarb analysis confirmed what is called a ‘retrograde’ lifespan change. This indicates that, first, synchronically, the preference for External FOR (that is, based on North‐South‐East‐West) increases as community members grow older. This means they shift toward the local norm through ‘age‐grading’. Secondly, diachronically, the preference for Internal FOR (based on Right‐Left‐Front‐Back) has gradually increased over the past century. There is, therefore, a ‘generational change’ motivated by the linguistic marketplace. In contrast, as a community‐wide preference for Internal FOR expressions prevails, there is an accompanying gradual decrease in the use of deictic expressions such as ‘here/there/over there’. This indicates a partially complementary relationship between deixis and Internal FOR .