Expressiveness in
mimetic syntax
Quantitative evidence from Japanese and English
Kimi Akita Osaka University Grammar of Mimetics Workshop
SOAS, U of London 05/10/2013
1. Introduction
! This paper:
corpus-based examination of the correlation b/w mimetic morphosyntax & expressiveness (! Mark’s talk)
! Corpora:
web corpora (J+E) & earthquake archives (J) (Akita/Dingemanse, in prep)
1. Introduction
! Road map:
§2: previous studies
§3: web corpora
§4: earthquake corpus
§5: conclusion
2. Previous studies
3
2. Previous studies
2.1. The iconicity hypothesis (Akita 2009: Part 2): lexical iconicity syntactic independence
high ! high
low ! low
4
2. Previous studies
! The lexical iconicity hierarchy (LIH) (Akita 2013): superexpressives (e.g., zuQkyuuN ‘baang’)
V
voice-phonomimes/giseigo (e.g., piyopiyo ‘tweeting’) V
noise-phonomimes/giongo (e.g., patipati ‘clapping’) V
phenomimes/gitaigo (e.g., nikoniko ‘smiling’) V
psychomimes/gizyoogo (e.g., iraira ‘irritated’) V
non-mimetics (e.g., issyookenmei ‘hard’)
5
2. Previous studies
! (1) Japanese:
a. Phonomimic:
*Hiyoko-ga piyopiyo-si-te i-ta. chick-NOM MIM-do-CONJ be-PST ‘A chick was tweeting.’ b. Phenomimic:
Himiko-ga {*sutasuta/burabura}-si-te i-ta.
-NOM MIM -do-CONJ be-PST
‘Himiko was {brisk-walking/strolling}.’ c. Psychomimic:
Himiko-ga kuyokuyo-si-te i-ta. -NOM MIM-do-CONJ be-PST
‘Himiko was regretting.’
6
2. Previous studies
! (2) English (Akita 2009: 260-261): a. Superexpressive:
A cat is {(?)rreeeowrling/crying rreeeowrl} outside the house. b. Phonomimic:
A cat is {yowling/??crying yowl} outside the house. c. Phenomimic(?):
Stars are {twinkling/*shining twinkle} in the sky.
7
2. Previous studies
! Problem in the LIH (S. Uehara, pc):
superexpressives > voice-phonomimes > noise- phonomimes > phenomimes > psychomimes > non-mimetics
This is not “lexical”!
8
2. Previous studies
2.2. Morphosyntax-expressiveness correlation (Dingemanse 2011: Ch. 6, today): syntactic integration expressive morphology low (adv, attrib) ! more likely
high (adj, pred) ! less likely based on his field data in Siwu
(see also Akita & Matsumoto, forthc; Zwicky & Pullum 1987)
2. Previous studies
2.3. The same phenomenon from opposite angles: not just correlation but causation?
Dingemanse
morphosyntactic expressiveness independence Akita (2a)?
2. Previous studies
! This study:
a. Quantitative reinforcement of the correlation b. Reconsideration of the LIH
3. Web corpora
12
3. Web corpora
! Corpus:
- Google on WebCorp (see Hundt et al. 2007) http://www.webcorp.org.uk/live/
- Searched: J: 01/15/2013 E: 01/14/2013
13
3. Web corpora
! Mimetics searched:
J: 212 Q-ending mimetics in Kakehi et al. (1996) (e.g., kuwaQ ‘quack’) (in hiragana & katakana) ! expressivizable in more than one way E: 178 “onomatopoeic” words in Kloe (1977)
(e.g., quack)
14
3. Web corpora
! Expressive forms considered:
J: a. Partial reduplication (e.g., kuwakuwaQ) b. Partial triplication (e.g., kuwakuwakuwaQ) E: a. Repetition (e.g., quack quack)
b. Vowel lengthening (e.g., quaaack)
(see Hamano 1998; Nasu 2002)
15
3. Web corpora
! Morphosyntactic environments considered:
16
Syn indep Verbal low
Quotative high J MIM-to-si-te
[MIM-QUOT-do-CONJ] (e.g., kuwaQ-to-si-te)
MIM-to (V) [MIM-QUOT] (e.g., kuwaQ-to) E MIM-ed
(e.g., quacked)
went MIM (e.g., went quack)
3. Web corpora
! Prediction:
%V: plain > expressive
17
3. Web corpora
! Actual examples: (3) Japanese: a. Plain, verbal:
Syokuba-no dooryoo (isei)-to, me-ga at-ta toki- nado-ni-mo, aisatu-gawari-ni nikoQ-to-si-te mi- ru-to i-i-de-syoo.
‘I would recommend beaming when you meet your colleague (of the opposite sex)’s gaze.’ (http://www.americaeast.org/01/0003.html)
3. Web corpora
(3) b. Plain, quotative:
Hazime-wa kintyoo-si-te-ta-kedo, sugu-ni rirakkusu-si-te, nikoQ-to warat-te kure-masi-ta.
‘[The baby] was nervous at first, but soon got relaxed and smiled beamingly at me.’ (http://contest.swimava.jp/category/ 2297721-1.html)
3. Web corpora
(3) c. Expressive, verbal:
…sono ko-wa totyuu-kara nikonikonikoQ-to-si- te, “Kan-san, Yakushima-ni ik-u-to i-i-des-u-yo. Yakusima-ni Kan-san-o mat-te i-ru ki-ga ari-mas- u-kara.
‘…the girl then beam-beam-beamed and [said]
“Kan-san, why don’t you visit the Yakushima Island? There is a tree that is waiting for you in Yakushima.”’
(http://www.wonderful-world-syokurin.org/ wecan/?p=5474)
3. Web corpora
(3) d. Expressive, quotative:
Pikatyuu-taikei-de (tumari maru-gata-de) kurikuri-si-ta me-de nikonikonikoQ-to warat-te…
‘[She] smiled beam-beam-beamingly with a Pikachu-shaped (that is, chubby) body and round eyes, and …’
(http://to06002.blog129.fc2.com/blog- entry-234.html)
21
3. Web corpora
(4) English: a. Plain, verbal:
Likely not liking our proximity, it [= a great horned owl] then spread its massive wings and swooshed away.
(http://oook.ca/2012/05/a-drawing-a-day-by- margo-yacheshyn/)
22
3. Web corpora
(4) b. Plain, quotative:
I was rummaging in boxes when I spied
something that looked a little familiar. As I picked it up things went swoosh. I’d swear it really was a swoosh.
(http://thecraftysisters.com/2011/08/05/no- crying-over-spilt-milk/)
23
3. Web corpora
(4) c. Expressive, verbal:
i. …and all the sudden a big fat bus flys passed me going 100mph (like really 25mph but it felt like 100) my hair even swooooshed (flip hair back) like that.
(http://www.barefootblonde.com/p/about- me.html)
ii. …wildflowers with a large stick that swoosh- swooshed through the air
(http://www.kevinpkeating.blogspot.com/)
24
3. Web corpora
(4) d. Expressive, quotative:
i. His robe went “swoooosh” and his hand pointed to... (http://m.uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:A_Tale_of_Kieran) ii. But your mind works like a sharp blade in slow motion. Swoosh-swoosh. … Yesterday my mind went swoosh-swoosh.
(http://alairene.ro/2011/03/ cheat-bloom-swoosh/)
25
3. Web corpora
! Results (%V): a. plain > expressive b. reduplication > triplication
! the more expressive, the more independent (= Dingemanse 2011)
26
#V
#V + #Q×100
Plain nikoQ quack
Vowel lengthening quaaack
Reduplication nikonikoQ quack quack
Triplication nikonikonikoQ
J 11.98% (242,950,932)
9.36%
(21,363,098)
2.74% (2,447,949) E 99.37%
(420,617,710)
59.83% (1,019)
43.63% (22,119)
(total #instances in parentheses)
>* >***
>*** >***
Expressive
4. The earthquake corpus
(A “preview” of Akita/Dingemanse, in prep)
4. Earthquake corpus
! NHK East Japan Great Earthquake Archives: http://www9.nhk.or.jp/311shogen/
! 214 edited interviews (5-15 min) w/ victims & rescuers (02/28/2013)
! 10,413 sentences w/ 728 mimetics
! Transcripts + videos available
! Speakers: INterviewees, NArrators/newscasters
! Info: "IN: name, age, sex, occupation "interview: place, date
! Ex 1:
IN: W !ba^Nh 6 /gjd#Y U0+0 n(^6"+%1lCD9#p5 'O/CD9!k0@E=J
#4!sR#O1(#oP! i (g#F0j(0#_P
!{ba|>EDzF;=<+I+AD
1#g$CD9#ym5t
1($+?B?B:E:E +X03`$66J x!+&1 0+wTwT([U3]
IN: E.O. (64, F)
Program: “On that day, I…” Place: Ofunato, Iwate
Date: 06/14/2011
http://www9.nhk.or.jp/311shogen/map/#/evidence/detail/D0007010008_00000
4. Earthquake corpus
! Ex 1 (trans):
IN: When [I] got home, [I] heard the voice saying, “A tsunami has come.” And I looked [at it] and, thinking [it] would be so far away in the sea, [it] had already come around here, y’know. [I] was astonished and ran, untying the doggie’s chain and saying to the doggie, “House, boy,” and then [we?] entered [the house] with a rush, and… And there as a two-floored house here and [we] went (in)to (one of) its room(s). And when I was looking from above this, [the tsunami] went running up with a whomp to the main house of this (house), and sashes and all other things just went ”boom” and… After that, [I] didn’t let go of the collar all the time and… Then, like rip-rip and roar-roar, [we] were rocked, more and more water came in (lit. water came in more and more) and rained down on [my] head, but [I] did like this and tried [my] best and best.
30
4. Earthquake corpus
31
! Ex 2:
IN: \r#H777777777777) I
3 */ vIMKI[qK0
h VHue6#F!F
-G5f0)2+Z0!c3 8EEE=(#Y!Q3 .E1L(7777777 S#](!(}~ 0 6, [U57]
http://www9.nhk.or.jp/311shogen/map/#/evidence/detail/D0007010092_00000 IN: E.K. (44, M)
Program: “Witness records: EJGE” Place: Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate
Date: 11/17/2011
4. Earthquake corpus
! Ex 2 (trans):
IN: In the dark, [I] heard a squeaking sound like gagagagagagagagagagagaga [12x] for, I don’t know, dozens of minutes or hours. Because [I] had a flashlight, [I] climbed on this and lit down like this, and then, obviously, the flow spread guuuQ over here again, and debris moved sloowly like this and drew back gagagagagagaga [7x], which was [repeated], well, more than 2 and 3 times, I guess.
32
4. Earthquake corpus
33
431
7 161
9 59
5 30
9
12 0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
IN NA
n cop v adv0 adv1
! Morphosyntactic independence (Akita & Usuki 2012):
***
***
(χ2 (4) = 45.54, p < .001)
integ indep
>
MIM-do MIM-φ()V MIM-QUOT
! Further analysis of IN
4. Earthquake corpus
34
! Expressive morphology: a.Vowel lengthening
(dooN)
b.Partial multiplication
(dododoN) c.Stem repetition
(doN-doN-doN-doN) cf. plain
(doN ‘bam’) Replicating §3 #
153 101
55 30 291
62 5 0
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
adv1 adv0 v cop
expressive plain
(χ2 (3) = 124.14, p < .001)
***
***
*** ***
indep integ
35
4. Earthquake corpus
(χ2 (3) = 50.65, p < .001) 216
53
6 7 134
66
41 18
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
adv1 adv0 v cop
no
*** yes
*** *
! Paralinguistic features: a. Iconic gesture:
indep integ
4. Earthquake corpus
(χ2 (3) = 99.62, p < .001) 315
86
16 2 115
75
45
28
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
adv1 adv0 v cop
no
*** yes
*
***
*** b. Prosodic foregrounding:
indep integ
(χ2 (3) = 74.43, p < .001) 135
5 4 0
295
156 57 30
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
adv1 adv0 v cop
no yes
***
*** ** **
4. Earthquake corpus
c. Special types of phonation (e.g., creaky voice, whisper):
indep integ
5. Conclusion
5. Conclusion
! Summary:
a. Quantitative support for the morphosyntax- expressiveness correlation in J & E mimetics b. Its paralinguistic correlates
39
5. Conclusion
! Speculation (next hypothesis):
Q: Why does iconicity appear to account for mimetic morphosyntax in Japanese, etc.? (!§2)
A: The expressive function of mimetic morphosyntax has been “lexicalized” in particular languages?
(cf. Saji & Imai 2013)
40
5. Conclusion
! Remaining question:
Where does the syntax-expressiveness correlation come from?
! “Mimesis”? (Güldemann 2008)
! “Depiction”? (Dingemanse 2011)
! “(Ideo)phonic force”? (Feist 2013; Toratani 2013)
! “Iconicity” after all? (cf. Van Valin & LaPolla 1997)
41
Thank you!
! https://sites.google.com/site/akitambo/ (bibliog, etc.)
42