Description
This paper aims to compare the public discourse on language change in Japan – as epitomized in the much-used catchphrase kotoba no midare or “language deterioration” – to that in Germany and Austria. The analysis will focus on newspaper articles from around the year 2000 to the present. Newspapers, through their dual role as facilitators and participants in public discourse, continue to reflect as well as form public opinion to a significant degree. Furthermore, any native speaker of a given language can be considered an “expert” in their language, and to have an opinion on how it should (not) be. Thus, on a more abstract level, discussions on language can also be interpreted as touching on the subject of personal as well as collective identity, making the study of how language change is perceived and reacted to a worthwhile endeavour. While the discourse in Japan and Germany/Austria share some similarities, such as the general association of language change with youth and a certain uneasiness in the face of shifting meanings and new words, there are some major differences pointing to a substantially greater importance attached to the subject in the Japanese discourse. In fact, the very existence and persistant usage of a keyword summarizing all aspects of „new“ Japanese points to this conclusion. In this paper, I will outline the emergence and change of „kotoba no midare“ in the Japanese public discourse, and detail some of the differences between the Japanese and German case.| Period | 28 Sept 2013 |
|---|---|
| Event title | 1st EAJS Japan Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Kyoto, JapanShow on map |
Keywords
- language change
- Japanese
- language deterioration