Title Virtual Japanese : Enigmas of Role Language Author(s) Kinsui, Satoshi Citation Issue Date 2017-11 Text Version publisher URL http://hdl.handle.net/11094/67215 DOI rights Copyright © Satoshi Kinsui, 2003 Note Osaka University Knowledge Archive : OUKA https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/ Osaka University Osaka University West Front, 2-7 Yamadaoka, Suita-shi, Osaka, Japan 565-0871 Published in Japan by Osaka University Press First published 2017 Virtual Japanese: Enigmas of Role Language by Satoshi Kinsui Copyright © Satoshi Kinsui, 2003 Original Japanese edition published by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo English translation copyright © Osaka University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN 978-4-87259-548-2 iii Acknowledgements This book is an English translation of Iwanami Shoten’s Vācharu Nihongo: Yakuwarigo no Nazo (Virtual Japanese: Enigmas of Role Language), published in January 2003. As of January 2016, the Japanese version has had 14 printruns and has sold approximately 14,000 copies. Role language is a concept that was created by the author and was used for the first time in Kinsui, Satoshi (2000) “Yakuwarigo tankyū no teian” (A proposal of the research of role language) (Satō, Kiyoji (ed.) Kokugoshi no Shin-shiten (A New Perspective on the History of Japanese), Kokugo Ronkyū 8, pp. 331–351, Meiji Shoin). This concept came to be widely known within and outside of academia after the original 2003 publication. Role language, as also described in detail in this book, is a characteristic way of speaking; it has a special set of spoken language features that include vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, which correspond to the speaker’s social and cul- tural stereotypes. As one can find numerous types of role languages in Japanese, it has attracted considerable interest. By 2016, the author was involved in writing and editing that led to one solo publication, two papers, two symposium docu- ments, and one small dictionary, in addition to the original work. In Japan, role language is used as an attractive concept by undergraduate students who are writ- ing their theses on Japanese language studies. Furthermore, it has also attracted the attention of young people outside of Japan who are interested in manga, anime, and the renowned Japanese gaming software industry. Moreover, foreign students from America, Europe, and other Asian countries are studying the role language concept under the author’s supervision. The author was born in Osaka in 1956 and studied Japanese linguistics at the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo. Since then, the author has conducted research on the history of the Japanese language, especially the history of gram- mar. In 2006, the author’s book Nihongo Sonzai Hyōgen no Rekishi (History of Existential Expression in Japanese) (Hituzi Syobo) was awarded the Shimmura Izuru Prize, which is granted for research excellence in Japanese language studies. The concept of role language emerged from a description of the use of the verb, oru “おる,” which is related to existential expressions. I am indebted to many people who have assisted me in the publication of this book. I would especially like to express my gratitude to Professor Hiroko Yamakido who read through and provided detailed comments on the first translation. I would also like to express my gratitude to Professor Mihoko Teshigawara who gave me permission to reproduce “Modern Japanese ‘Role Language’ (Yakuwarigo): Fictionalised Orality in Japanese Literature and Popular Culture” that is appended at the end of the book for the convenience of English-speaking readers. Finally, I would like to express my profound gratitude to all the members of the Osaka University Press, especially Ms. Shiori Bando, for their continuous support from the planning to the publication of this book. October 2017 Satoshi Kinsui v Contents Acknowledgements iii CHAPTER 1 Does a Doctor Speak <Doctor’s Language>? The Role Language of an Elderly Male 1 1. Dr. Ochanomizu 1 2. Dr. Temma 5 The doctor character who does not speak <Doctor’s Language> 5 Is <Doctor’s Language> equal <Elderly Male Language> ? 6 The Gap with Reality 8 3. Seeking the Origin of <Doctor’s Language> 9 The Early Works of Osamu Tezuka 9 The Founder of SF in Japan: Jūza Unno 12 Shōnen Kurabu (Boy’s Club) 12 Tatsukawa Bunko and The Entertainment Shorthand Book 14 The World of Gesaku (Popular Novels) 16 From Yotsuya Kaidan (The Yotsuya Ghost Stories) 18 Formation of Edo Language 19 The Origin of <Doctor’s Language> and <Elderly Male Language> 19 CHAPTER 2 Stereotypes and Role Language 21 1. What is stereotype? 21 The Worries of a Novelist 21 Research on the Concept of Stereotype 23 2. Real Life versus Virtual Reality 24 Role Language and Register and Register Difference 24 The Dissociation between Reality and Role Language 25 3. Culture, Media, and Stereotypes 26 Categorization into Subtypes 26 Dual Process Model 26 Dissociation Model 28 4. The Hero’s Journey 28 CHAPTER 3 <Standard Language> and <Non-Standard Language> 33 1. What Constitutes <Rural Language>? 33 From Yūzuru (Twilight Crane) 33 The Origin of <Rural Language> 36 2. The Structure of <Standard Language> and Role Language 39 <Standard Language> as a Role Language 39 Spoken and Written Languages 40 Degree of Role Language 41 Role Language Degree and Self-Identification 43 3. The Formation of <Standard Language> 44 vi Contents vii Before <Standard Language> 44 3. Language Projection 113 TheGenbun Icchi Movement and the Standard Language 45 Various Types of Projections 113 Mass Media and <Standard Language> 47 Black people and <Rural Language> 114 The Fall of <Kyoto–Osaka Language> 48 4. The Prototype and Development of <Aruyo Language> 116 4. History of the Osaka and Kansai Characters 49 Use of Pidgin Language 116 Pāyan 49 Yokohama Dialect 117 Stereotypes of the Osaka and Kansai People 50 TheArimasu and Aru Types 119 The Roots of the Osaka and Kansai People 51 Perception of the Chinese 120 The Osaka and Kansai People in Modern Mass Media 56 From Norakuro 121 Lewdness, Violence, and the Osaka and Kansai People 58 5. Beyond Role Language 123 The Transformation of the Stereotypes 60 Appendix 125 CHAPTER 4 Male Language: Its Root is <Samurai Language> 63 Modern Japanese “Role Language” (Yakuwarigo): 1. A Change of <Standard Language> 63 Fictionalised Orality in Japanese Literature and Popular Culture 125 Amefuri (Rainy Day) 63 1. Introduction 125 Change of a Role Language Degree 65 2. Some Key Concepts of Role Language 127 2. The History of <Male Language> 66 2.1 Formation of Role Language 127 <Student Language> 66 2.2 Function of Role Language in Fiction 127 The History of -tamae (please) 71 2.3 Role Languages versus Sociolects/Actual Speech Styles 128 Boku (I) and Kimi (You) 73 2.4 Types of Role Language 128 Boku (I) and Ore (I) 75 2.5 Role Language Research 129 3. Role language as a Kamen (Persona) 78 3. Analyses of Established Role Languages in Japanese Fiction 130 3.1 Elderly Male Language 130 CHAPTER 5 Where is the Princess? Female Language 79 3.2 Chinese Person Type: Aruyo Language 132 1. Ochōfujin (Madame Butterfly) 79 3.3 Regional Dialect Speaker Types 133 2. Gender Differences in Language 81 3.4 Gendered Types: <Female Language> and <Male Language> 134 From Grammatical Features 81 4. Crosslinguistic Studies of Role Languages 136 3. Women in Ukiyoburo (The Bathhouse of the Floating World) 84 5. Conclusions 138 4. Edo Language and Modern <Female Language> 86 5. The Emergence of teyo dawa 89 Sources of Texts 143 The Mother and Daughter in Ukigumo 89 The Criticized teyo dawa 90 References 149 6. The Spread of the teyo dawa Language 93 Girls’ Schools as Media 93 The teyo dawa Language as Seen in Novels 94 7. The Further Spread of the teyo dawa Language 97 Beyond Girls’ Schools 97 Nationwide Spread 98 8. The Decline of the teyo dawa Language 101 Changes in <Female Language> after the World War II 101 The Grammar of -te yo 103 Young Girls and <Young Lady from a Good Family Language> 105 <Male Language> and <Female Language> as Role Languages 107 CHAPTER 6 Perception to Aliens 109 1. <Aruyo Language> 109 2. Categorization of the Ijin (Alien) 113 1 CHAPTER 1 Does a Doctor Speak <Doctor’s Language>? The Role Language of an Elderly Male 1. Dr. Ochanomizu In the world of manga (Japanese comics), the professor/doctor (called “hakase”) fre- quently appears. For example, the book Manga Hakase Dokuhon (The Handbook of Manga Hakase (Doctor/Professor) Characters) (Seto and Yamamoto, 1999) describes 157 doctor characters that have appeared in manga since the 1947 release of Osamu Tezuka’s work Kasei Hakase (Dr. Mars). Among these characters, this chapter focuses on the language used by Dr. Ochanomizu (see Figure 1-1) in Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy) (Osamu Tezuka’s manga series that began in 1952). One example of Dr. Ochanomizu’s use of language is as follows: “ Oya ja to? Washi wa Atomu no oya-gawari ni nattoru wai!” parent I parent-substitute become “A parent? Yeah! I am Atom’s (surrogate) parent!” (p.92) “Atomu dou ja.” how “What do you say Atom?” (p.99) “ Ningen no furi o shite kemuri ni tottsukarete minka?” human pretend do smoke get.caught try “Won’t you pretend to be a human and try to be caught by the smoke?” (p.315) (Osamu Tezuka, Tetsuwan Atomu 1, ©Tezuka Production) 2 Does a Doctor Speak <Doctor’s Language>? 3 Figure 1-1 Dr.