Monosyllabic and disyllabic roots in the diachronic development of Japanese mimetics

要旨

It has been demonstrated that the distinction between monosyllabic and disyllabic roots is critical in synchronic analyses of Japanese sound-symbolic vocabulary (also known as mimetics). This chapter demonstrates the relevance of this distinction for the diachronic development of Japanese mimetic words. Specifically, the chapter traces the development of the syllable-final nasal /N/ and the voiceless fricative /h/ and argues that these elements existed in monosyllabic mimetic roots before they appeared with disyllabic mimetic roots. The chapter suggests that this dichotomy may have implications for broader issues of language evolution.

主題