A cognitive study of English loanwords in Japanese discourse

要旨

ABSTRACT: Studies on English loanwords in Japan have been carried out from a variety of perspectives in the past but they have been mainly concerned with rhetorical aspects associated with images such as modernity and sophistication. The present study discusses the use of English loanwords in Japanese discourse from a cognitive perspective and reveals how the world knowledge of English loanwords is applied to a text and constitutes an integral component of the discourse production process both within and beyond the sentence level. Following the discussion of three cognitive concepts of plan, relational coherence and frame, which constitute our model of discourse for analysis, English loanwords used in Japanese spoken discourse are analyzed in five categories of coherence, and, finally, the implications of the study are discussed briefly.

主題