2022 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 19-35
In this study, I propose a sentence type called a “mockery sentence,” which is associated with the linguistic behavior of “mockery” in nominal free-standing word sentences. Here, I clarify the structure of the mockery sentence and its position in the system of nominal free-standing word sentences. There are two basic structures in mockery sentences identified by: i) vowel lengthening and fall intonation at the end of the sentence (“yowamushī↘.”), and ii) sentence beginning with ‘yā↘i’ (“yā↘i, yowamushi.”). Mockery by nominal free-standing word sentences is achieved by support of either structure.
With regard to the categories of “expressive sentences” and “conative sentences” in the system of nominal free-standing word sentences, while mockery sentences can be classed as the latter they are closer to sentences that call out to or praise others, such as “ōi, Takahashi,” or “yo, setsuyaku-jōzu.”
An examination of sentence structure reveals the ways in which the Japanese language classifies linguistic behaviors, facilitating a systematic understanding of nominal free-standing word sentences.
