While advocating the idea that spoken language is fundamental, contemporary linguistics actually concentrates on research into written language, and research on spoken language (other than research on speech itself) cannot be said to be flourishing. Even if, perhaps, such research could be described as flourishing recently, the studies involved tend to have the nature of conversation analysis or ethnomethodology, and there would appear to be a lack of what one could call linguistic studies. However, is it truly the case that looking at spoken language from a traditional linguistic stance, by focusing on the forms, structures, and meanings of words and phrases, brings no insights into view? In this paper, I will attempt to propose “privilege,” “feelings,” “disfluency,” and “reportability” as four perspectives for discussing the speech acts that make up the core of spoken language, based on my own linguistic studies of spoken Japanese language.

This paper quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed 44 oral personal narratives by celebrities, using the frameworks of Labovian narrative analysis (1972) and Thompson & Hunston’s evaluation (2000), to clarify the functions of the quotatives tte, to, and null particle, regarded as the most important and basic particles in Japanese quotation by Yamaguchi (2009). First, Sugiura’s (2007) claim of the exclusive use of tte for speech quotation, Yamaguchi’s claim that tte is confrontational and to is neutral, and the traditional politeness hypothesis were examined quantitatively. As a result, Sugiura’s claim was the most strongly supported by the significant tendency in which tte and the use of null particle appeared in quotations of speech, and to in quotations of thought. Next, the qualitative analysis, including exceptions in usage, demonstrated that tte can also be used for sequentially told thoughts as an automatic reaction to what is perceived by character-I, that null particle can be used for character-I’s thought that cannot be uttered situationally, and that to can be used at the beginning of narratives and utterances that trigger accidents and at the end of a series of conversations. From these analyses, this paper claims that essentially tte is a marker for the quotations perceived by the character-I in the storyworld, null particle for the quotations from each story character’s perspective in the storyworld, and to is a marker for the quotations from the narrator’s perspective in the narrating world.

This paper looks at linguistic aspects and the grammaticalization of Monastic Sign Language (MSL) used in the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.) by comparison with prevailing MSL research and sign language research in linguistics. Since MSL has been generally understood to be like a system of gestures, it has rarely been studied in sociolinguistics or linguistics and the real nature of the language has not been revealed. In this study, fieldwork was conducted at O.C.S.O. monasteries in Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan. The results of the analysis of the collected utterance data, revealed three characteristics of interrogative expression: (a) Wh-markers in Wh-interrogatives, (b) Question-markers in Yes-No questions, and (c) Request expressions that change Yes-No questions. We examined the grammaticalization and transition from Wh-markers and Question-markers observed in these interrogative expressions and considered why monks change interrogative expressions to request sentences by taking into account the internal social structure of the monks, such as rank and work roles. We also clarified how monks engage with others and establish communication through MSL.

This paper describes the demonstrative system of a Japanese-lexifier creole, Yilan Creole, based on data collected from three generations of speakers in Tungyueh Village, Taiwan. The analysis indicates, first, that all Yilan Creole demonstrative forms are derived from Japanese. Unlike Japanese, however, Yilan Creole has two series of demonstratives, reflecting the influence of the substrate language, Atayal (Austronesian). Second, as in Japanese, Yilan Creole demonstratives can be divided into demonstrative pronouns, demonstrative adjectives, and demonstrative adverbials, but the meanings and functions of Yilan Creole’s demonstrative forms differ from those of Japanese due to influences from the substrate language, the adstrate language, and universals of language acquisition. Third, generational variation in the Yilan Creole demonstrative system reveals a dynamic process of linguistic change.