This paper is to research the present state of language map making between Korea and Japan. And this is also to propose the developmental prospect of language map in the future. Language map is being developed not only an aspect of temporal and spatial language specialization but also one of social classes' language specialization into the expressing phases in two-dimensional language map and forward into the expressing ones in three or more-dimensional phases on the computer image. Most of all, it needs to develop into the language map making system in Korean-Japanese Language Map in focus of the exclusive language map making program, SEAL only with Korea, China and Japan in the future. Although it earnestly needs unification code work of phonetic notation for language map making and international cooperation for language map making system development, it is hard to attain this with personal effort. Language map making system with Korea, China and Japan in the future will be developed into sociolinguistic language map making system including symbolic and phonetic map.

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In this paper a new technique for representing geographical differences will be introduced. Two techniques of simplification are applied to represent geographical distribution patterns of standard Japanese. The first one is plotting the geographical locations making use of railway distances. The second one is a representation of geographical distribution patterns by one point. By simplifying the two-dimensional geographical distribution into one by railway distance, another dimension can show the average percentage of usage of standard Japanese forms for each prefecture. Numerical data of the "Linguistic Atlas of Japan" was utilized. The railway distances correspond to standardization of dialects. By comparing railway distances from Tokyo and from Kyoto, influence of each of the capitals of Japan was analyzed. The standardization of language proceeded in two historical stages. The first stage was standardization from Kyoto. The second stage appeared later from Tokyo. Sociolinguistic problems were also discussed on the basis of geographical factors of distance.

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The Agakita Region, Niigata Prefecture, is situated close to the borders with Yamagata Prefecture to the north and Fukushima Prefecture to the west. Although the region belongs to Kaetsu, Niigata Prefecture, the regional dialect differs from that of Niigata, embracing some characteristics common with adjacent regions beyond the prefectural border. One example is the "g" sound pronounced in mid-word and endings, as the dialect of this region retains a very rare aspect characterized by [^〓g]〜[~g] sounds. This paper discusses the results of a study of this aspect using (acoustic) machine analysis and a distribution survey, together with the analysis of each realis, primarily from the viewpoint of sound context. The study made clear that the region retains the [^〓g]〜[~g] sound aspect over a broad area, and that actual phonation is influenced considerably by syllabic structure and the proclitic or enclitic vowels of the [^〓g] sound.

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This paper investigates the acquisition course of lexical accent and the accent distribution in children's vocabularies among three accent systems of Japanese; Standard Japanese (Tokyo Japanese), Kyoto and Kagoshima Japanese. The results of the accent production experiments showed that only the Kagoshima children seemed to acquire their native accent incorrectly. Previous research suggested that the course of acquisition of the correct native accent may be universal one; however, our results indicated otherwise. The analysis of the accent distribution in children's vocabularies indicated that Standard Japanese and Kyoto Japanese had a large deviation between the occurrences of the accent types while Kagoshima Japanese had a small deviation. These findings will be discussed with respect to the acquisition course of Japanese accent.

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In the dialects of the northeastern region of Japan, the objective case-markers -KOTO/-TOKO are used. The markers of -KOTO/-TOKO are used only with animate nouns. However, in several dialects of this region, this constraint is lost and the lexical appearance develops its grammatical function with inanimate nouns. This paper takes a comparative linguistic approach to the dialects in order to examine the regional differences in the grammaticalization of -KOTO/-TOKO. According to a study of texts written in the dialects of this region, the markers of -KOTO/-TOKO are used only with animate nouns in the dialects of the inland in the Tohoku district and the Pacific coast (the Okitama region in Yamagata Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture and Ibaragi Prefecture). On the other hand, in the dialects of the Sea of Japan coast (the Tsugaru region in Aomori Prefecture, Akita Prefecture, the Shonai region in Yamagata Prefecture and the northeastern region of Nigata Prefecture), the markers of -KOTO/-TOKO are used also with inanimate nouns.

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In the Toyama dialect and the Kanazawa dialect, there are two kinds of adverbial modifiers which are generated from an adjective: the stem (or u-onbin form) +nato/rato, and the adnominal form -i+gani. In this paper, we examine the usage of these forms and the process of their grammaticalization. The -gani form, which is derived from the "formal" noun ga + the particle ni, is used both as a resultative adverb and as a manner adverb in the Kanazawa dialect, while the former but not the latter usage is seen in the Toyama dialect. This difference shows that the suffix -gani is grammaticalized in Kanazawa more than in Toyama. On the other hand, the -nato/rato form has a wider usage than the -gani form both in Kanazawa and in Toyama. These imply that -nato/rato is more developed than -gani as a suffix which generates an adverbial modifier.

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Traditional dialects in Amami Islands are being rapidly replaced by the Standard Japanese. This research investigates Yoron Island dialect and analyzes generational differences in the language transformation. The following points are to be presented : 1. A tendancy toward the standardization of Amami language is more apparent in the younger generation. 2. Yoron peaple in their thirties speak the Yoron Island dialect as everyday language. 3. The teenagers has lost the traditional dialect and uses Amami common language which is a mixture of the Standard Japanese and the dialect.

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A linguistic survey conducted in six major cities in Japan in 2001-2003 revealed that the Kansai way of speaking (including the Kansai dialect) has become popular and is being adopted across Japan mainly by the younger generation. It is even observed that they use it as a new speech style in their daily conversations. The reason for the emergence of such a phenomenon could be that the Kansai way of speaking oriented to intimacy through laughter, fulfills the desire of Japanese young people to enjoy conversation in this affluent society. It could be suggested that the communication attitude of Japanese is changing to an intimacy-oriented one.

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From a survey of the (1) communication consciousness, (2) honorific behaviour, and (3) norm consciousness of native metropolitan and Osaka speakers from the point of view of politeness, the following regional and generational variations were observed : (1) In Osaka, consciousness of the importance of talking pleasantly is high in all generations. In metropolitan areas, the younger the generation is, the higher the consciousness is. In metropolitan areas, consciousness of the importance of talking properly in formal conversation is high in all generations, especially among those over 60 years old. (2) In terms of honorific behaviour in formal situations, the younger generation in metropolitan areas use low honorific forms which don't include honorific and humble words. In contrast, the older generation use high level honorific forms which include honorific and humble words (including double honorific words). In Osaka, low level honorific words, dialectal honorific words which also work as group markers, and dialectal beneficial expressions are used by all generations. (3) In terms of norm consciousness for honorific words, metropolitan speakers, compared to Osaka speakers, tend to favor double honorific words, which they view as an excess of honorific words. A comparison of these results with Brown & Levinson's Politeness theory (1987) identified a number of regional and generational tendencies. In metropolitan areas, with the exception of the younger generation, there is a tendency to place importance on negative politeness, which makes a point of politeness of honorific expression and courtesy. In Osaka, on the other hand, there is a tendency to place importance on positive politeness, due to a desire to shrink the psychological distance between speakers. In younger generation, the tendency to place importance on positive politeness is common in both the metropolitan and Osaka areas.

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This thesis is based on a study of the social meaning of contemporary dialect, from the viewpoint of changes in the characteristics and functions of dialects, as well as the comparison of dialects with the common language. The results of the study indicate some changes in the quality of the contemporary dialect, which will be called 'accessorization'.

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Kesenese, the dialect of the Kesen district, Iwate prefecture, did not have its own writing system. The author has established its orthography and grammar and published its dictionary. This orthography has formed the basis for speeches, poems, music, theatrical performances, and even the publication of the Gospels translated from the original Greek texts into Kesenese . These trials contribute to the development of a new cultural era in our dialect speaking society.

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