Communicating in Japanese

330 Pages·1990·10.858 MB·English

by  Kazumi Heshiki

COMMUNICATING
IN
JAPANESE
Kazumi Heshiki
Alaska Pacific University Press
Anchorage, Alaska
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© 1990 Kazumi Heshiki
Published by
Alaska Pacific University Press
Anchorage, Alaska
Pacific Rim Series #1
ISBN: 0-935094-18-0
Cover design by Paul Moon

Preface
This book was written for those:
• who are interested in learning about the Japanese language as well as how
to use it
• who want to learn things systematically and who feel uncomfortable
proceeding without knowing how new things relate to what they
already know
• who want to be able to produce basic sentences instead of just memorizing
expressions for specific purposes or occasions
• who are in a position to teach or who are interested in teaching Japanese to
others and need some help in explaining the language
• who have mastered the basics of the Japanese language and want an in-
depth review because of practical or academic interests
From my many years of experience teaching English and Japanese to adults, I have
come to realize the importance of giving adequate explanations of why things are
expressed the way they are in a new language. I have learned that good explanations
not only help the content of learning settle in the learner's mind more quickly and
firmly, but also help the learner build insight into the structure and use of the new
language.
There is no doubt that a feeling of discomfort about something new hampers the
learner’s efforts to learn it, whereas a feeling of familiarity produces a positive effect.
Since familiarity depends on the relationship between new things and existing
knowledge, the first step in teaching should be to shed some light on this
relationship. For this reason, I explore linguistics more deeply than do ordinary
language text books. I base my book on the shared linguistic base of English and
Japanese. I try to explain the similarities and differences between the two languages
from this perspective.
It has been repeatedly pointed out that the Japanese want to see themselves and to be
seen by others as a unique people who speak a unique language and have a unique
culture. Many Japanese are motivated to teach foreigners the Japanese language by
the desire to gain appreciation for this point. This attitude does not produce effective
language teaching.
One factor that promotes this notion of uniqueness about the Japanese language is
the lack of awareness of the common ground that Japanese shares with other
languages. Past attempts have failed to explain the relationship of Japanese to
grammar developed in Western languages. Recent attempts by those who believe in
1
Preface
a universal grammar have not yet produced tangible results that could be effectively
used for teaching Japanese.
I believe in the universality of language. Information about first-language acquisition
prevents me from believing otherwise. There seems to be no denying that children
have an inborn capacity to learn language. That a child can learn any language in the
society where that language is spoken suggests the existence of universal elements in
all the languages of the world.
In light of this, progress towards a universal grammar seems incredibly slow. A truly
effective approach to the task is yet to be found in the study of language. There is still
to be found a vantage point from which we can enjoy an unobstructed view of the
common ground of the world's languages.
This book is my small contribution to the theory of the universality of language.
My premise is that learning a language is a social process as well as a cognitive one.
The lack of either will cause language acquisition to fail. Thus, it may be that the
claim of an innate linguistic competence in human beings is false. It may be that
what we have inborn, instead, are two or more separate competencies that are
genetically not directly relevant to "language," but which cooperate with one another
in language acquisition.
This book is based on a new linguistic theory which views language as the result of
two innate capacities of the human being: descriptive competence and
communicative competence.
Descriptive competence is based on sensual perceptions which permit us to describe
the outside world to ourselves. We understand what is going on around us through
the descriptive patterns that our senses provide. This is an innate cognitive capacity.
Communicative competence is a social competence. Human beings have evolved
and exist as social beings. Human society depends on the ability of its members to
communicate. However, human communication does not rely entirely on language.
Infants without language can communicate, and the ability of adults to communicate
extends far beyond language. Communicative competence is innate. Obviously, our
capacity to communicate is not based on our linguistic competence; it is our language
that is based on our communicative competence.
I conclude that descriptive competence and communicative competence are
prerequisites for a human being's language acquisition. These two competencies
existed before language and human beings share these competencies with other
animals.
I am sure that readers will be encouraged to find that Japanese shares basic ground
with English, and will feel at home studying Japanese from this book. I hope they
will also find this book stimulating because of its new approach and fresh
perspective.
- Kazumi Heshiki
11
Acknowledgements
The publication of this book was made possible by funding from The Japan
Foundation, Alaska Pacific University and the University of Alaska Anchorage. I
thank them for giving me the opportunity to reach audiences beyond my classroom.
The book was developed as a textbook for my class at Anchorage Community
College, now part of the University of Alaska Anchorage. I want to thank all the
students who have taken my classes and asked questions. I am grateful for those
who came to compliment me and expressed their support for the new approach I was
taking. Some of them were kind enough to offer suggestions or to proofread drafts of
this text.
I thank my friends Paul Rosenthal for his constant encouragement and Douglas
Barker for his generous assistance. Doug proofread and edited almost the entire
manuscript. I was fortunate that I had my first book published by APU Press. I thank
Dr. Jan Ingram and Dawn Ulm for their friendly and conscientious work. They have
done so many things in a short period of time to make an attractive and readable
book out of my manuscript.
Lastly, special thanks to my wife Rikuko and daughter May for their unlimited
support. Rikuko not only provided me with the time I needed to write this book but
has been my best consultant. We spent many hours discussing my questions and her
suggestions. It was a truly enjoyable and memorable part of the otherwise
monotonous life I led while I was devoted to writing this book. I consider Rikuko
my co-author. May has always granted my work priority over her needs through
these long years when I should have minded the business of being a father full time.
- Kazumi Heshiki
February 1,1990
iii
Table of Contents
Dedication
Preface i
Acknowledgements iii
Abbreviations vii
Introduction ix
UNIT 1. Sound Structure
The Japanese Sound System 1
Lesson 1. Basic Units of Japanese Sound 5
Lesson 2. Building Words with Basic Units 13
UNIT 2. Pointing Words
Giving Orientation to Our Conversations 23
Lesson 3. Contextual Pointing 25
Lesson 4. Non-Contextual Pointing 35
UNIT 3. The Making of a Sentence
Elements of a Sentence 47
Lesson 5. The Descriptive Element of a Sentence 49
Lesson 6. The Communicative Element of the Sentence 69
Lesson 7. How the Two Elements Make Up a Sentence 89
UNIT 4. Identity Telling Sentences: To Be + Noun
Naming and Denaming 109
Lesson 8. Naming: Representing Things by Name 111
Lesson 9. Denaming: Identifying Names by Thing 131
Lesson 10. Negation of Naming and Denaming Sentences 145
UNIT 5. Property Describing Sentences: To Be + Adjective
Adjectives 159
Lesson 11. Descriptions by Adjectives 163
Lesson 12. Types of Adjectives 181
Lesson 13. The Communicative Element in Adjectival Sentences 197
Lesson 14. Comparison 209
UNIT 6. The Descriptive Use of the Verb "To Be"
Multiple Roles of the Verb "To Be" 223
Lesson 15. Telling the Whereabouts of Things:
Descriptive Elements 225
Lesson 16. Telling the Whereabouts of Things:
Communicative Elements 239
Lesson 17. The Past Tense of To-Be Sentences 255
Lesson 18. Non-judgmental Statements 267
Summary of Sentence Formats 283
Glossary 299
Index to Words and Expressions 321
Answers to Exercises 323
v
Abbreviations
+
Note
*
Note
repetition of the vowel to which it is attached:
a~, i~, u~, e~, and o~ are long vowels
=> the entry to the right is another way to express what is meant by
the entry to the left
( ) the entry in the parentheses is optional; explanatory note
/ the entry after the slash may be substituted for the term before
the slash
(/) the entry after the slash may be substituted for the term before
the parentheses
<—> contrasting concepts
<==> contrasting concepts
= equivalent
[ ] part of speech or grammatical note; a module in a format
o what follows is a format
/a/ the letters between the slashes represent a syllable
-a, -i, -u, -e, -o inflection of verb
Adj. adjective
AP adjective phrase
C consonant
g nasalized g
Inter. interrogative
-ku, -i inflections of adjective
M/M/M Mr., Mrs. or Miss
n' no
N noun
NP noun phrase
NPn noun phrase which is used as the norm for comparison
O object
pi. plural
Point. W. pointing word
R the frame of reference
S semivowel; subject
sing. singular
Subj. subject
V vowel; verb
V-ed English verb in the past tense
V-infinitive verb in infinitive form
V-ing English verb in progressive form
VP verb phrase
V-ffli Japanese verb with suffix tai
Vll
Introduction
Communicating in Japanese is organized into six units and 18 lessons.
The first three units will orient you to basic linguistics and will give you a clear
perspective of where we are headed. A thorough understanding of these units will
keep you from going astray later. Also, it will offer interesting reading to those who
are not serious about mastering Japanese but are nevertheless interested in Japanese
communication and culture.
Unit 1 explains Japanese sound in two lessons. You will learn the basic units of
Japanese sound and how Japanese words are built with these units. You will find
how simple and straight forward the Japanese sound system is.
Unit 2 with two lessons, explains the pointing system which anchors words in
reality. There is much more to the pointing systems of languages than words like
"this" and "that."
Unit 3 is the core of the first three units. This unit addresses some fundamental
questions about language. What is language? How have human beings acquired it?
How do people use sentences in communication? Dealing with such general themes
is necessary in order to establish this book's approach, which is to start where all
languages share the same ground.
Unit 3 contains three lessons. The first lesson, "The Descriptive Element of the
Sentence," explains what the descriptive element is, how linguistic descriptions are
derived from our perception or experience, and how nouns play a vital role in
linguistic descriptions. The second lesson, "The Communicative Element of the
Sentence," discusses what communication means to a human being, how the
speaker's attitude plays a central role in communication, and how attitudinal words
have developed. The third lesson, "How the Two Elements Make up a Sentence,"
shows how description is integrated into a sentence, how the attitude of the speaker
is reflected in the sentence, how the two elements merge through the mediation of
the verb, and how the two elements are arranged in a sentence and what their
relationships are.
This lesson also discusses sentence structure. The difference between English and
Japanese structures are explained in terms of their relationship to the context of the
sentence. We see how English structure is designed to be closed to context and is thus
independent from context. We see how, in contrast, Japanese structure is open to
context and is thus dependent on context and the listener.
Units 4, 5, and 6 are devoted to a major topic: the use of the verb "to be" in sentences.
The descriptions of "to be" sentences reflect our understanding of the current state of
reality. In other words, they are fact-based descriptions. This is a function unique to
the verb "to be." None of the remaining verbs can describe things as currently
happening without the help of the verb "to be."
IX
Introduction
The descriptions of the verb "to be" will be discussed under two general topics:
describing how things exist, and describing where things exist. Units 4 and 5 are
assigned to the first topic and Unit 6 to the second.
Unit 4 deals with how things exist in respect to how things are identified. In our
communication, things exist in names. The relationship between names and things
is expressed in "to be + Noun" format. Two methods of identification which are
distinctively differentiated in Japanese expressions, naming and denaming, are
covered in detail.
Unit 5 covers the same topic discussed in Unit 4 from another angle: the properties of
things. Describing how things exist in this respect requires the "to be + Adjective"
format. Japanese adjectival expressions are more sophisticated than English
counterparts in some respects, but are simpler in others. The features that do not exist
in English include a phrase structure which is as complete as an English sentence;
divisions between complete and incomplete adjectives; divisions between emotion-
based adjectives and sensation-based adjectives; and auxiliary adjectives. You will
learn about these and other features in four lessons.
Unit 6 addresses the other function of the verb "to be" which is to describe the
existence of certain things in certain locations. Expressions of quantity are integrated
into this unit. In Japanese, the "to be" also expresses the notion "to have." The use of
two versions of this verb,"aru" and "iru" are more clearly defined than in traditional
interpretations. This unit also contains a lesson on the past tense of "to be" sentences,
and a lesson on non-judgmental sentences which are used frequently to avert
subjectivity in Japanese communication.
x