Using Japanese Synonyms

457 Pages·2016·3.942 MB·English

by  A. E. Backhouse

Using Japanese Synonyms
Beingasuccessfulspeakerofagivenlanguageinvolvescontrolofthe
meaninganduseofvocabularyitems,takingintheirlexicalcontent(what
phenomenatheyreferto),combinatorialbehaviour(whatitemstheyoccur
with)andsituationalcharacteristics(e.g.ascolloquialorformalterms).This
essentialreferencebookprovidesclearinformationontheseaspectsfor
around300groupsofJapanesenear-synonyms,supplementedbyawide
rangeofauthenticexamples.Theresultisaclearprofileofthemeaningand
useofeachitem,highlightingsimilaritiesanddistinctionsamong
neighbouringtermsandexpandinglearners’lexicalrange.Thebookis
designedprimarilyforEnglish-speakinglearners,andtheselectionofgroups
anditemsandtheoveralltreatmentadoptedreflecttheauthor’sextensive
experienceinteachingJapanesetoEnglishspeakers.Japaneseformsand
examplesappearinbothromanizationandJapaneseorthography,andthe
bilingualindexesallowreaderstolocatesynonymsquicklyandeasily.
A. E. BACKHOUSEisProfessorEmeritusatHokkaidoUniversity.Bornand
educatedintheUK,hehastaughtJapaneselanguageandlinguisticsat
universitiesinAustraliaandJapansince1975.Hehaspublishedextensively
inthefieldsofJapaneselanguageandappliedlinguistics.
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Using Japanese
Synonyms
A. E. BACKHOUSE
HokkaidoUniversity,Japan
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Contents
Acknowledgements vi
Symbols and abbreviations vii
Introduction 1
Japanese synonyms 9
Bibliography 401
Index of Japanese items 403
Index of English items 422
v
Acknowledgements
The contents of this book reflect two general debts of gratitude, firstly
to lexicographical and other treatments of the Japanese vocabulary
indicated in the bibliography, and secondly to the students of Japanese
who I have taught over the years at universities in Australia and Japan.
More particular thanks are due to students in graduate classes in Japanese
Lexicology at Hokkaido University and also at Chulalongkorn University
for their feedback on earlier versions of parts of the material. I am grateful
to an anonymous reader for Cambridge University Press for valuable
feedback on the whole book, as well as to Kazuko Backhouse for constant
encouragement and helpful comments on various aspects of the work, and
to Agnes Backhouse for technical assistance in the later stages. Finally,
I would like to thank Kate Brett, Helen Barton and Helena Dowson at
Cambridge University Press for their support and patience throughout the
project.
Sapporo
January 2016
vi
Symbols and abbreviations
Adj/adj adjective
Adv/adv adverb
N/n noun
V/v verb
vintr intransitive verb
vtr transitive verb
1, 2-1, 2, 2-3, 3 formality levels, from least to most formal
H subject-honorific
H< non-subject-honorific
HR honorific referent: person towards whom social
deference is being communicated
M typically used by males
P polite/softer term
PP term used in extra-formal/hyperpolite style
esp especially
fig figuratively
sb somebody: individual or group
sth something
usu usually
vii

Introduction
General
Learning the vocabulary of a foreign language is fascinating, not least
because languages differ in unexpected ways in quite basic lexical
distinctions. English water may be hot or cold, but Japanese distinguishes
between oyu for the first and mizu for the second. While English has a
single basic verb give, Japanese distinguishes two such verbs in terms of
the direction of the act of giving, kureru (for ‘incoming’ giving, directed
towards the speaker) and ageru (for other cases). Vocabulary learning is
also demanding, above all because of the sheer magnitude of the task.
The words and other lexical items of a language number in the tens, if not
hundreds, of thousands, and the acquisition of vocabulary is truly a vast
undertaking.
The aim of bilingual dictionaries of various kinds is precisely to help
the learner in this task. Like other volumes in the series, Using Japanese
Synonyms organizes Japanese vocabulary by areas of meaning: words like
mizu and oyu, or kureru and ageru, are described and illustrated in the
same semantic grouping, or frame, thereby bringing into focus both their
similarities as a group and the distinctions between them.
In this way, the volume is designed to help English-speaking learners to
improve their lexical competence in both comprehension and production
by acquiring a greater awareness of the details of meaning and use of
Japanese lexical items in various semantic areas. Meaning-and-use
involves several dimensions. Firstly and most obviously, it includes the
content of a word, in the sense of the range of phenomena it is used to
refer to: if learners of Japanese overextend mizu in use or misunderstand
it as referring to hot water (as experience indicates they often do),
communication will be impaired. Secondly, in order to use a word
naturally in a phrase or sentence, we also need an appreciation of how
it interacts with other words that commonly accompany it: for example,
1