LINGUIST List 12.2848

Tue Nov 13 2001

Qs: Phonotactic Database, Personal Pronoun/Lang Use

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Nostalgia, Phonotactic database
2. Katya, Language use and self-identificationv

Hi,

Does anyone know if there is any phonotactic database of world languages 
(or at least some languages), which list not only the phonemic inventories 
of languages but also their phonotactic constraints?

Thanks in advance.

Kenjiro Matsuda
Kobe Shoin Women's University
Kobe, Japan

Dear all,
	 
Does anybody know any good internet links, articles, books (I am
particularly interested in internet links, because I live in Russia
and getting foreign books is a problem here) on how change
in self-identification and identification by other people
influenced the system of personal pronouns and address terminology in a
language. (If anybody knows anything about the connection of language
usage and self-identification in general I am interested in this as
well).
 
I am writing a paper on this subject on the basis of the Japanese
language and I wonder if there are any parallels in other languages
and cultures. To clarify my point I would like to give a few
examples. As I focus on the women's language in Japanese (and its
difference from the men's language) my examples have to do with the
history of change of women's self-identification and identification in
Japan and with the contemporary difference in self-identification and
identification in different social groups of women in Japan.
	
Address terminology examples: According to the information I read in
the book of Endo Orie ("Josei no yobilkata daikenkyuu") in Japanese in
the end of 70-s girls loved to be called "gyaru" (from the English
'girl'). This word has some aura of westernization, freedom, new
attitude to life). Then in the 80-s the word "ojou-san" (a traditional
Japanese word used to address a young, unmarried woman from
upper-middle class and wealthy families) came into fashion. Ojou-san
is perceived as someone very delicate and feminine. I think this
example shows that during those years Japanese girls admiring
(akogare) the western culture wanted to be like those free happy women
they saw so many times in American films. But then they got tired of
playing the roles of assertive, independent women, which is so far
from the traditional Japanese idea of a female character and started
identifying themselves with a traditional Japanese word.
	
I wonder whether any fundamental research (by psychologists or
sociologists, sociolinguists) has been carried out on the problem of
identification and language usage in general and I would also like to
know if similar language changes have taken place or are taking place
in other languages. I will be very grateful for any relevant
information.
		
I will be happy to post a summary of material that is sent to me.
		 
Thank you in advance.

Ekaterina