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Vol. 25 No. l
(June, 2005)
Vol. 25 No. 2
(Sep., 2005)
Vol. 25 No. 3
(Dec., 2005)
VOl. 25 No. 4
(Mar., 2006)
VOl. 25 No. 5
(June, 2006)
Vol. 25 No. 6
(Sep., 2006)
Vol. 25 No. 7
(Dec., 2006)
Vol. 25 No. 8
(Mar., 2007)

Vol. 25 No. 1 (June, 2005)

  1. Classification:
    PAPER
    Authors:
    OGINO Takano, KIMURA Mutsuko, YOSHIDA Noriko, KOBAYASHI Masahiro, ISAHARA Hitoshi
    Title:
    Semantic categories critical to verb valence and the distribution of the numbers of the categories
    Pages:
    1-31
    Descriptors:
    valence description; verb; semantic restriction; semantic categories
    Abstract:
    The study describes semantic restrictions of noun phrases (NPs) that relate verbs in order to describe verb valence. The study also examines the number of the semantic categories necessary to describe semantic restrictions of NPs.

    Previous studies have relied on semantic categories in existing thesauruses, however, such a conventional method inherit shortcomings. For example, redundancy and absence of categories are observed, because categorization of general vocabulary applied in existing thesauruses does not share the specific perspectives necessary for categorization of verbs.

    The present study described verb valence as the researcher constructed original semantic categories. Based on such categorical descriptions of valence, the study identified the semantic categories of NPs and constructed a set of semantic categories critical to the description of verb valence. The study also examined the statistical relationship between the numbers of verb concepts, for which valence was described, and the number of the necessary semantic categories of NPs.

  2. Classification:
    REPORT
    Author:
    CHERN Jyhwen
    Title:
    The differences of stylistic characteristics employed in men's magazines and women's magazines --logical and sensitive --
    Pages:
    32-45
    Descriptors:
    men's magazines; women's magazines; stylistic characteristics; principal component analysis
    Abstract:
    This paper reports the result of an experiment designed to test the hypothesis that ¡Èreader consciousness¡É reflects in the style differences in men's magazines and women's magazines. This hypothesis is based on Nakamura's finding in his book (1993) and the result of my previous periodical article. First, 6 different kinds of magazines for both men and women were collected. Furthermore, 25 items to do with style were investigated.

    Next, the ``principal-component-analysis method'' was applied to analyze the results of the investigation, 12 magazines were classified into eight style types, and then the hypothesis was examined. The stylistic characteristics of women's magazines are more ``conversational with C:/Documents\ and\ Settings/sirai/quotations -- non-logic lyricism type.'' On the other hand, it is clear that the stylistic characteristics of men's magazines are more ``textual with less quotations -- logic-narrative type''. Generally speaking, the articles in women's magazines are written in a sensitive style, whereas the ones in men's magazines can be interpreted in a logical style. Therefore, it can be proved that the first hypothesis is right.


Vol. 25 No. 2 (September, 2005)

  1. Classification:
    PAPER
    Authors:
    ITO Masamitsu
    Title:
    Four Classification Models of Parts of Speech Common to Japanese and English for Quantitative Theory of Vocabulary
    Pages:
    65-88
    Descriptors:
    Fujitani Nariakira; Matsushita Daizaburoo; Watanabe Minoru; Kabashima Tadao; H. Sweet; O. Jespersen; general grammar; Japanese school grammar; English school grammar; Japanese-English contrastive linguistics; preposition; postposition
    Abstract:
    The purpose of this study is to propose four classification models of parts of speech common to Japanese and English for quantitative theory of vocabulary. These classification models are necessary for Japanese-English contrastive linguistics. I revised some grammar theories and proposed four classification models as follows.
    To match the terms of both languages, Japanese joshi and jodooshi and English article and preposition are excluded from the classification.
  2. Classification:
    Note
    Author:
    ITO Masamitsu
    Title:
    Quantitative Linguistics and Corpus Linguistics
    Pages:
    89-97
    Descriptors:
    stochastics ; vocabulary research; counting unit; analyzing unit; corpus design; Brown Corpus; NLRI Three Newspapers Database
    Abstract:
    Quantitative linguistics is a father of corpus linguistics. Recently there are many researchers and students who study corpus linguistics without the study and research results of quantitative linguistics. This leads to a serious situation of deterioration in the quality of the research. To improve such a situation, I offer the following recommendations.
    1. Quantitative study comes first before anything.
    2. Select corpus suitable for your research theme.
    3. Check the design and contents of the corpus before using. ( The following recommendations are for the vocabulary investigation. )
    4. Check whether the length of the counting unit of the corpus is suitable for your research theme.
    5. Check whether the width of the analyzing unit of the corpus is suitable for your research theme.
    6. Consider about the amount of the corpus suitable for the purpose, the period, the budget, and the labor of the research.
    7. Understand the content of the processing of the analyzing program.

Vol. 25 No. 3 (December, 2005)

  1. Classification:
    REPORT
    Authors:
    MIYATA Takeaki
    Title:
    O or GO? Honorification of nouns by Japanese native speakers: Based on the vocabulary of Japanese Language Test
    Pages:
    103-122

  2. Classification:
    REPORT
    Authors:
    INUI Takashi, OKUMURA Manabu
    Title:
    Characteristics of In-text Causal Relations
    Pages:
    123-144
    Descriptors:
    causal relation; quantitative study; corpus
    Abstract:
    In this paper, we report the results of our investigation of the characteristics of in-text causal relations. First, we designed causal relation tags. With our designed tag set, annotators annotated a set of Japanese text documents. Then, using the annotated corpus, we investigated the causal relation instances from three viewpoints: (i) cue phrase markers, (ii) part-of-speech information, and (iii) position in sentences. Our quantitative study shows that what amount of causal relation instances are present, where these relation instances are present, and which types of linguistic expressions are used for expressing these relation instances in text.

Vol. 25 No. 4 (March, 2006)

  1. Classification:
    PAPER
    Authors:
    LEE Jae Ho,ISAHARA Hitoshi
    Title:
    Quantitative Analysis of Japanese particle Ni in Second Language Acquisition
    Pages:
    163-180
    Descriptors:
    Japanese particle ni; Grammatical Construction/Syntactic or grammatical units; Second Language Acquisition process
    Abstract:
    The purpose of this study is to analyze the acquisition process of Japanese particle ni by using a multivariate analysis, and to provide a practical methodology of the quantitative analysis to explain grammatical phenomena. Korean L2 learners' OPI data from KY corpus, and then the usage of Japanese particle ni was analyzed with the cluster analysis. We used the cluster analysis based on contextual characters such as a semantic class of the head noun, case relation, predicator, and then four significant clusters of ni were observed. We considered asymmetry in the acquisition process based on the clusters identified. In the end, the results showed that with the methodology of this paper, it is possible to describe of the learners' interlanguage.
  2. Classification:
    PAPER
    Author:
    YOKOYAMA Shoichi
    Title:
    Can We Predict Preference for Kanji Form from Newspaper Data on Character Frequency?
    Pages:
    181-194
    Descriptors:
    Kanji variant, preference, familiarity, Fechner's law, mere exposure effect, Two-Alternatives Forced Choice
    Abstract:
    In writing the word hinoki 'cypress' in kanji, there are two commonly-used alternative forms, ÛØ (the so-called "traditional" form) and É° (a "simplified" form), both of which have the same meaning and pronunciation. Such alternative forms are called kanji variants. The study introduces a psychophysical model, based on Fechner's law, which predicts familiarity judgments performance from frequency of kanji variant. The introduced model was tested on empirical data obtained from an experiment, in which 85 subjects were presented 263 traditional/simplified variant pairs and asked which form they would prefer to use in word processing. Regression analyses were conducted with the preference ratio for the traditional form as the dependent variable, and the difference of the log-frequency of the characters as the independent variable (cf. Formula 5.1) and results showed significant correlations(r= .73 for Asahi and r= .70 for Yomiuri). The data suggest the effect of frequency, supporting the so-called "mere exposure effect" theory by Zajonc (1968) in Japanese kanji processing.

Vol. 25 No. 5 (June, 2006)

  1. Classification:
    PAPER
    Authors:
    YOKOYAMA Shoichi
    Title:
    Mere Exposure Effect and Generalized Matching Law on Preference for Kanji Form
    Pages:
    199-214
    Descriptors:
    preference, mere exposure effect, value function, matching law, Fechner's law, familiarity
    Abstract:
    In writing the word hinoki `cypress' in kanji, there are two commonly-used alternative forms, ÛØ (the so-called "traditional" form) and É° (a "simplified" form), both of which have the same meaning and pronunciation. Such alternative forms are called kanji variants. The study introduces a logistic regression analysis, based on "Fechner's law", which predicts familiarity judgments performance from frequency of kanji variant. This model was verified on empirical data obtained from an experiment, in which 72 subjects in Kyoto were presented 263 traditional/simplified variant pairs and asked which form they would prefer to use in word processing. Logistic regression analysis were conducted with the logit for choice of the traditional form as the dependent variable, and the logit of the frequency of the characters as the independent variable (cf. Formula 5.1) and results showed significant correlations(r= .81 for Asahi). This logistic regression analysis is very similar to "generalized matching law" by Baum (1974) or "the ideal free distribution theory" by Fagen(1987).
  2. Classification:
    PAPER
    Author:
    KIM Eran
    Title:
    Loanwords in Basic Newspaper Vocabulary: the Meaning and Usage of KÊSU (case) as Compared to Synonyms JIREI, REI and BAAI
    Pages:
    215-236
    Descriptors:
    loanword, basic vocabulary, shift of loanwords to basic words, appositive noun, synonym
    Abstract:
    This paper investigates synchronically why the loanword kêsu had attained the status of a basic word in Japanese newspaper vocabulary by the end of the 20th century. Comparing the meaning and usage of kêsu with synonyms jirei, rei and baai clarified the following.

    1. Kêsu is most frequently used as an appositive head noun modified by a clause.
    2. For this usage, in expressions where the modifying clause means "a bad occurrence (which has already happened)" and the predicate of the main clause means "many" or "happens", kêsu is used much more often than synonyms rei or baai.
    3. It is thought that the high frequency of this kind of expression in newspaper texts is the reason why kêsu has become a basic word in newspaper vocabulary.
    In order to show how meanings and usage of kêsu like the above have come about in newspaper texts in the second half of the 20th century, diachronic investigation of kêsu and its synonyms is required.

Vol. 25 No. 6 (Sep., 2006)

  1. Classification:
    PAPER
    Author:
    MIYATA Takeaki
    Title:
    The Functional Classification of Japanese Honorific Nouns and Honorific Functions: Through the Judgment of Japanese Native Speakers
    Pages:
    245-261
    Descriptors:
    functions of honorific nouns, honorific prefixes ``o'' and ``go'', correspondence analysis
    Abstract:
    The purpose of this study is to conduct a survey of young Japanese native speakers on their knowledge of the honorific nouns which are most frequently collocated with honorific prefixes ``o'' and ``go'', analyze what function each honorific noun has, and present a functional classification of the honorific nouns.

    In the analysis, hybrid honorific functions have been found as well as conventional single honorific functions. The analysis has also revealed that Japanese native speakers vacillate in their judgments of a variety of honorific functions.

    On the other hand, the correspondence analysis has divided the honorific functions into four groups (kenjogo-sonjogo, sonkeigo, bikago-teineigo, and neutral one) and the vacillation of the honorific functions has been found in each functional group. Most honorific nouns belong to specific functional groups, whereas there are some honorific nouns which waver among them, that is, they do not follow any pattern that determines under which group they can be classified.

  2. Classification:
    PAPER
    Author:
    PARK Yangsun
    Title:
    Honorific Behavior in both languages of Japanese-Korean bilingual junior and high school students
    Pages:
    262-281
    Descriptors:
    Japanese-Korean bilingual junior and high school students, native speaker, honorific behavior, ``borrowing a pen'', politeness
    Abstract:
    In this study, I attempt a contrast of native speakers of Japanese and Korean, with Japanese-Korean bilingual junior high and high school students, focusing on the expressions they used in requests for borrowing a pen, and I analyze these results quantitatively. From the results, I found the following.
    1. In the patterns of honorific behavior of these students, their Japanese usage resembles that of native speakers of that language, and the same is true for their Korean usage. Nonetheless, while similarities were found, these bilingual speakers linguistic behavior did not exactly match the behavior of either group of native speakers.
    2. I suggest that the cause of these results is that these bilingual speakers possess two competing sets of honorific attitudes; one from Japanese which tells them to place importance on "familiarity" and another from Korean which tells them to place importance on "status".

Vol. 25 No. 7 (Dec., 2006)

  1. Classification:
    PAPER
    Author:
    HASHIMOTO Waka
    Title:
    A Logistic Curve Model of the Increase in the Number of Loanwords in Japanese :Using Editorial Columns From the Taisho to Heisei Eras
    Pages:
    293-308
    Descriptors:
    loanword, editorial, vocabulary survey, quantitative change,¡¡logistic curve, S-curve model
    Abstract:
    The purpose of this paper is to build a theoretical model of the increasing process for the number of loanwords (Gairaigo) from the Taisho era to the present day.

    In this investigation, I counted the number of loanwords used in editorials from the Japanese newspapers Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun. I placed the data plots on a time axis, and applied non-linear regression (y = K¡¿(1¡Üa e-bx), called a ``logistic curve'').

    The results of this study are as follows: The data plots agree well with the logistic curve. Thus, the logistic curve is one of the theoretical curves that express well the increase in the number of loanwords from the Taisho era to the present day.

  2. Classification:
    NOTE
    Author:
    OGINO Tsunao
    Title:
    On the Choice of ``na/no'' as the Suffixes of ``keiyoudoushi'': A Result of Searching WWW Corpus
    Pages:
    309-318
    Descriptors:
    WWW, ``na/no'', modification by degree adverbs

Vol. 25 No. 8 (Mar., 2007)

  1. Classification:
    REPORT
    Author:
    TSURUOKA Akio
    Title:
    On the Distribustion of ni/he as Japanese Particles
    Pages:
    341-351

  2. Classification:
    REPORT
    Author:
    ITO Masamitsu
    Title:
    ¡¡¡¡¡¡An Improvement of a Text Synthesis Method for the Expriment of Third-order Word Approximation in Japanese
    Pages:
    352-370

  3. Classification:
    NOTE
    Author:
    OGINO Tsunao
    Title:
    First Person Pronouns of Contenporary Students in Tokyo Area
    Pages:
    371-374

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