著者

板垣 浩正 Itagaki Hiromasa イタガキ ヒロマサ

出版者

大阪大学言語文化学会

雑誌

大阪大学言語文化学 = Journal of language and culture (ISSN:09181504)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.27, pp.41-53, 2018

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In Japanese writing, some expressions occur with a parenthesis like the form "X(Y),"as shown in the phrase "Tokyo Daigaku(To-dai)." This paper investigates an expression that does not contain Y and is used as Internet slang like "Tensai( )," and shows its semantic and functional characteristics(hereafter Null-Parenthesis). First, I introduce some previous research on parenthesis sentences. Research on these expressions began in the field of natural language processing, and has been carried on by theoretical linguistics, such as Relevance Theory or Cognitive Linguistics. This paper empirically shows that schematic descriptions in previous studies are not semantically adequate because of the idiosyncratic features of Null-Parenthesis. This suggests that semantic characteristics of some parenthetical expressions need a lowerlevel(individual)description, rather than an abstract description. This paper observes some behaviors of the Null-Parenthesis associated with several grammatical phenomena. It examines:(i)comparison of the Null-Parenthesis usage with a square-bracket expression;(ii)the acceptability in the interrogative sentence; and(iii) the occurrence position of the usage of the Null-Parenthesis. This examination indicates that the Null-Parenthesis conveys the cynical attitude of the writer on the word(or phrase)immediately before the parenthesis. Further, this paper points out that(iv)the Null-Parenthesis cannot appear in the specific event or action, and(v)when the verb that occurs with the Null-Parenthesis is taken as a possible form [-(rar)eru], the Null- Parenthesis can only be accepted in the attributive possible meaning of the verb. This means that the Null-Parenthesis has a constraint that it cannot express the cynical attitude toward a specific event, but instead toward a property of the thing. Based on that consideration mentioned above, this paper argues that the Null-Parenthesis can be generalized as follows; it conveys the cynical attitude of the writer to the property designated by the preceding word. In addition, this paper looks into the semantic extension of the Null-Parenthesis, such as "Mou shukudai akirameta( )." It presents that this type of usage can also be explained by assuming the semantic generalization mentioned in this paper, and Intersubjectivity proposed by Traugott(2003). In conclusion, even though the Null-Parenthesis is a type of Japanese Internet slang, often regarded as a peripheral expression, this paper argues that this usage is not a vague expression, but rather a "linguistic" phenomenon.