Yoshitake, Daiki (2024) On the Japanse Verb Kikoyu - Semantic Expansion of Comprenhension Usage, slide of the Bucharest Japanese Studies Conference 2024 at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies.pdf
[en] Verbs of involuntary hearing that also express auditory inference (comprehension based on hearing) are known to exist in multiple languages. However, the verb ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฐ๐บ๐ถ (่ใใ) in Old Japanese, which expressed auditory inference, uniquely evolved to express general comprehension in the early modern period. Regarding comprehension usages of this verb, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ค ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ (ใ่งๅทๅค่ชๅคง่พๅ ธใ) presents three specific ways of usage: auditory comprehension (auditory inference), comprehension concerning speech, and general understanding.
This study aims to identify the emergence periods of these usages and to elucidate the cognitive mechanism underlying this semantic change. The analysis is based on the ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ, covering the period from the 8th to the 20th century.
The findings indicate that, firstly, during the 8th and 9th century, the usage of involuntary hearing is only observed, whereas the usage of auditory inference emerges in the 10th and 11th century. Secondly, the usage of comprehension concerning speech is observable from the 10th century, but it becomes more frequent around the 17th century. Thirdly, the usage of general understanding (comprehension unrelated to hearing) is attested from the 18th century. Additionally, pragmatic usage that does not specify the object of comprehension appears in the 19th century.
The semantic shift from auditory inference to deeper comprehension can be explained through a synecdochic relationship: the generalization of meaning might have been progressively executed by the conceptualizer, beginning with the meaning of auditory inference. This repetitive generalization results in the conventionalization of new synecdochic meanings and enhances the degree of the lexical item, allowing for pragmatic usage without specifying the object of comprehension. For example, โHahฤ kikoetaโ (๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ด๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช-๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆใๆ็ๅพใฎ็ๅคขใ in 1824) translates to โAh, I see.โ