In a rapidly changing modern society, language has such a characteristic as repeating the rapid formation and extinction of words. The language that most clearly testifies this characteristic is Japanese 「new generation language」, one of historica...
In a rapidly changing modern society, language has such a characteristic as repeating the rapid formation and extinction of words. The language that most clearly testifies this characteristic is Japanese 「new generation language」, one of historical/cultural products, formed in a society that is structured by old generation.
Since the author thought preceding studies on new generation language were only carried out focusing on the formation method of words and did not much deal with its quantification for the present, this study selected new generation language appeared in 『The Basic Knowledge of Modern Terminology』 for 20 years as analytical data, and then examined its method of word formation and quantified it. In addition, the author classified the history, formation cause and function, and formation method of new generation language too.
In the second chapter, the history of new generation language was examined, by dividing the period into 「from Meiji to Taisho」, 「Showa age」 and 「from Heisei to the present」 in which its characteristic was clearly presented. The new generation language in 「Showa age」 was placed in transition period of which language is similar to the language of present generation. To the new generation in the period 「from Heisei to the present」, female high school students occupies much portion and coined such sub-classified new generation language as gogyaru (コギャル) words.
In the third chapter, the formation factor or reason of new generation language was looked into based on such three categories as 「psychological factor」, which was generated from ‘secondary sex characteristic’-oriented influence of psychological changes, 「social factor」, which was made by university students or members of society in their 30th or so with the influence of social life, and 「historical factor」 that was naturally formed according to the stream of times. In this chapter, the author also analyzed the function of new generation language by dividing it into such five categories as 「entertainment function」, 「conversation promoting function」, 「alliance function」, 「concealment function」 and 「others」. Results showed that new generation regarded conversational 「fun」 as most important and they mainly used new generation language as a means of 「entertainment function」.
In the fourth chapter, in order to examine the formation method of new generation language and its characteristic, the author divided it into such five categories as 「elliptical expression」, 「derivative」, 「acronymization」, 「inversion」 and 「others」. Among them, 「elliptical expression」 was found to be a most frequently utilized method of word formation in that it could make the tempo of conversation quicker and include the function of enjoying communication among colleagues as well.
Finally, in the fifth chapter, the formation method of new generation words inserted in 『The Basic Knowledge of Modern Terminology』 for the period from 1995 to 2014 was analyzed. In particular, it was divided into such frequently appearing categories as 「elliptical expression」, 「derivation of nouns」, 「ru (る) words」 「acronymization」, 「yi (い) words」, 「inversion」 and 「others」. Characteristic study findings are as follows:
First, among the formation methods of new generation language, the frequency of appearance was 「elliptical expression」 (32%) > 「derivation of nouns」 (6.5%)> 「ru (る) words」 (4.6%) > 「acronymization」 (2.2%) > 「yi (い) words」 (1.9%) > 「inversion」 (1.6%)」 in order. Therefore, about half of new generation language is coined by the above methods of word formation.
Second, 「elliptical expression」 occupied 32% and seemed to be a representative method of new generation language formation. This fact seems to have a close relation with the 「entertainment function」 or word game of new generation language.
Third, 「derivation of nouns」 was occupied with human being-signifying words by 93.5%, and among them man-signifying words (78.0%) was far more plentiful than woman-signifying words (22.0%). In other words, it means that man-signifying words, which is coined by women, are 78.0% and therefore this phenomenon seems to be related to women’s frequent advance in society. In addition, 「derivation of nouns」 implies man’s effemination.
Fourth, as for 「ru (る) words」 in relation to mora (モーラ), three moras were most frequent, occupying 82.8%. In relation to lines, 「ha (ハ) line」 occupied 25.8%. In relation to the use occasion of most frequent 「ru (る) words」, serial use-type four moras, such as 「sabotte (サボって)」 and 「sabotta (サボった)」, were many, and this phenomenon seems to present the fact that most of three mora 「ru (る) words」 in a basic form are actually used as four moras. Fifth, as for 「acronymization」, the words of which origin is 「Wago (和語) and Chinese」, occupied 57.1%. It is seemingly because most of conversational words consist of not English but ordinary words, and those ordinary words are used via 「acronymization」 for word game.
Sixth, as for 「yi (い) words」, three moras were 91.7%. The actual use occasion of three-mora 「yi (い) words」 was serial use-type four moras, such as 「hazkute (はずくて)」 and 「uzaiyo (うざいよ)」, and this phenomenon seems to present the fact that most of three mora 「yi (い) words」 in a basic form are actually used as four moras. In addition, this phenomenon seems to derive from Japanese language’s observation of such a traditional rule as preserving two moras of beginning portion of words for elliptical words.
Seventh, regarding 「inversion」, the portion of last two moras of original words is placed in the beginning portion of inverted words (54.8%). This phenomenon seems to be a proof that two moras, a basic unit of Japanese pronunciation, are sufficiently utilized even in the change of order of syllables.
In this study, the author selected and examined new generation language appeared in 『The Basic Knowledge of Modern Terminology』 for last 20 years as analytical data focusing on the formation method of words, but examination on 「mojiri (もじり)」, 「goroawase (語呂合わせ)」 and 「borrowing」, some of formation methods of words, could not be carried out in this study due to the insufficiency of examples, only leaving it to the task of future studies.