An analysis of tte - and to yuu no wa -marked phrases in Japanese discourse

Abstract

Japanese tte- & to yuu no wa-marked phrases have been described as the meta-use of linguistic forms, a use argued to derive from Japanese sensitivity to difference in the speaker's space & the hearer's space, space being used in the sense of mental space posited by Gilles Fauconnier (1985). Here, it is contended that these meta-forms better describe the idea of "territory of information." This assertion is supported by the lexical composition of these meta-forms, both originating from the quotation marker to & a verb form, indicating the speaker's distance from the content of the quotation. Metaforms can also be used to momentarily forswear one's own viewpoint in favor of the viewpoint of the addressee in order to show solidarity with the addressee. Whereas tte & to yuu no wa are generally regarded as functionally equivalent, both used to encode entities not within the speaker's territory, it is suggested that they may differ in their distributions. Whereas tte may be used when the entity belongs in the addressee's territory & there is no need to remind the addressee of this, to yuu no wa may be preferred when the entity lies within the speaker's territory & yet for the sake of the addressee the speaker does not want to claim it. It is surmised that the speaker may use the to yuu no wa-marking to emphasize distance from the entity & the tte-marking when there is no reason to emphasize the distance. The difference between the two meta-forms supports the isomorphic principle that two different forms will always entail a difference in communicative function. The occurrence of forms resembling meta-forms to convey abstract observations reinforces the idea of distance from the speaker & suggests the equation of identity of form with similarity in function. 12 References. L. R. Hunter