JAP225 Visiting Professor's Course

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2014
Extent and Intensity
0/0. 7 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jiří Matela, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. RNDr. Václav Blažek, CSc.
Japanese Studies Centre – Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Japanese Studies Centre – Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 17. 2. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Tue 18. 2. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Wed 19. 2. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Thu 20. 2. 14:10–15:45 Zahraniční oddělení, Fri 21. 2. 9:10–10:45 Zahraniční oddělení, Mon 24. 2. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Tue 25. 2. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Wed 26. 2. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Thu 27. 2. 14:10–15:45 Zahraniční oddělení, Fri 28. 2. 9:10–10:45 Zahraniční oddělení, Mon 3. 3. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Tue 4. 3. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Wed 5. 3. 10:50–12:25 Zahraniční oddělení, Thu 6. 3. 14:10–15:45 Zahraniční oddělení, Fri 7. 3. 9:10–10:45 Zahraniční oddělení
Prerequisites
Decent knowledge of modern English.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Seminar: COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS AND JAPANESE

Lecturer: Prof. Yoshihiko Ikegami (professor emeritus University of Tokyo)

SUMMARY:
The course is intended as a series of lectures with focus on specifics of the Japanese language, approached mainly from the modern cognitive linguistics perspectives. The lectures are devided into two parts. The first part will introduce modern cognitive linguistics at the level of general linguistics. The second part will deal specifically with the Japanese language at the level of grammar, lexicon, stylistics, also with focus on communication strategies and cultural typology.

Part I: Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics
Cognitive linguistics is the most recent new development in the study of language. The course offers an introductory account of its basic ideas, followed by a series of discussions on some of the major points in grammar and lexis with examples predominantly from English.

Part II: Japanese as Seen from Outside and from Inside
It is well-known that there is sometimes a big discrepancy between the image entertained by non-native speakers about the language they learn and the image entertained by native speakers about their native language (so much so that Japanese was once called by Westerners 'the Devil's language'). In the present course, some of such cases are taken up and discussed both from the viewpoint of linguistic relativity and of linguistic universality.

At the end of the course students will be able to:
understand the basic theoretical and methodological framework of modern cognitive linguistics;
discuss the differences between cognitive linguistics and other linguistic frameworks;
describe some characteristics of modern Japanese language and its specifics in contrast with English or other european languages;
know the basic concepts and terminology concerning the field of study.
Syllabus
  • SYLLABUS
  • Part I: Cognitive Linguistics
  • 1. Language as Object of Linguistics – ‘Nature’ vs. ‘Culture’ Problem
  • 2. A Brief Historical Sketch of Linguistics in the 20th Century – Structural Linguistics, Transformational-Generative Grammar, Cognitive Linguistics
  • 3. Cognition and Linguistics, with a Brief Note on Biosemiotics
  • 4. ‘Meaning’ in Cognitive Linguistics
  • 5. Questions of ‘Construal’ – Universality vs. Relativity, and Linguistic Typology
  • 6. Selected Topics in Grammar – ‘Different Form, Different Meanings’
  • 7. Selected Topics in Lexicon, esp. ‘Metaphor’
  • Part II: Japanese Linguistics (for those who at least have some idea about what the Japanese language is like)
  • 1. Language Ideology – Native Speakers’ Image vs. Non-native Speakers’ Image, ‘Alien’ Languages, Japanese as ‘the Devil’s Language’
  • 2. ‘Omission’ of the Grammatical Subject and Mixing of Present and Past Tense Forms – What do they mean for the native speakers?
  • 3. Indirect Ways of Saying Things – What do they mean for the native speakers? With a note on contrastive rhetoric: a ‘spiral’ (as contrasted with ‘linear’) development of the theme in discourse
  • 4. Haiku and the Japanese Language
  • 5. Selected Topics in Grammar and Lexicon – ‘Plurality’ in Japanese, Adjectives Referring to ‘Inner’ (Mental) States vs. Adjectives Referring to ‘Outer’ (Behavioural) States, ‘Coming’ and ‘Going’, Uchi (Inside) and Soto (Outside) in Verbs of Giving and Receiving, ‘Agentivity’ vs. ‘Spontaneity’, ‘Adverse’ Connotations in ‘Ukemi’(Passive), Ukemi (Passive) and Shieki (Causation). ‘Telicity’ and ‘Atelicity’ in Verbs of Action, ‘Double Vision’? – the Use of noda and Related Words
  • 6. Japanese on the Evolutionary Scale – ‘Monologue’ vs. ‘Dialogue’, ‘Ego-centricity’ vs. ‘Social Equality’, ‘Subjectivity’ – ‘Intersubjectivity’ – ‘Objectivity’, ‘Speaker-Responsibility’ vs. ‘Hearer-Responsibility’

    [Relevant references will be given in the course of the lectures.]
Teaching methods
Lectures with examples from English and Japanese texts. Selected lectures will be accompanied by audiovisual examples in Japanese. Each lecture might be followed by a short time for Q&A (if necessary).
Assessment methods
Grading will be based on the final paper, 5 pages (9-10000 signs), with footnotes and bibliography. The paper must be written in English and submitted to the Information System ("Odevzdávárna") by Friday, May 16, 2014. The topic of the paper will be specified.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2012, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2014, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2014/JAP225