A typology of depiction marking

2020/08/20 by Kimi Akita · 1 voice · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Language, Metaphor, and Cognition #Linguistics and Discourse Analysis #Multisensory perception and integration

paper · doi:10.1075/sl.17029.aki

openalex publication_date 2020/08/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15

Abstract

Abstract Ideophones and direct quotations are “depictive” signs, or vivid re-enactments of what they signify. Pursuing the typology of linguistic depiction, the current study proposes a three-way classification of depiction marking strategies: framing, foregrounding, and backgrounding. While well-known formal characteristics of ideophones, such as prosodic prominence and quotative constructions, illustrate framing and foregrounding, this paper discusses low-pitched quotative indexes in Japanese as backgrounding-type depiction markers. These quotatives immediately follow ideophones and exclamatory quotations and set them off. They also underlie the exceptional pitch pattern of heavy syllables in ideophones.

Citations

• Expressiveness and system integration: On the typology of ideophones, with special reference to Siwu
• Semantic schism and interpretive integration in Japanese sentences with a mimetic: reply to Tsujimura
• Two-dimensional semantic analysis of Japanese mimetics
• Arbitrariness, Iconicity, and Systematicity in Language
• An inverse relation between expressiveness and grammatical integration: On the morphosyntactic typology of ideophones, with special reference to Japanese
• Language as Description, Indication, and Depiction

Cited by

• Ideophones (Oxford Handbook of Word Classes)

Discussions

• Neat new paper by Kimi Akita on the typology of depiction marking, using evidence from Japanese quotatives & ideophones with broader cross-linguistic implications http://doi.org/10.1075/sl.17029.aki 1 [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]