CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter shows all of review of Related Theories, the theoretical framework and supporting theories used in this study to analyze the semantic changes. The writer divides this chapter into three parts. In the first part, the writer explains review of Related Theories that explains semantic and the factor that influence semantic changes. In the second part, the writer explains the theoretical framework that explains semantic changes, loanword, Japanese loanword, and Nipponia magazine as the object of the research. In the third part, the writer explains the related studies which consist of the previous studies as the supporting theory and comparison study.
2.1.Review of Related Theories
2.1.1 Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It is a wide subject within the general study of language. An understanding of semantics is essential to the study of language acquisition (how language users acquire a sense of meaning, as speakers and writers, listeners and readers) and of language change (how meanings alter over time). It is important for understanding language in social contexts, as these are likely to affect meaning, and for understanding varieties of English and effects of style. It is thus one of the most fundamental concepts in linguistics. The study of semantics includes the study of how meaning is constructed, interpreted, obscured, illustrated, simplified negotiated, contradicted and paraphrased.
2.1.2 Factors Influence the Semantic Changes
English words inevitably acquire, to some degree, meanings culture-specific to Japan. Usually lexical borrowing is driven by cultural borrowing (Arabski, 2002). Japan may have often been an exception to this, as can be seen in the slogan from Japan’s 19th-century rush for modernity. Indeed, some believe that it is the incomplete linguistic assimilation of foreign loanwords that allows Japanese traditional concepts and culture to be maintained (Kay, 1995). It would be difficult to find a borrowed word that has retained exactly the same meaning or context of use as its word of origin.
Words often take on adapted meanings to serve the needs of a changing society. Loanwords are especially open to modification, both on entering the language, and with time. One reason is that the meaning or usage of a word in its original language may not be fully understood; nor need it be, as loanwords are used without reference to their source words. Another is that, with words of foreign origin, there is no deep cultural motivation to protect their original meanings. The flexibility of form and meaning of loanwords enables them to adapt easily to the structure of the host language, and current trends and needs. (Kay, 1995)
Loanwords are malleable and tend to shift meanings much more quickly than a Japanese word (Miura, 1990), and the more Japanese come to use a loanword, the more it is meanings can evolve. Some loanwords may stray farther and farther from the donor language, while individuals familiar with English may use other loanwords in ways increasingly similar to the original (Kay, 1995). In most cases, native speakers will experience confusion in Japan, as a fairly detailed acquaintance with the intricacies of modern Japanese urban life is necessary to fully understand loanwords.
According to Tsujimura, when borrowing takes place, some change in semantic contents of the original words seems to be usual. It also seems that the different origins of loan words contribute to a certain orientation that the words carry (Tsujimura, 1996). The change of the meaning of Japanese loanword naturally follows the rules of Japanese linguistic rules. Due to that reasons, this research is intended to examine the semantic changes that occur in Japanese loanwords.
The meaning of a word can change in the course of time. Changes of lexical meanings can be proved by comparing contexts of different times. Transfer of the meaning is called lexicon-semantic word-building. In such cases the outer aspect of a word does not change.
2.2. Theoretical frameworks
2.2.1. Semantic changes
Over time lexemes may change their meaning. This kind of change is semantic change. Perhaps a connotation will take the place of the original denotation. More often a second meaning will develop side by side with the original. In time, this may come to be the primary reference meaning. Based on Crystal (1998) Semantic Change is a change in the meaning of a word. This will commonly happen as words are lost from a language and others come in. The causes of semantic changes can be extra-linguistic and linguistic, e.g. The change of the lexical meaning of the noun (pen) was due to extra-linguistic causes. Primarily (pen) comes back to the Latin word (penna) (a feather of a bird). As people wrote with goose pens the name was transferred to steel pens which were later on used for writing. Still later any instrument for writing was called (a pen).
The development and change of the semantic structure of a word is always a source of qualitative and quantitative development of the vocabulary. All the types discussed depend upon some comparison between the earlier (whether extinct or still in use) and the new meaning of the given word. This comparison may be based on the difference between notions expressed or referents in the real world that are pointed out, on the type of psychological association at work, on evaluation of the latter by the speaker or, possibly, on some other feature.
In Japan, many linguist use foreign theory to analyze changes of meaning word. They usually use Semantic Changes theory by David Crystal, because in Japanese, they don’t have a theory to analyze the changes of meaning in one word. Crystal (1998) stated that words can go through four types of semantic changes namely broadening, Narrowing, Amelioration, Pejoration, Weakening, and Semantic Shift. Typically, the changes are step by step and involve one of the following phenomena.
2.2.1.1 Semantic Narrowing
Semantic narrowing is the process in which the meaning of a word becomes less general or less inclusive than it’s historically earlier meaning (Crystal, 1998). In narrowing or specialization, lexeme becomes more specialized in meaning. The example of semantic narrowing is the word Engine. Engine was formerly used in a general sense of ‘mechanical contrivance’ (especially of war and torture), but since the industrial revolution it has come to mean ‘mechanical source of power’. Other examples are included in table 1.
Table 1
Semantic narrowing
Word Old meaning New meaning
Hound ‘any dog’ ‘a hunting breed’
Meat ‘any type of food’ ‘flesh of an animal’
Fowl ‘any bird’ ‘a domesticated bird’
Disease ‘any unfavorable state’ ‘an illness’
In all the examples considered above, a word which formerly represen¬ted a notion of a broader scope has come to render a notion of a narrower scope. When the meaning is specialized, the word can only be the name for fewer objects, i.e. Have fewer referents. At the same time, the content of the notion is being enriched, as it includes -a greater number of relevant features by which the notion is characterized. Or as st. Ullmann puts it: "the word is now applicable to more things but tells us less about them." the reduction of scope accounts for the term "narrowing of the meaning" which is even more often used than the term "specialization". We shall avoid the term "narrowing", since it is somewhat misleading. Actually it is neither the meaning nor the notion, but the scope of the notion that .is narrowed.
2.2.1.2 Semantic Broadening
Semantic broadening is the process in which the meaning of a word becomes more general or more inclusive than it is historically earlier form (Crystal, 1998), In extension or generalization, lexeme widens its meaning. Numerous examples of this process have occurred in the religious field. Office, doctrine, novice and many other terms have taken on a more general, secular range of meaning.
The process which is reverse to specialization is generalisation
or widening of the meaning. In that case, the scope of the new
notion is wider than that of the original one (hence widening), whereas
the content of the notion is poorer. In most cases generalisation is combined with a higher order of abstraction than in the notion expressed by
the earlier meaning. The transition from a concrete meaning to an ab¬stract one is a most frequent feature in the semantic history of words. The
change may be explained as occasioned by situations in which not all
the features of the notions rendered are of equal importance for the
message. Other examples are included in table 2.
Table 2
Semantic broadening
Word Old meaning New meaning
Bird ‘small fowl’ ‘any winged creature’
Barn ‘place to store barley’ ‘farm building for storage and shelter’
Aunt ‘father’s sister’ ‘father or mother’s sister’
2.2.1.3. Amelioration
In amelioration, lexeme develops a positive sense of approval (Crystal, 1998). For example the word Revolutionary, revolutionary it self is english loanword from france, once associated in the capitalist mind with an undesirable overthrowing the status quo, is now widely used by advertisers as a signal of desirable novelty. The upgrading or elevation of a word's meaning, as when a word with a negative sense develops a positive one. Other examples are included in table 3.
Table 3
Semantic Amelioration
Word Old meaning New meaning
Pretty ‘tricky, sly, cunning’ ‘attractive’
Knight ‘boy’ ‘a spesial title or position’
2.2.1.4 Pejoration
. Pejoration or deterioration that is a lexeme develops a negative sense of disapproval (Crystal, 1998). The downgrading or depreciation of a word's meaning, as when a word with a positive sense develops a negative one. Middle English villein neutrally described a serf, whereas Modern English villain is by no means neutral. Similarly, junta has acquired a sinister, dictatorial sense, and rude (originally, of the laity’) has developed a sense of sexual impropriety. Other examples are included in table 4.
Table 4
Semantic pejoration
Word Old meaning New meaning
Silly ‘happy, prosperous’ ‘foolish’
Wench ‘girl’ ‘wanton woman, prostitute’
2.2.1.5 Semantic Weakening
Semantic weakening is a process of a weakening of meaning (Crystal, 1998). Given the propensity of human beings to exaggerate, it is not surprising that the weakening of meaning frequently occurs. For example, English word ‘soon’ used to mean ‘immediately’ but now simply means ‘in the near future’. Other examples are included in table 5.
Table 5
Semantic weakening
Word Old meaning New meaning
Wreak ‘avenge, punish’ ‘to cause, inflict’
Quell ‘kill, murder’ ‘to put down, pacify’
2.2.1.6 Semantic Shift
Semantic shift is a process in which a word loses its former meaning and takes on a new, but often related, meaning (Crystal, 1998). Based on crystal statement, we can interpret semantic shift by analyzing where a word moves from one set of circumstances to another. For example ‘navigator’ once applied only to ships However with the development of planes and cars, it is now applied to these as well. Examples are included in table 6.
Table 6
Semantic shift
Word Old meaning New meaning
Immoral ‘not customary’ ‘unethical’
Bead ‘prayer’ ‘prayer bead, bead’
2.2.2 Loanword
Loanword is a word or phrase which has been taken from one language and used in another language. The words which are borrowed (although “it is more like a kind of stealing or a kind of copying, since ‘borrowed’ words are never ‘returned’ to the donor language) are called ‘loan words.’ According to Trask, the process of borrowing “is one of the most frequent ways of acquiring new words, and speakers of all languages do it” (Trask, 1996). One of the initial reasons for borrowing is when one language has a semantic “gap” in its lexicon (i.e., when there is no existing word in the language with the same meaning as the loan) and needs to borrow a term to express the necessary idea or concept. For example “maku donaru” in Japanese is derived from “Mc Donald” in English. The word is obviously of United States roots and with no pre existing synonym in Japanese. In this case, the listener borrows the word based on the sound that they hear as the word is produced. According to Haugen, words may also be borrowed if the speaker retrieves the L2 (language learned after the native language) word faster than the L1 (native language) word (Haugen, 1992). Borrowing processes themselves are parts of culture contact that have been influenced by many factors such as urbanization, economy, politic, education and religion.
2.2.3 Gairaigo (Japanese loanwords)
Gairago is Japanese vocabulary from foreign language (Sugimoto, 1998). Gairago is usually called by Japanese loanword.
2.2.3.1 The Development of Gairaigo
Gairaigo comes to Japan for the first time in evangelism period 1500 years ago. At that period, many Spain people and Portuguese come to Japan for trading and overspreading Christian religion. An example of Gairaigo that existed at that period is “tempura” from Portuguese “tempero”. The meaning of “tempero” is cooking spices. However “tempura” in Japan the meaning was change become fried seafood.
Next period is edo period (1603-1868). In this period, Japan has a political isolationism. When Japan was under the isolationism, Netherland people were still allowed to trade in Nagasaki. In this period, the development of Gairaigo was very slow because Japan was under political sakoku. Political sakoku is political isolationism from other nation, except Netherland. The examples of Gairaigo that existed in edo period are biiru from the word “beer” and koohii from the word “coffee”.
Next is meiji period. During the meiji period, Japan opened their politics and came out of political isolationism. In this period, the development of Gairaigo was so rapid. Kindaichi (1988) divided the entry of Gairaigo process by four period of time. First period is juyouki or usually called ‘acceptance’ period. Second period is shintouki or usually called ‘spreading’ period. Third period is hattenki or usually called ‘development’ period. And the last period is saiseiki or usually called ‘golden’ period.
1 Juyoki
This period began when commodore Perry came to Japan in edo period (1978). At that year, gaikokugo or foreign language are set as gairaigo. Gaikokugo inscribed in Japan language as Gairaigo.
In juyoki period, the development of English language usage was so fast. In 1875, the development of Gairaigo was the highest. In the same year, Japan had 80 school of English language and have 5957 students. In1873, English language becomes the curriculum of middle school in Japan. Those conditions become the beginning of the development of English language in Japan.
In that period, we could find many Gairaigo borrowed from English. For example purei from the English word “play”, kyatto from the English word “cat”, and purosuthithuuto from the English word “prostitute”.
2 Shintouki
This period began in 1888 until World War 1 in 1905. This period usually called ‘spreading’ period of Gairaigo. In this period, the development of English student learner increased. Finally, the usage of English language was spreader by Japanese people. At this era many English noun come to Japanese language pass through Japanese media (e.g. Newspaper, magazine, etc) for example “baseball”, “long tennis”, “boot race”, and “soup”.
3 Hattenki
This period was from 1905 to 1923. In this period, big earthquake occured in Kantou, Japan. After the disaster, Japan had been changed in terms of its policy or strategy. Before the earthquake, Japan was an agricultural country but after the earthquake Japan became the industrial country. Because of that condition, a requirement of science and intellectual were increasing. At the end of this period, the development of science in Japan was followed by the development of media too. That condition gave occasion to the development of Gairaigo in Japan.
4 Saiseiki
This period was from 1923 until 1936. This period is the ‘golden’ period of Gairaigo. Japanese people were already accustomed to use Gairaigo in their conversation. The Japanese language did not only borrow simple words. It borrowed more complicated word or phrase, for example “atto hoomu” from the English “at home”, “appu tsuu deeto” from the English “up to date”, “inishiachibu” from the English “initiative”, etc
Most of English words borrowed at this period are written in katakana. That is to say, English words are written with Japanese kanji or katakana syllabaries. Adding to the confusion, quite frequently-used loanwords are abbreviated or combined with Japanese words or other loanwords. They have no resemblance to the original source or get abbreviated and combined in ways they usually do not in the original language. For example, it would take a special imagination to link “mai-kon” with the English “micro-computer”, “waapuro” with “word processor”.
Throughout the last three decades, Japanese has adopted many alphabetic loanwords from English and this process is steadily accelerated in recent years. According to Arakawa Soubee at his book “nihongo to natta eigo”, until this period, Gairaigo from the English language amounted to 4546 word and still develop continually.
2.2.4 Nipponia Magazine
Nipponia magazine is the only one official magazine for Japanese tourism. Nipponia magazine is a quarterly magazine that introduces modern Japan to people all over the world. Nipponia magazine consists of the information about Japan (e.g. Life, culture food, customs, entertainment traditional performing arts, sports, anime, manga, events, history Japan, nature, science and technology). This magazine is not only addressed to Japanese people but it is also addressed to all the people all over the world. Due to the reasons above, the writer found many Japanese loanwords in this magazine. Loanword in Japanese can be traced to those seen on billboards, in advertisements, and also magazines. Clearly, they are there to attract readers’ attention. In Japanese magazines, there are various varieties with each pandering to the interests of their readers. In that sense, it would seem logical that different genres of magazine tend to use different sets of loanwords. For example, magazines on hair styling would ‘borrow’ foreign words that are related to ‘hair-styling’, and likewise, for magazines on cooking, gardening, fashion, anime and tourism, with each serving the particular purpose or need of its readership. From the reasons above, the writer is interested in finding out semantic changes (broadening, Narrowing, Amelioration, Pejoration, Weakening, and Semantic Shift) and analyzing the dominant semantic change in “Gairaigo” (Japanese loanword) at Nipponia magazine.
2.3. Review of Related Studies
Scholars have determinedly contributed to the study of language borrowing specifically in Japanese loanword. As Rebuck (2002) expounded a function of English loanword in Japanese with loanword theory proposed by Takashi (1990) in his book entitled “the functions of English loanword in Japan”. Rebuck paper examines the functions played by English loanword in Japanese. Rebuck’s study inspires the writer to conduct a similar study about Japanese loanword. Between Rebucks study and this thesis, there are some similarities and differences. Both of them conduct the same study about English loanwords. Yet there are some differences between Rebuck’s and writer’s study. Rebuck’s study only examines a function of English loanword. This thesis examines the types of borrowing and word formation processes in English loanword.
The second study was conducted by Fosceneanu (1996) entitled “loan words from European languages in Japanese – the case of loan words from French”. In his study, Fosceneanu conducted a research about semantic characteristics of the loan words from French and he investigated their degree of integration in the ordinary vocabulary of Japanese. Fosceneanu inspired the writer to analyze loanword from English and find a little semantic changes in Japanese loanword.
Third study is from Dian (2011). His study tells about ryakugo in Gairaigo in Kamus Kata Serapan Bahasa Jepang published in 2006 by Bachtiar Harahap. In his study, Dian analyzed the Gairaigo using morphological as theoretical framework. Dian inspired the writer to conduct a study about Gairaigo deeper using different approach. The writer uses semantic as the theoretical framework. The writer also uses Kamus Kata Serapan Bahasa Jepang by Bachtiar Harahap as the reference.
The last study is from Nasihin (2007). His study tells about Japanese loanword and semantic. However, Nasihin only explains a little about semantic changes in Gairaigo. Moreover, the object of his research was too wide. In this thesis, the object is more specific that is Nipponia magazine. Based on the research that the writer found, most researches are too general. Only some of them mention the type of borrowing, word formation and semantic change that occur in “Gairaigo” (Japanese loanword) in a media as the object of the study. From those reasons, the writer is interested in finding out the type of borrowing, type of loan, semantic change and word formation that occur in “Gairaigo” (Japanese loanword) in Nipponia magazine.
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