Language Contact in Japan: A Socio-Linguistic History (Oxford Studies in Language Contact)

If the Japanese are exclusive, why are they now borrowing so many linguistic characteristics from English for their own language? Is there a way to understand language contact that is valid across time and space? By examining the 2000-year-old history of how Japan has been influenced by other language groups, Loveday offers general insights into the social causes and patterns of language contact, as well as the nature of linguistic change. The Japanese are often characterized as exclusive and ethnocentric, yet a close examination of their linguistic and cultural history reveals a very different picture: although theirs is essentially a monolingual speech community they emerge as a people who have been significantly influenced by other languages and cultures for at least 2000 years. In this primarily sociolinguistic study Professor Loveday takes an electric approach, drawing on insights from other subfields of linguistics such as comparative and historical linguistics and stylistics, and from a number of other disciplines - cultural anthropology, social philosophy and semiotics. Focusing in particular on the influence of Chinese and English on Japanese, Professor Loveday offers a general model for understanding language contact behaviour across time and space The Japanese are often characterized as exclusive and ethnocentric, yet a close examination of their linguistic and cultural history reveals a very different picture: although theirs is essentially a monolingual speech community they emerge as a people who have been significantly influenced by other languages and cultures for at least 2000 years. In this primarily sociolinguistic study Professor Loveday takes an eclectic approach, drawing on insights from other subfields of linguistics such as comparative and historical linguistics and stylistics, and from a number of other disciplines - cultu