An Ethnolinguistic Review of the Japanese Demonstrative KO-SO-A

Japanese demonstrative words (ko-so-a) are three-fold rather than binary as in many other languages (e. g., this-that; here-there). The significance of this linguistic fact is reviewed from the ethnolinguistic or ethnosemantic point of view. First, a strong group orientation is believed to constitute one of the strong ethnic characteristics of Japanese society. That is assumed to have fostered a strong sense of two opposing groups that surround the individual, uchi and soto; that in turn has shaped the dual notion of others (individuals other than the self) ―insiders and outsiders, which roughly equate to what the Japanese terms hito and tanin, respectively, refer to. This social psychology is believed to influence the linguistic and behavioral patterns of the Japanese. This paper is an attempt to link the three-way distinction of Japanese demonstratives and the sociocultural ethnicity pertaining to Japanese group orientation. Specifically, the trichotomy in ko-so-a is a linguistic reflection of the three-way segmentation of society into self ingroup others, and outgroup others. Lastly, with regard to a possible speech society relationship, which is not recognized in Chomsky\u27s linguistic universalism, there are two schools of thought which crucially differ over the question of which influences which. In linguistic determinism, speech is believed to influence society (or its psychology), on the basis of which discriminatory language, for example, has been driven out of our society. In the variant school, society is believed to influence speech, as it may be extensively illustrated in sociolinguistic studies. Our examination of ko-so-a however suggests the third possibility of society and language being in constant interaction