Türkçe ve Japonca İşaret Sözcükleri Üzerine Bir Deneme

Abstract

Both Turkish and Japanese demonstratives show the tripartite distinction, which are usually described as proximal, medial and distal. In this paper I point out that contrary to our expectation of similarity, the proximal and medial demonstratives of these two languages differ in usage. The Turkish medial demonstrative şu cannot refer to an entity already mentioned in discourse, while, the Japanese medial demonstrative S0- can. The Turkish proximal demonstrative bu can refer to an entity which is also close to the hearer, while the Japanese counterpart ko-can refer to an entity exclusively close to the speaker. I alsoi mention some examples in which the Turkish medial demonstrative resembles the Japanese proximal one. My hypothesis is that the hearer's non-attention which Turkish şu presupposes and the exclusive proximity to the speaker which Japanese ko- presupposes may produce similar effect on their usage. The fact that both şu and ko-are least frequent would support this.interpretation.