An Introduction to Japanese Phraseology

This book explains the main linguistic features of Japanese phraseological expressions, i.e. phraseologisms (PHOs), and is written for students of Japanese and Japanese linguistics. The monograph consists of five chapters: Introduction (Ch. 1), Lexicology and Lexicosemantics (Ch. 2), Morphosyntax (Ch. 3), Semantics (Ch. 4), and Summary and Conclusions (Ch. 5). The book categorises Japanese PHOs into seven types: idioms, similes, aphorisms and quotations, proverbs, koji-seigo (ancient Chinese proverbs and sayings), kanji compounds (kanji-jukugo), and empty phrases. Approximately 400 PHOs are used to depict the main linguistic properties of Japanese PHOs: polylexicality, lexicality and reproduction, rigidity (stability), delexicalization, idiomaticity, and finally short expressions. Some PHOs are explained etymologically to draw the attention of the reader to classical Chinese literary works and the Japanese cultural background. In order to illustrate how Japanese PHOs are used concretely in the media today, c. 70 PHOs in Japanese national newspapers were selected and analysed. Thus, the book elucidates not only linguistic characteristics of Japanese PHOs, but also their practical use. The majority of PHOs explained in the book are analysed morphosyntactically so that the student can also see the agglutination of lexical items and thus learn Japanese grammatical structures. LINCOM Studies in Japenese Linguistics 10.