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In:Informality in Japanese: Getting close in a formal context
Edited by Haruko Minegishi Cook and Momoko Nakamura
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 357] 2027
► pp. 200–229

Chapter 9
Vernacularizing Japanese live TV Olympic broadcasting

Norm negotiation, personalization, and sociolinguistic change

 | Kanto Gakuin University
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter examines a Japanese live TV Olympic broadcast and explores how the speaker employs a vernacular form negotiating with the standard variety norm, what interactional effect vernacularization brings to the broadcast, and what sociolinguistic change is promoted by the vernacular usage. Investigating the uses of the honorific, plain, and vernacular forms within the normative sequences of Olympic broadcastings, the analysis demonstrates that the occurrence of the vernacular form is mostly limited to the evaluation element of the normative sequences in which the personal comment is expected. The finding implies: (1) the speaker negotiates with the standard norm of broadcasting by the distinctive use of the standard and vernacular forms within the normative sequences, (2) vernacularization can be employed as a resource to personalize the context of interaction, and (3) whether the specific broadcast leads to a sociolinguistic change is ambiguous and calls for further longitudinal research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Vernacularization as sociolinguistic change
    • 1.2The normative frame of Japanese TV live Olympic broadcasting
    • 1.3The standard honorific/plain forms and the vernacular su form
  • 2.Data and methodology
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1I-R-F-E ([initiation]-[response]-[follow-up]-[evaluation]) sequence: [I (A’s question)]-[R (C’s response)]- [F (A’s follow-up)]-[E (C’s evaluation)]
    • 3.2RE-D-E ([response-exclamation]-[description]-[evaluation]) sequence: [RE (C’s response-exclamation]-[D (C’s description)]- [E (C’s evaluation)]
    • 3.3LD (live description) sequence: A and C give a play-by-play action narration in turn
  • 4.The commentator’s speech style: Personalizing the context of the broadcast
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Gloss abbreviations are as follows
References (49)
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