Prototypes and Metaphorical Extensions: The Japanese Numeral Classifiers hiki and hatsu

Abstract

This study concerns the meaning of Japanese numeral classifiers (NCs) and, particularly, the elements which guide us to understand the metaphorical meanings they can convey. In the typological literature, as well as in studies of Japanese, the focus is almost entirely on NCs that refer to entities. NCs are generally characterised as being matched with a noun primarily based on semantic criteria such as the animacy, the physical characteristics, or the function of the referent concerned. However, in some languages, including Japanese, nouns allow a number of alternative NCs, so that it is considered that NCs are not automatically matched with a noun but rather with the referent that the noun refers to in the particular context in which it occurs. This study examines data from the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese, and focuses on two NCs as case studies: hiki, an entity NC, typically used to classify small, animate beings, and hatsu, an NC that is used to classify both entities and events that are typically explosive in nature. The study employs the framework of Prototype Theory, along with the theory of conceptual metaphor, and the theory of metonymy. The analysis of the data identified a number of semantic components for each of the target NCs; by drawing on these components, the speaker can subjectively add those meanings to modify the meaning of the referring noun or verb. Furthermore, the study revealed that the choice of NCs can be influenced by two factors. First, the choice of NC sometimes relates to the linguistic context in which the referring noun or verb occurs. For example, if a noun is used metaphorically, the NC is chosen to reinforce that metaphor, rather than to match with the actual referent. Second, the meaning of an NC itself can be used as a vehicle of metaphor to contribute meaning to that of the referring noun or verb concerned. Through the analysis, is has been identified that the range of referents of a single NC beyond cases in which objectively observable characteristics are evident occurs in two dimensions: (1) in terms of the typicality of referents and (2) across categories of referents (entities and events). Based on the findings, the study claims that, in both cases, non-literal factors account for extension in the range of referents of an NC in Japanese. Specifically, the non-literal devices of metaphor and metonymy appear to play a role in connecting an NC and its referent in the context in which extension of the use of that NC occurs.