Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effect of Induced Emotion on Grammar Learning
Published on: January 29, 2020
How Japanese language has been used and transformed--focused on social-cultural context and the use in communication
1Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. thidakat@gmail.com
Abstract:
In this paper I address that flexibility and vagueness of mimic word, especially Gitai-go, can provide the communication with tension leading us to the continuous process of meaning construction, focused on the history of Japanese characters as the core of mimic words. I present that Hiragana, as the character for Gitai-go, was started to use by people viewed as of no public authority such as women at that time while Kanji had a position as an official characters. As unofficial character, Hiragana was received and transformed by common people as the character which is more flexible and vague suited to express persons' experience than Kanji. Most of Gitai-go is written in Hiragana, and people can also create original and personalized one based on their experience. We can be driven by necessity to search the meanings of Gitai-go when we meet unknown one, through its vagueness. This undifferentiated nature and indefinite feature of Gitai-go provide us with tension of communication.
Related Concept Videos
Impact of Social Context on Individuals
Components of Language
Self-Esteem and Culture
Self Within Cultural Contexts
Language and Cognition
Social Foundations of Self IV: Self in Digital Communication