擬聲詞使用的規約性──以日語及華語為中心之探討

Conventionality of Onomatopoeic Words in Japanese and Chinese

本論文藉由規約性（語言社會中詞彙使用的習慣性）的實驗調查探討日華兩語言的擬聲詞特性。調查內容主要是要求日語與華語母語者各40人，對於以視聽覺刺激而構成的12種狀況，各寫下一個他們認為合適的擬聲詞。調查的結果出現了以下兩種傾向。第一，若是該狀況（例如用剪刀剪東西）易於以擬聲詞表達，其答案的一致性較高，使用的規約性較強。相反地，若是該狀況（例如撥弄百葉窗）難以以擬聲詞表達，其答案的一致性較低，使用的規約性較弱。這是因為前者具有針對其表現的既定擬聲詞，而後者沒有，說話者必須藉由模仿或想像創造出個別差異性極大的擬聲詞。第二，日語擬聲詞在使用上的規約性比華語擬聲詞來得高。其原因與華語擬聲詞在語義上一般來說是非特定的，或是特定性較低的性質相關。

This paper attempts to clarify the lexical nature of Japanese and Chinese onomatopoeic words (giongo/nishengci) through an experimental investigation on conventionality. In the experiment, 12 situations with auditory and visual information were prepared. 40 Japanese and 40 Chinese native speakers were asked to express each situation with an appropriate onomatopoeic word. The results revealed two facts. First, both Japanese and Chinese speakers tended to use the same onomatopoeic base for situations that are conventionally described with an onomatopoeia word (e.g., cutting something with scissors). On the other hand, their answers tended to vary considerably for situations without a conventional onomatopoeic word (e.g., touching blinds). This contrast suggests that it is easy for speakers to recall conventional forms to describe familiar situations, while it is inevitable for them to create unconventional forms to describe unfamiliar situations. Second, the overlap of onomatopoeic bases was greater among Japanese than Chinese speakers. This makes us confirm that the conventionality of onomatopoeic words in Japanese is higher than in Chinese. The contrast is related with the fact that in general, onomatopoeic words in Chinese are semantically unspecified or less specific than in Japanese.