罗马字在日文语言景观中的使用状况及其原因探析

An Analysis of the Use of Roman Alphabets in Japanese Language Landscapes and Its Causes

上海市日文语言景观调查结果显示,日文罗马字使用率累计高达44%。本文主要从日语的本体维度、社会语言学维度及语言政策维度探讨罗马字高使用率的原因。由于日语汉字的音与义并非一一对应关系,因此需要注音假名(旁训)来确定汉字的读音与意义。近年来注音功能由罗马字承担的情况有所增加,通过使用罗马字可以实现"音(日文罗马字)、形(汉字)、义(汉字)"的统一。此外,罗马字既能表示新奇和时髦特性,又能体现日本的本土文化特征,传递日本传统文化的自豪感。日本宽松的语言政策也为罗马字的推广提供了条件。

An investigation of Japanese language landscape conducted by the city ot Shanghai showed that the use of Roman Alphabets in Japanese was as high as 44%. This paper mainly discusses the reasons for the high usage of Roman characters from an ontology dimension, a sociolinguistic dimension, and a language policy dimension of Japanese. Because the pronunciation and meaning of the Japanese Kanji（Chinese characters） are not in a one-to-one correspondence, a phonetic pseudonym （Kana written at the right side of Kanji ） is required to determine the pronunciation and meaning of Kanji. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of phonetic functions undertaken by Roman Alphabets. By using Roman Alphabets, the unity of ＂sound （Japanese Roman Alphabets）, shapes （Japanese Kanji）, and meaning （Japanese Kanji）＂ can be achieved. In addition, Japanese Roman Alphabets can not only express novelty and fashionable features, but also reflect the characteristics of Japan＇s native culture, and convey the pride of traditional Japanese culture. Japan＇s loose language policy also provides conditions for the promotion of Japanese Roman Alphabets.