Research Highlights

I am engaged in the study of languages, primarily German. Despite the fact that German and Japanese are fundamentally different languages, they share a common function in that they are mediums of communication used to depict representations of the same world. However, both their vocabulary and grammar differ significantly. In Japanese, the term ani (“older brother”) is represented as Bruder in German, yet the equivalence isn't direct. Moreover, Bruder is categorized as a masculine noun in German grammar. In German, even inanimate nouns possess grammatical gender (Tisch [table] is masculine, for example), but Japanese has no such mechanism. Also, unlike Japanese but similar to languages like English, German nouns can take definite, indefinite, or zero articles.

Where do these differences in vocabulary and grammar come from? Theoretically, an infinite number of objects would require an infinite number of vocabulary, but no such language exists. The luxury of one name for one object is reserved for proper nouns, while common nouns represent multiple shared objects with a single term. Essentially, we perceive the infinite objects of the world as a collection of shared "general concepts." Every language carves out its perspective of the world, but how this perspective is carved differs from language to language, and the difference lies not in how it is carved but in the level of abstraction. For instance, in Japanese, ani (“older brother”) captures both the fact that the individual is both “older” and the “male offspring of one's parents,” whereas Bruder abstracts away the element of age. These carved concepts need to be anchored to their real-world counterparts. Without doing so, we cannot refer to specific objects. Grammar serves this purpose. Among the countless Bruder that exist, a specific one is identified by the grammatical device known as an article, such as mein Bruder (my brother), der Bruder (the brother), or ein Bruder (one brother). The definite article, evolved from demonstrative pronouns indicating an object, points directly to the object in question. The indefinite article, on the other hand, emphasizes a noun's nature, describing its essence. In this way, the same thing can be specified from various points of view, and a single manifestation verbalized. It mirrors our human tendency to perceive objects from specific angles, an approach that is echoed in our language.

Thus, exploring the structures of German and Japanese provides insights into how we carve up and view the world from our own slice of life. While German and Japanese differ in the way they look at things, the differences are minor, and they are fundamentally very similar mechanisms. Learning a language, in essence, is learning how to see things in a new light.

(2024/4/1)