On Japanese Unisex Names
- Autores: Masahiko Mutsukawa
- Localización: ‘Names and Their Environment’: Proceedings of the 25th International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Glasgow, 25-29 August 2014 / Carole Hough (ed. lit.), Daria Izdebska (ed. lit.), 2016, ISBN 978-0-85261-947-6, págs. 186-199
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
This study deals with Japanese unisex names and discusses 39 confirmed unisex names. First, I analyze the structure of Japanese unisex names. My previous studies revealed that there are five types of phonological gender differences that determine gender and one type of semantic gender difference. Among the 39 unisex names I collected, 20 names are structurally masculine, while 19 names are feminine. Next, I focus on judgments by native speakers of Japanese. I conducted a questionnaire in which, with respect to each name, I asked if it is more commonly used as a male name than as a female name, or vice versa. 52 native speakers judged that 11 names are more commonly given to males and 22 names are to females, while only 6 names are neutral. This study reveals: (i) native speakers believe that Japanese unisex names are used more for females than for males, (ii) judgments by native speakers and the expected judgments are different for 16 names among the 39 unisex names, (iii) the difference might be because of the structure and semantics of those names, and (iv) judgments by native speakers might be affected by the structure, especially the sound pattern, of the unisex names.
