Linguistics and Japanese study


Firstly, I apologise if this has been asked before or if I have asked this in
the wrong place (should I have asked on the meta site?).

I've studied Japanese for (going on) 5 years, now. It's been mostly classroom
based, but I gained a lot of experience and confidence when I travelled out to
Japan (Fukuoka, Hirado, Sasebo and Nagasaki for those interested) that I don't
think I'd ever have gotten in the classroom. But I've never studied the
linguistic side of language study. By that, I mean terms like those found in
the example provided in [this
question](https://japanese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/378/is-this-forum-
for-japanese-learners-or-language-learners) (over on meta).

I really want to study Japanese and take it to the next level, and I'm left
wondering whether it would be worth studying linguistics in an effort to
further my knowledge or whether it would just be worth studying more
vocabulary, grammar and such.

I am very serious about my study of Japanese and it would definitely help in
my current job, and I'm planning on visiting my Japanese friends again, soon.
So, in the opinion of the fellow users/learners, would it be worth my time
studying the field of linguistics? What are the advantages and disadvantages
of studying linguistics?




I think it would be like a musician studying acoustics, or avid dog
owner/trainer studying canine anatomy. It probably all depends on what your
future goals are with Japanese. If you're planning to move to Japan, or just
keeping that option open, and working and perhaps marrying a Japanese, then
you should just remain as a JSL (Japanese as a Second Language) learner.
Linguistic analysis of Japanese won't be of much pragmatic value, it's too
technical, and it doesn't make for good dinner-party conversation. Most
Japanese natives aren't even aware of the things that Japanese linguists
study, much less care when you tell them about it. If, however, you've lost
interest in Japanese as a social hobby, then going the linguistic route is
certainly one way to progress in the study of Japanese. But linguistics is a
science in the same way that biology or programming is a science in that it is
grounded in formal model building. It's going to take a lot of time, and
unless you're in school, you won't meet many people that share your interest.
It's also not going to help you pronounce or write better. Just like studying
calculus won't make you better with mental arithmetic.

They say that linguistics is the most human of the sciences and the most
scientific of the humanities, but without a doubt the demand for rigour and
the application of the scientific method in linguistics make it a serious
science. You should pick up [An Introduction to Japanese Linguistics
(Tsujimura,
2006)](http://ca.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405110651.html).
This book contains a short intro to some linguistic theory and applies it to
Japanese. Although not a very rigorous book, if you find it boring, then
chances are Japanese linguistics is not for you.

I'll show you some of my reading list for Japanese and linguistics books to
give you an idea of what others like you might be doing. These are just some
of the phonetics and phonology textbooks that I am currently occupied with and
would definitely recommend. I haven't yet got to syntax or semantics, nor the
other fields of linguistics, so I couldn't tell you what's good to read. Like
you, I've been a JSL learner for about 5 years, but studying linguistics for
about 1.5 years now. It's just a armchair hobby of mine, but studying
linguistics sure has been an expensive hobby due to the cost of textbooks:

  1. [Contemporary Linguistic Analysis, Sixth Edition](http://www.amazon.ca/Contemporary-Linguistic-Analysis-William-OGrady/dp/0321476662/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342553399&sr=1-3) In my opinion, the only intro level ling text you will need. Very good text. I haven't read later editions.
  2. [Introductory Phonology](http://www.amazon.ca/Introductory-Phonology-Bruce-Hayes/dp/1405184116/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342553518&sr=1-1) Really good book once you have been introduced to a little phonology already
  3. [Introduction to Japanese linguistics](http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Japanese-Linguistics-Natsuko-Tsujimura/dp/1405110651/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342553310&sr=8-2) A little too easy for my taste, but an excellent place to start.
  4. [The Sounds of Japanese with Audio CD](http://www.amazon.ca/Sounds-Japanese-Audio-CD/dp/0521617545/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342553630&sr=1-2) Goes into the finer detail of articulatory Japanese, and covers IPA transcription for Japanese. The CD is useless though.
  5. [The Phonology of Japanese](http://www.amazon.ca/The-Phonology-Japanese-Laurence-Labrune/dp/0199545839/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342553696&sr=1-1-spell) A little more advanced, but one of the few textbooks on the subject.
  6. [Acoustic Phonetics](http://www.amazon.ca/Acoustic-Phonetics-Kenneth-N-Stevens/dp/0262692503/ref=sr_1_34?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342553803&sr=1-34) You will need to be familiar with Fourier analysis and a little bit of physics and computer science for this one.
  7. [Principles of Phonetics](http://www.amazon.ca/Principles-Phonetics-John-Laver/dp/052145655X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pdT1_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=20YZHWKE802EW&coliid=I21QCD1WHVGSJN) 700 page monster on phonetics. Covers everything up to the acoustic signal analysis aspects of phonetics. I've only read parts of this at my uni library, but it seems like the most comprehensive treatment of phonetics in existence (within a certain level of detail and application of course)
  8. [Mathematical Methods in Linguistics ](http://www.amazon.ca/Mathematical-Methods-Linguistics-Barbara-Partee/dp/9027722455/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342554040&sr=8-1)A real eye-opener on just how deep linguistic science is. Covers the mathematical model of language laid down (or at least advanced) by Chomsky. It has some pretty advanced mathematics, some of which certain schools reserve for graduate level classes, but it doesn't presume a background in calculus or linear algebra, so it is accessible, if dense, to a student in any program. Most people are not even aware that this subject matter exists, but if you take your shit seriously, I think you should read this.
  9. [Foundations of Statistical Natural Language Processing](http://www.amazon.ca/Foundations-Statistical-Natural-Language-Processing/dp/0262133601/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342554400&sr=8-1) Good for starting your own projects in Japanese linguistics. Assumes familiarity with statistical science




To the extent that studying linguistics helps you understand some of the more
complex patterns, you will probably find it useful. But a great deal of
linguistics is dedicated to finding common systems to describe all languages,
which (by necessity) isn't terribly useful for using a particular language.

Some texts are written somewhat 'in the middle' for both linguists and people
trying to speak/understand/read/write the language. I wouldn't necessarily
ignore those, since they can be extremely valuable.

I've personally found Susumu Kuno's book, Structure of the Japanese Language,
valuable in this regard.

One danger to be aware of is that language learners seeking linguistic
explanations are sometimes seeking "the secret code" to how it all works,
forgetting in the process that linguistics is a descriptive project.

