Information structure in spoken Japanese: Particles, word order, and intonation

Natsuko Nakagawa

Synopsis

This study explores information structure (IS) within the framework of corpus linguistics and functional linguistics. As a case study, it investigates IS phenomena in spoken Japanese: particles including so-called topic particles, case particles, and zero particles; word order; and intonation. The study discusses how these phenomena are related to cognitive and communicative mechanisms of humans.

Natsuko Nakagawa

Natsuko Nakagawa completed her BA at Doshisha University (Japanese Literature), and MA both in Kyoto University (Human and Environmental Studies) and in State University of New York at Buffalo (Linguistics). In 2016, she acquired a Ph.D. in Kyoto University (Human and Environmental Studies). Currently, she is a postdoc (a research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) at Chiba University.