Tag: (E) koisuru 恋する

(1989) Japanese – Verbs (love, dependence)


Hanrahan, Jo (1989). Verbs of love and dependence in the Japanese language. Master’s thesis, Australian National University. PDF (open access)

This thesis examines a group of Japanese words which express emotion, at the heart of which is the concept of ‘amae’ , the desire for love and attention from another person. The emotions expressed by the words discussed herein are common to all human beings and form the core of all cultures. It seems that human feelings of fondness vary, depending on the depth of the relationship existing between the people concerned. It is in the expression of these emotions that peoples differ. It is suggested that the differences are not in the way people feel, but in the way their culture conditions them to behave in communicating their feelings. Only the prototypical use of the verbs in which the concepts are expressed are defined in semantic primitives, although the peripheral uses are commented on separately.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2000) Japanese – Emotions


Hasada, Rie (2000). An exploratory study of expression of emotions in Japanese: Towards a semantic interpretation. PhD thesis, Australian National University. PDF (open access)

The present study explores the emotional world of Japanese people. Using the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory, this thesis attempts to explicate the conceptual organization of aspects of Modern Standard Japanese, with a special focus on the lexicon. This thesis also aims to explicate the cultural norms that are related to the emotion words/expressions with the use of culture-independent, universal Natural Semantic Metalanguage. A great amount of data is taken from various sources: TV or radio broadcasting, actual conversation, published literature both in Japanese and English, film scripts, dialogues in magazines, newspaper/magazine articles, comic books, advertisements, letters, dictionaries, and popular songs.

The work is organized in the following way. Chapter 1 is the introduction. Chapter 2 consists of a review of the literature on emotions and includes philosophical, anthropological, and psychological approaches. Chapter 3 demonstrates the importance of linguistic study for the research on emotions, and suggests the Natural Semantic Metalanguage as the most appropriate method for achieving the main goals of this thesis. Chapter 4 discusses the grammatical features of emotion expression sentences. Chapter 5 deals with those body parts terms which are related to emotions in Japanese. Chapters 6 to 11 explicate the meanings of various Japanese emotion words and expressions. Chapter 12 focuses on communication of nonverbal emotion in Japanese culture. Chapter 13 examines characteristic Japanese speakers’ attitudes towards emotions. Chapter 14 is the conclusion.

Wherever possible, the thesis seeks to probe into culturally-based aspects of the conceptual structure of emotion words/expressions, by drawing on a variety of anthropological, psychological, and sociological studies of Japanese society.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners