An Ambiguous Language: Japanese
The Japanese language contains both phonetic, syntactic, and cultural ambiguity inherent to the language. But what does this ambiguity mean for Japanese second language?
The first stanza of Keats’s famous ode begins by addressing the titular urn:
Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme.
In the first line, what does still mean? It has more than one interpretation. Still can mean "unmoving," as in "sitting still," but it can also mean "always" or "continually." This is an example of lexical ambiguity that allows the reader to imagine either of these possible interpretations.
Ambiguity is common across all languages. It refers to situations where the intended meaning of an utterance is unclear, requiring the listener or reader to use context to develop two or more possible understandings of what was meant.
In Japanese, ambiguity appears in many different contexts. Japan is often called a high-context culture, meaning that Japanese speakers use less direct verbal and nonverbal communication and rely more on context to convey meaning. For example, when comparing Japanese and German native speakers, it was found that there was a difference in how they evaluated ambiguous poetry, with Japanese speakers experiencing less of a disconnect between cognitive ambiguity and aesthetic evaluation.
In this article, I’d like to discuss ambiguity in language and what this means for those who wish to study Japanese.
What is ambiguity in Japanese?
The Japanese language contains both phonetic, syntactic, and cultural ambiguity.
Multiple meanings within a sentence due to ambiguity create difficulties for learners, particularly when the context does not indicate the correct interpretation. For example, in Thanh Tu’s dissertation, he identifies four kinds of sentence ambiguities in Japanese:
Lexical ambiguity
Grammatical ambiguity
Semantic ambiguity
Pragmatic ambiguity
Along with these types of ambiguity, he also identifies four kinds of structural ambiguity: 1) ambiguity due to parallel structure, 2) ambiguity due to noun-modifying structure, 3) ambiguity due to predicate-modifying structure, and 4) ambiguity due to underlying structure. The following four examples can help show these types of ambiguities.
Example 1: "私は太郎と次郎を訪問した。" (Watashi wa Tarou to Jirou o houmon shita.)
Translation: I visited Tarou and Jirou
The ambiguity in this sentence comes from its parallel structure. It is unclear whether the speaker visited Taro and Jiro together or separately. The parallel structure of “Taro to Jiro” (Taro and Jiro) creates this ambiguity, as the sentence doesn't specify how the action of visiting applies to each individual.
Example 2: "可愛い子供の服にボタンが三つ付いていた。" (Kawaii kodomo no fuku ni botan ga mittsu tsuiteita.)
Translation: Three buttons were attached to the cute child's clothes/child’s cute clothes
While the ambiguity here does not translate easily into English, it is due to the noun modifying structure. In Japanese, the sentence can be interpreted in two ways: either "Three buttons were attached to the cute clothes of the child" or "Three buttons were attached to the clothes of a cute child." The ambiguity arises because it's unclear whether "kawaii" (cute) modifies "kodomo" (child) or "fuku" (clothes).
Example 3: "太郎は花子に健が書いた手紙を渡した。" (Tarou wa Hanako ni Ken ga kaita tegami o watashita.)
Translation: Tarou gave Hanako the letter that Ken wrote./Taro gave the letter that Ken wrote to Hanako.
Similar to the last sentence, this sentence is difficult to translate into English, but the ambiguity comes from the predicate modifying structure. This sentence is ambiguous because it is unclear whether "Ken ga kaita" (Ken wrote) modifies "tegami" (letter) or the act of giving it. Therefore, it creates two possible interpretations: "Taro gave Hanako the letter that Ken wrote" or "Taro gave the letter that Ken wrote to Hanako."
Example 4: "猫は家内が好き。" (Neko wa kanai ga suki.)
Translation: The cat likes my wife. / My wife likes the cat
In this last sentence, ambiguity comes from the underlying structure. The sentence could mean, "The cat likes my wife" or "My wife likes the cat." The ambiguity arises because the sentence structure doesn't clarify whether the subject "neko" (cat) is the one who likes or is being liked.
In addition to syntax ambiguity, ambiguity in Japanese can arise from cultural norms, such as indirect communication styles, where vagueness is often used to avoid confrontation, as pointed out in Han’s paper (2022). Essentially, it is a deliberate communication strategy employed by Japanese speakers to express consideration for others' feelings, avoid imposing one's opinions, and maintain group harmony.
This cultural inclination towards subtle and non-assertive communication results in the widespread use of ambiguous language in everyday interactions, which can be challenging for non-native speakers to understand without a deep understanding of these cultural nuances.
How does ambiguity influence language processing?
Past research on how ambiguity increases the mental effort required to process information (cognitive load) and the resources your brain uses to understand something (processing costs), as shown by different neural and cognitive responses in various contexts.
For example, readers who can handle more information at once, known as high-span readers, show increased anterior negativity typically associated with increased cognitive effort. This suggests they use more mental effort, particularly when dealing with challenging tasks. In contrast, readers who manage less information at a time, called low-span readers, instead exhibit parietal positivity. This means they use different strategies to process the task (Bornkessel et al., 2004).
Similarly, when people try to understand unclear or tricky phrases, their brains must work harder and activate more areas, including the brain’s left hemisphere, often associated with language processing. This is found to make the task more demanding (McMillan et al., 2013).
When looking at spoken language and processing unclear or distorted speech, the brain's workload increases, leading to reduced activity in the anterior temporal cortex, which is involved in understanding sounds and language. At the same time, there is increased activation in the anterior insula, which helps manage complex tasks and emotions. This further shows how the mental effort required to understand language affects different brain areas (Ritz et al., 2022).
Ambiguity in language often leads to misunderstandings and misinterpretations, making it hard for learners to understand what the text is trying to say. This ambiguity can increase the mental effort required to process the information, making it more challenging and tiring for the individual.
This difficulty occurs because learners with less experience in the language often have to rely on surface-level grammatical clues instead of deeper meaning from context, which is crucial for correctly interpreting ambiguous sentences.
What does this mean for learners of Japanese?
As discussed before, Japanese is a language with lots of ambiguity, meaning that context is important for interpreting meaning during conversation. This may partly come from the unclear nature of Japanese expressions, making “reading the room” more difficult for those who don’t come from the same cultural context.
This is where second cultural acquisition becomes important to second language acquisition. The acculturation model (as proposed by Berry) is the process of acquiring a second language. Acculturation has a three-stage process:
Acculturative Motives → Acculturative Learning → Individual changes
This model includes the reason and attitudes behind studying, the tools and mentors (often other Japanese speakers) used to learn the language, and changes within the person’s identity and behaviors.
According to the post-structuralist approach, identity is socially constructed and sustained, with individuals expressing, interpreting, and projecting it through clothing, body movements, actions, and language. In language, people express themselves and become part of various groups, communities, and networks. Such as Horiba (2013) states:
アイデンティティの構成要素として重要なものとして、言語があります。私たちは、他者について、その人がどういうことばの使い方をするかをもとに、その人がどういう人であるかを認識し判断します。
Language is a critical component of identity construction. We recognize and judge people based on how they use language.
Horiba demonstrates this in multiple examples:
Ａ：「私は近所の人からお菓子をたくさんもらいました。お菓子はとてもお いしかったです。あなたもこのお菓子を食べてください。」
A: "I received many sweets from neighbors. The sweets were very delicious. Would you like to try these sweets?"
In example A, the writing sounds more like a beginner's textbook with repeated words and pronouns that may seem unnatural.
Ｂ：「ご近所の方からお菓子をたくさんいただきましたの。とってもおいし かったわ。あなたもお召し上がりにならないかと思いましてね。」
B: “My neighbor gave me a lot of sweets, which were very good; I thought you might like to try them."
Example B uses more polite and honorific language. Horiba suggests this makes it sound more respectful, similar to that of a polite older woman.
Ｃ：「近所の人に菓子をようけもらったんだわ。うまかった、うまかった。 あんたも食べやあ。」
C: "Got loads of candy from the neighbors. Super good. Want some?"
Example C instead uses more dialectic speech, which can be used to hint at the speaker's origin. Because it is informal and direct and can sound either more friendly or impolite, depending on the context.
In addition to pointing out how language use can convey varied impressions of the speaker, she also points out that language variation can reflect different identities across various contexts. Shifts in speaking styles and social and emotional comfort are crucial to the language ego when becoming accustomed to a dominant language. This interplay between speaker and listener is well stated in Koizumi’s (2011) writing.
“[A] variable recognition of oneself that is formed and reconstructed based on one's and others' perception, chosen and decided by the individual.”
「自分の認識と他者の認識をふまえて形成および再構築される、個人が選択・決定する自己に対する可変的な認識」
In a sense, through achieving contact with the target language, L2 learners acculturate themselves, shifting their identity to that language group. However, this isn’t based entirely on the individual but also involves an interplay between expressing oneself and interpreting the response from those with whom they are attempting to communicate.
When the cultural background used to understand is lacking, “ reading the room” becomes more difficult. However, while ambiguity causes more cognitive load in those trying to interpret what is being stated, this ambiguity in Japanese can be minimalized by an increased understanding of cultural context.