A Comparative Study Of Japanese And Tibetan

The Japanese language and the Tibetan language belong to the different linguistic families. Tibetan belongs to the Sino-Tibetan languages, where the main grammatical device is the word order and the particles. Tibetan also has its own unique grammatical features. Grammatical markers and verbal morphology have its obvious characteristics. These features are also very similar to that of the Japanese language that belongs to the Altaic languages. From the point of view of linguistic typology the both languages share the same basic SOV word order.The usage of the grammatical markers is also the grammatical device which is common for both languages. Both languages have developed their own system of grammatical markers, according to their specific functions and meanings. For example, Case markers in their functions and usage are very similar in both languages, but at the same time they are structurally different. The Japanese language belongs to the Accusative type, while Tibetan is of the Ergative type. Accusative case marker [を] by its function in Japanese corresponds to zero marker in Tibetan, but sometimes can also be substituted by other case markers. Such kinds of differences, without one-to-one fixed correspondings between similar constructions with Accusative case marker, can bring many difficulties for the native Tibetan speakers when mastering the Japanese language. The present paper is concerned with the comparative analysis of case markers and conjunction markers in Japanese and Tibetan, in order to reveal their similarities and specific features, as well as to create the source of references to the learners in their second language acquisition.The first chapter of the present paper makes the comparative analysis between Japanese and Tibetan on phonological, lexical and grammatical levels in the respective languages. On phonological level the main object for comparison is the vowels and consonants. Japanese and Tibetan both share the same set of five vowels:a, i, u, e, o. Short vowels in Japanese have their long counterparts respectively, and they do not have written signs. Tibetan vowels do not distinct between long and short, but have special written signs, for the exception of vowel a. Japanese vowel a in the natural act of pronunciation is more deep and sounds like a back vowel, while Tibetan a belongs to the front labial vowel. Tibetan i and u are pronounced like a. Japanese u is not labial, but back lingual voweluw. The pronunciation of e and o is practically the same.The main difference in the consonant system is that Japanese consonants differentiate between the voiced and voiceless consonants, while in Tibetan there are only voiceless, which are divided into voiceless aspirated and voiceless unaspirated.On lexical level our main concern is the morphology, loan words, and honorific words. Both Japanese and Tibetan are using sandhi and compounds as a morphological device, as well as the morphological derivations. Sandhi method means that a new word is produced through different combinations of vowels and consonants and their respective changes. In Japanese morphological compounds there are phonological and form changes in the continuity of voiced consonants, while in Tibetan such changes are absent. In Japanese morphological derivations are produced with the help of prefixes and postfixes, but in Tibetan derivatives are mainly produced with postfixes, while prefixes and infixes are comparatively small in number. The source for the loan words in Japanese is rather complicated, and it is mainly through transliteration, but in Tibetan—through paraphrase. The main difference in using honorific words is that in Japanese honorific forms are composed with the help of the honorific prefixes, with the exceptions of some verbs, which are using the morphological changes. But in Tibetan separate lexical items are used for the honorific expressions, and adjectives have no honorific forms.In the grammatical level the main object the comparative analysis is the verbal morphology and word order. In Japanese verbal categories., such as Aspect, Tense, Voice etc, are expressed through morphological changes, while in Tibetan morphological forms differentiate only verbal Tense and Mood. In comparison with Japanese, Tibetan verbal morphology is rather simplistic, and it also agglutinative and analytical by nature. As for the word order, the present paper makes comparison in 17 points, and there is certain uniformity in most points of comparison between the two languages, for the exception of pronouns and nouns, adjectives and nouns, numerals and nouns.The second chapter of the present work analyses the definitions and classifications given by Japanese and Tibetan linguists to the grammatical markers in respective languages. The author, based on the traditional Tibetan grammar, makes the classification of the case markers, indicating markers and conjunction markers. The third chapter of the present work, based on the huge number of examples from the both languages, analyses the differences’in understanding of grammar and case markers, as well as classifications of different markers. The author makes research and one-to-one multilevel comparison and finds relations in basic grammatical meanings of case markers, such as nominative case marker, dative case marker, instrumental case marker, direction case marker, ablative case marker, coherent marker, as well as in grammatical meanings of derivatives. The fourth chapter of the paper, the author makes comparative analysis of the Japanese noun-conjunctive verbs と、ゃ、か、をり、に、だの、やら、とか,の and phrase-conjunctive markers れば、たら、と～から、ので、～て、ても、のに、が けど、たり～たり、ながら、～て with its Tibetan correspondences, and reveals different relations between the main sentence and its clause.The fifth chapter gives introductions into the current research of Japanese scholars in the field of Classical and Colloquial Tibetan.