CONCLUSIONES Y RECOMENDACIONES

the core meaning ‘non-human beings’, and this leads to extended meanings such as ‘wild’, ‘rough’, and ‘independent’ as explained above (4.1). With these semantic components, hiki can be used to portray or emphasise the animalistic or insect-like state or behaviour of the referent, especially when it is used for human beings. In this kind of case, the animal of ‘animal-like state or behaviour’ does not always have to be the kind of animal which would actually be counted by hiki itself; it may be one that would normally be counted by too (the classifier for larger animals). From the analysis, hiki with this usage seems to convey animalistic or insect-like features in a general way, not specifically evoking the idea of a small animate being. In short, what hiki emphasises is ‘NOT human being-like’, in a broad sense.

This metaphorical use of hiki can have either a positive or negative nuance, or can even be neutral in this respect. Each usage has to be considered individually since the interpretation in each case relates to a range of different factors. Examples with each nuance are introduced below, discussing the elements that contribute to the interpretation in each case.

For an instance of hiki contributing a positive nuance and serving metaphorically to portray an animal/insect-like state or behaviour, I pick up one example extracted from a blog on the internet. The speaker is the mother of two daughters. One day, the older daughter comes to ask the speaker if she can go to the wooden deck outside. After the speaker gives her permission, she goes out and the younger one follows straight after her. They sit down on the wooden deck and

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immediately start playing with some cards with anime characters on them. The speaker describes this scene, calling her daughters ‘ichi-goo (number one)’ and ‘ni-goo (number two)’, and refers to them as ni-hiki (the two of them).

(4-9)

もちろん、１号の後を追いかけていく２号もついていき２匹はデッキに並んで座り、 １号の『プリキュアドリームライブ』のカードを眺めていました。

mochiron, ichi-goo no ato o oikake-te-i-ku ni-goo mo tsuite-i-ki ni-hiki wa dekki ni nara-n-de suwa-ri, ichi-goo no ‘purikyua doriimu raibu’ no kaado o nagame-te ima- shi-ta

Of course, number two [the younger sister] followed number one [the older sister] [and then] the two sat down on the deck next to each other, [and] looking at number one’s cards of ‘PreCure Dream Live’.

(「Yahoo! ブログ Yafuu burogu」[Yahoo! Blog], 2008)

Regarding the fact that she calls them by number, it can be assumed that, firstly, the speaker probably does not want to use their real names on a public blog, which might allow them to be identified and, secondly, she wishes to make her depiction of them sound comical. It seems that hiki provides an appropriate metaphor as the way these daughters act may have evoked the idea of puppies: one runs towards something attractive and the other one follows after. Since this sentence is followed by the utterance ‘they are so charming and cute; I know I am a doting parent’ it is clear that the speaker is talking about her daughters’ behaviour with a great deal of affection. Thus, it is likely that hiki is used here in a positive way, probably in order to describe their puppy-like, innocent and adorable behaviour.

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Next, illustrating a neither a positive nor a negative, but a neutral case of this metaphorical usage of hiki, the example below is from a story set in a time of war. The speaker is talking about his colleague in the army and calls the colleague a stark-naked ‘ningen (human) ip-piki (one-hiki)’.

(4-10)

死を賭した素ッ裸の人間一匹、白熱した意志と行動の一部分であって、姓名とか故 郷とかこえてしまったようなものであったろう。

shi o to-shi-ta sup-padaka no ningen ip-piki, hakunetsu-shi-ta ishi to koodoo no ichi- bubun de at-te, seemee toka kokyoo toka koe-te shimat-ta yoo-na mono-de at-ta-roo [He is] one stark-naked man, [who is] risking [his] life, [he is like] a part of heated determination and behaviour, and [he is] beyond a name and a hometown.

(「昭和文学全集 Showa bungaku zenshuu」 [The Complete Works of Showa Literature], 1989)

From the context, this expression is assumed to indicate that the speaker and his colleague are so close to each other that they do not care about things like how much property they have, where they come from, or even their names. In other words, they are connected as soul-mates, not just as social beings. The word ‘ningen (human)’ may be used rather than otoko (man) or yaroo (guy, an informal and rough way of saying ‘man’) in order to reflect the fact that they do not even think or care about gender. They are so close in this particularly unusual situation of war, in which the individual man and his life are not regarded as important compared to the greater purpose, that they regard themselves not as men but more simply as ‘creatures’. The word ‘sup-padaka (stark-naked)’ means ‘having nothing other than his own body’, and

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‘ningen ip-piki’ serves to reinforce and emphasise that meaning. In this context, the NC hiki is playing a role in focusing on the most primitive core of human beings.

The next two examples of hiki (4-11 and 4-12), used to metaphorically portray an animal/insect-like state or behaviour, both convey a negative nuance. The first of these is from a science fiction story in which a woman is being parasitised by an unknown creature. However, people around her have no idea what is happening and are scared of her due to her abnormal, crazy behaviour. When they talk about the woman, they use ‘ip-piki (one hiki)’.

(4-11)

…だってもし、あんなのがもう一匹生まれたらたいへんなことになるのに」 話が どんどんホラーじみてきた。

‘…datte moshi, anna-no ga moo ip-piki umare-ta-ra taihen na koto ni naru-noni’ hanashi ga dondon horaa jimi-te ki-ta

‘…what if, another one like that was born, it would be a disaster’ the story starts having a touch of horror.

(「アナザヘヴン Anazahebun」[Another Heaven], 1997)

This usage of hiki is considered to indicate ‘something not human’. Indeed, the people even go on to explicitly say ‘she is like a monster’. It may be argued that the use of this hiki is triggered more by lexical collocation due to the later introduction of the word ‘bakemono (monster)’ in the context. However, the word ‘bakemono (monster)’ appears more than two sentences later than the instance of hiki concerned. As pointed out, it is assumed that the closer two words are to each other, the stronger the influence of the lexicon collocation is in this analysis. Thus, the choice of hiki is

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assumed to be more because of its function to portray the woman’s ‘non human-like’, ‘less than human’, and ‘rough’ behaviours.

Lastly, another example, in which hiki portrays the animal-like state of the referent in a negative light, is given. The referent here is not a third person or entity, but the speaker himself. The context concerns the essential nature of a human being. Before the example sentence, the speaker says ‘what is the essential nature of a human being? That is being myself. Facing myself. In most cases, people feel scared to face themselves’. Then he utters the following sentence.

(4-12)

自分の中にもう一匹、得体の知れない、制御できない自分がいるのを知っているか ら

jibun no naka ni moo ip-piki, etai no shire-na-i, seigyo-deki-na-i jibun ga i-ru-no o shit-te i-ru kara

Because [I] know [that there is] an enigmatic, uncontrollable me in myself

(「横尾忠則 365 日の伝説 Yokoo tadanori sanbyaku-rokujuu-go-nichi no densetsu」[The 365-Day Legend of Tadanori Yokoo], 1995)

Thus, the speaker is focusing on the aspect of himself that is unknown even to himself, and describing it as if it was a different creature living inside himself. In order to emphasise the enigmatic nature of this ‘me’, the writer uses hiki rather than nin, even though it is still a part of himself. In this case, hiki is playing a role in focusing on a wild aspect of human beings not only in himself but in every human being, and portraying it in a negative light. By drawing on the extended semantic component ‘wild’, derived from the semi-core component ‘natural’, the speaker is effectively reinforcing his reference to the unknowable, uncontrollable, and thus mysterious parts

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of human beings. This is one of the examples which show that the meaning of ‘natural’ is essential as a semi-core semantic component of hiki. Though being natural is not a necessary condition to be counted by hiki but is rather a potential meaning, ‘natural’ still needs to be considered a core meaning of hiki in order to understand how extended meanings, such as ‘wild’ in this example, emerge.The examples in this section have shown how hiki can be used to portray animal-like or insect-like states or behaviour of human referents, and have illustrated a variety of nuances: positive, neutral, and negative.