The Lexical Field of Taste: A Semantic Study of Japanese Taste Terms

by A. E. Backhouse

Overview

In this extraordinary new work, Dr. Backhouse undertakes a semantic study of taste terms in modern spoken Japanese. Through an investigation of the range of vocabulary available for the description of taste qualities, and their interrelationship in terms of meaning, Dr. Backhouse presents a sensitive elucidation of the structure of Japanese taste terms, which has significant implications for anthropological linguistics. He explores important semantic issues, such as the relationship between evaluative and descriptive meaning, the intralinguistic mechanisms at work in metaphor, and draws illuminating connections between the lexical field of color and that of taste.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521023221
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/24/2005
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Linguistics
Edition description:	Supplement
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.55(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Taste and terms; 2. Lexical meaning; 3. Methodology; 4. Evaluative taste terms in Japanese; 5. Descriptive taste terms in Japanese (I); 6. Descriptive taste terms in Japanese (II); 7. Retrospect and prospects; Appendix; Notes; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...a useful addition to the small number of full-length studies of the vocabulary of taste." Joel Kuipers, Anthropological Linguistics

From the Publisher