Functions of Repetition as the Speaker’s Emotional Expression in Japanese Conversation : Based on the Japanese Television Drama Scenario

Abstract

“Repetition” is to repeat words or sentences that have already appeared in a context several times both in written language and spoken language. The speech act “Repetition” has been claimed that it is the expression which is merely raising the redundancy of sentences and it has been negatively regarded as the expression that should be avoided. However, an immediate repetition of the conversation partner’s utterance is normally be seen and frequently appears in our daily conversation. As a result of data gathering from television drama materials, it is obvious that one of the functions of “Repetition” is “Emotional Expression” which occurs when there is something unexpected and the speaker felt surprised towards the partner’s utterance. Therefore, in this research, “Emotional Expression” in “Repetition” is described as an “unexpectedness”. Additionally, “Emotional Expression” in “Repetition” can be divided into 3 types of attitudes which are “Positive Attitude”, “Neutral Attitude” and “Negative Attitude”.