new book : japanese linguistics japanese linguistics hamano , shoko ( the george washington university ) ; the sound-symbolic system of japanese ; isbn : 1-57586 - 144 - 5 ( paper ) , 1-57586 - 144 - 5 ( cloth ) ; csli publications 1998 : http : / / csli-www . stanford . edu / publications / email : pubs @ roslin . stanford . edu . this book is the first theoretical study of sound-symbolic expressions in japanese commonly known as mimetic words . it identifies stringent linguistic constraints on these expressions and demonstrates that they form an intricate linguistic system rather than a collection of ad hoc expressions . it then carefully identifies the sound-symbolic meanings of sound units so as to make the elusive meaning of each sound-symbolic expression fully comprehensible . in addition , this book describes a number of interesting facts about the history of the japanese language which mimetic words reveal . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * csli publications ventura hall stanford university stanford , ca 94305-4115 telephone ( 650 ) 723-1839 fax ( 650 ) 725-2166 http : / / csli-www . stanford . edu / publications
