Formulaicity and formulaic expressions in Japanese: an introduction

Abstract

Abstract Formulaic expressions pervade everyday language. While this has caught the attention of pedagogically oriented researchers due to its benefit in foreign language instruction, the centrality of formulaic expressions in actual language use, along with their emerging nature and plasticity, has only been marginally recognized and thus remains largely unexplored, especially in languages other than English. We propose to fill this gap by highlighting the cognitive and interactional basis of formulaicity in Japanese. We place full weight on formulaic language in actual use, which includes conversational discourse and social networking services such as Twitter posts. Each contribution highlights how formulaic expressions are based on and shaped by usage in context and how they are deployed in unfolding discourse.