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Sato-Sensei’s Linguistic Note
I recently read something interesting by Hiroyuki Itsuki in his book Taiga-no Itteki (A Drop of Water from a Great River). Kyoto University and Tokyo Institute of Technology conducted collaborative research on verbal characteristics common to both humans and chimpanzees. Their fieldwork revealed an interesting use of common sounds あ and お.
Approximately 150 Japanese male students and businessmen were asked to make two telephone calls. One was to a superior, and another was to a junior colleague. The research showed that the first word (sound) they produced when calling a superior was あ and to a junior お.
Interestingly, when a chimpanzee sees another among the trees, they produce the same sounds あっ、 あっ、あっ to senior chimps and おっ、おっ、おっ to weaker chimps in an attempt to intimidate them.
Do you suppose the ancestors of Japan-when they were still anthropoids-could have developed these sounds to distinguish relations within the group, and that after millenniums, still continue to use them in similar ways? Does this suggest that perhaps あ was the first honorific expression used on earth?
Here is a little more serious question: Which interjection do you think Japanese women have been supposed to use traditionally, あ or お? (Answer at the end of Section (D1).
Lesson 6D Page 188