The University of Tokyo Language Variation and Change (UTLVC@Komaba) is a scholarly association that provides a forum for staff and students of Tokyo University (both undergraduates of Interdisciplinary Language Sciences at the College of Arts and Sciences and postgraduates of Department of Language Information Sciences at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences) as well as international visitors working on issues related to both diachronic and synchronic variation and change.
The main activities carried about by UTLVC are to hold a biannual conference for students to present their work and bring in guest speakers for invited lectures throughout the year. The aim of the organization is to cultivate the growth of young researchers in the field by deepening their understanding of language variation and change through lectures by leading researchers from both Japan and abroad and by providing a space to actively promote the presentation of student research.
Participants have a wide range of specialties, such as historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, dialectology, and study a wide variety of languages, including but not limited to Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, contact varieties and many more. Revolving around empirical research concerning language variation and change, UTLVC provides a place for academic exchange that crosses the boundaries of languages of study and established disciplines.
UTLVC welcomes the participation of anyone interested in both synchronic and diachronic language variation and change!
CURRENT ORGANIZING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Advisory Board:
Takashi NOMURA
Japanese linguistics, History of the Japanese Grammar from Old Japanese till Modern Japanese. Selected works include History of the Vernacular Japanese (2011), History of the Standard Japanese (2013) (both in Japanese).
Jun TERASAWA
Research interests: History of the English Language; Old English Language and Literature (with Special Reference to Meter and Textual Criticism). Selected Works: Nominal Compounds in Old English: A Metrical Approach (1994), Old English Metre: An Introduction (2011)
Tsutomu YADA
My research field is the history of Japanese language and the Japanese writing system, especially the development of the Japanese syllabary (kana) and the Japanese adaptation of Chinese writing (kanbun).
Yo USAMI
My research interests lie in variation and change in the evaluation, especially in the evaluation of linguistic performance and linguistic ability from a perspective of personal values.
Junichi IWATSUKI
Sociolinguistics, modern history of language policies in East Asia. Especially the transformation process of written language from Chinese and Chu-nom characters to Romanized script in Vietnam during the late 19th and early 20th century.
Kazuko MATSUMOTO
Variationist Sociolinguistics, esp. dialect and language contact (Japanese colonial koinés in Palau and Sakhalin; Korean and Brazilian Portuguese immigrant koiné in Tokyo; Palauan English formation; contact-induced borrowing in Palauan and Sakhalin Russian). Her publications include Diaspora Japanese (2022). Website:http://phiz.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~kmatsu
Steering Committee:
Masayuki YOSHIKAWA
Advisory Board and Steering Committee Chair:
My research interests are mainly in the field of phonology and orthography of East Asian languages.
Eko KANEDA
Sociolinguistics, language variation and change, German dialect contact in Japan, German spoken in German School in Japan.
Liuzhu SU
My research interests lie in Tai-Kadai languages, especially in their phonology and orthography.
2019-2021：
Tsutomu YADA
Advisory Board and Steering Committee Chair:
My research field is the history of Japanese language and the Japanese writing system, especially the development of the Japanese syllabary (kana) and the Japanese adaptation of Chinese writing (kanbun).
Yue TENG
Research interests: Variation and change in language attitude, language awareness, identity. Main interests: Language awareness in face threatening acts, language use and identity issues on returnees who travelled between East Asian countries.
Woongseon JANG
The Japanese script reform, especially the dispute about using Chinese charters in Meiji period
2015-2018：
Kazuko MATSUMOTO
Advisory Board and Steering Committee Chair:
Variationist Sociolinguistics, esp. dialect and language contact (Japanese colonial koinés in Palau and Sakhalin; Korean and Brazilian Portuguese immigrant koiné in Tokyo; Palauan English formation; contact-induced borrowing in Palauan and Sakhalin Russian). Her publications include Diaspora Japanese (2022). Website:http://phiz.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~kmatsu
Akiko OKUMURA
Sociolinguistics, Japanese dialect contact, Japanese spoken in Mexico, Koine formation in new town.
Yue ZHANG
My research interests include Chinese linguistics, variation and change in Wu Chinese (Shanghainese) and study of descriptive documents written by European missionaries.
HISTORY
February 2015
The University of Tokyo Language Variation and Change (UTLVC@Komaba) was founded with guidance from Professor Takashi Nomura, Professor Jun Terasawa, Associate Professor Masayuki Yoshikawa and Associate Professor Kazuko Matsumoto, and began activities along with current and former graduate students at the University of Tokyo.
April 2016
Professor Takashi Nomura was appointed as University of Tokyo Professor Emeritus.
September 2016
Associate Professors Yo Usami and Tsutomu Yada joined UTLVC as new advisory board members.
June 2017
Associate Professor Junichi Iwatsuki joined UTLVC as a new advisory board member.
April 2021
Professor Jun Terasawa was appointed as University of Tokyo Professor Emeritus.
