Japanese onomatopoeia in bodily demonstrations in a traditional dance instruction: A resource for synchronizing body movements

Abstract

Drawing on the multimodal analysis of interaction, this study investigates the coordination between language and body in an instructional setting where students are asked to move their bodies along with the instructor. The data examined comprise a videotaped interaction during a Japanese classical dance (Nihon Buyo) workshop held for international students in which a professional dance instructor introduced the dance to the students by having them perform a few simple choreographies. The data showed that the instructor often employed onomatopoeias (mimetics or ideophones) during her demonstrations. The study investigated how onomatopoeias are employed in coordination with bodily demonstration and what they accomplish in the instruction. The analysis revealed that the instructor coordinated her body movements with onomatopoeias using sound stretch, pitch and volume change, and voice quality. Onomatopoeias with such modulated prosody along with bodily demonstration highlight the features of the body movements in the choreography. Additionally, onomatopoeias act as resources for synchronized movements among participants in a physical activity through their prolongation and repetition. This suggests an interactional function of onomatopoeias that has not been discussed previously in the relevant literature.