On the Properties of Japanese Sentences with Nominal Predicates α-sa Derived from Adjectives

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  • 形容詞派生の名詞「〜さ」を述語とする文の性質
  • ケイヨウシ ハセイ ノ メイシ サ オ ジュツゴ ト スル ブン ノ セイシツ

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The sentence "Kare wa kanari nessin datta" which has an adjectival predicate and the sentence "Kare wa kanari no nessinsa datta" which has a nominal predicate are nearly the same in both meaning and form. This paper explores the properties of the latter type of Japanese sentences with nominal predicates consisting of adjectival stems and suffix sa. Unlike adjectives, α-sa (α stands for an adjectival stem) cannot function as qualifying predicates by themselves, because they have no substantial meaning other than just the concept of stative degree. To be a qualifying predicate they need to be modified by some phrase. α-sa as qualifying predicates have two usages, neutral usage (which is unique to α-sa phrases), and evaluative usage. Though evaluative usage is common to adjectives, predication by α-sa phrases is different from that of adjectives in that α-sa phrases need some contextual presupposition. While evaluation by adjectival predicates is oriented to the existence of some quality itself, evaluation by α-sa phrases is oriented to what the details of the quality are. A variety of semantic relations between α-sa and its modifier brings fertile expressiveness to the sentences.

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