Sadler2020
Sadler2020 | |
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BibType | ARTICLE |
Key | Sadler2020 |
Author(s) | Misumi Sadler |
Title | Japanese negative suffix nai in conversation: Its formulaicity and intersubjectivity |
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Tag(s) | construction, Japanese, discourse analysis, formulaicity, grammar-pragmatics interface, interaction, intersubjectivity, involvement, negation, negative suffix, phonological reduction, repetition, structural fixedness |
Publisher | SAGE Publications Ltd |
Year | 2020 |
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Month | aug |
Journal | Discourse Studies |
Volume | 22 |
Number | 4 |
Pages | 460–482 |
URL | Link |
DOI | 10.1177/1461445620914671 |
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Abstract
The study investigates how speakers use ‘ nai-expressions' (a verb root + the negative suffix (a)nai as in shabere-nai ‘cannot speak' and ik-anai ‘will/do not go') in naturally occurring conversation. The data demonstrate that although negative utterances have been considered to be ‘grammatical' constructions that simply negate the truth value of a proposition, nai-expressions show formulaic tendencies and serve not only to express a speaker's emotional personal stance on a particular story/event but also to create interpersonal space with other conversation participant(s) and to involve them in the story/event. The patterns which emerged from the data are quite similar to those in Ono and Thompson's study on Japanese adjectives. As they pointed out, some of nai-expressions in the data may also be re-analyzed as adjectives.
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