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A revisit to the negative usage of ‘totemo’, ‘dooshitemo’ and ‘nakanaka’

박수연 1

1神戸大学 国際教育総合センター

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses how the Japanese adverbs ‘totemo’, ‘dooshitemo’ and ‘nakanaka’ are construed when they are used with negative predicates. These adverbs share the same features that they are used in a sentence which indicates impossibility or difficulty. It is argued, however, that the adverbs ‘totemo’, ‘dooshitemo’ and ‘nakanaka’ do not share the same properties when the types of co-occurred negative predicates and the constructional features are taken into consideration. As for the types of co-occurred negative predicates, it is shown that ‘totemo’ and ‘doohitemo’ occur with the same type of predicates which indicates impossibility or difficulty, while ‘nakanaka’ occurs more with the type of predicates which shows non-realization. It is also shown that ‘nakanaka’ can co-occur with volitional verbs. As for the constructional features, it is argued from the next two points of view, “conditioning” and “temporal stability”. ‘totemo’ needs to be conditioned with the reasons or situations for its impossibility or difficulty, on the other hand, ‘dooshitemo’ and ‘nakanaka’ do not always need to be conditioned with them. It is also argued that negative sentences with ‘totemo’ indicate permanent state while those with ‘dooshitemo’ and ‘nakanaka’ indicate temporary state.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.