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A study on the meaning and usage of 「~nikui」「~zurai」「~gatai」

  • 日本硏究
  • 2020, (52), pp.87-110
  • DOI : 10.20404/jscau.2020.02.52.87
  • Publisher : The Center for Japanese Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Japanese Language and Literature
  • Received : December 31, 2019
  • Accepted : January 29, 2020
  • Published : February 20, 2020

HAN KYU AN 1

1영산대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the meaning and usage of the expressions「~nikui」「~zurai」「~gatai」, which connect to a verb and state difficulties in carrying out an action. A usage analysis of BCCWJ confirms that verbs connecting with「nikui」 include non-volitional verbs as well as volitional verbs, and that verbs with specific, concrete meanings can also come before it. Previously, it was thought that「~zurai」 cannot connect with non-volitional verbs, but it proves to be false and 「~zurai」connects with diverse verbs. Another expression「~gatai」was also known to be unable to connect with non-volitional verbs, which has also turned out to be false. Non-volitional verbs, with some limitations, can come before 「~gatai」 and it was found that verbs describing human mental activities most frequently connect with the expression. The analysis of the meaning and usage of 「~nikui」「~zurai」「~gatai」 focuses on the causes or sources of difficulties in taking the action described by the verb. 「~nikui」 can be divided into objective(physical, situational, physiological) causes and subjective(psychological) causes. In case of 「~zurai」,we can classify it into objective(physical(corporal), physical(material), situational) causes and subjective(psychological) causes. In particular, it is found that physical causes and objective situations suggested by 「~zurai」 do not accompany mental and physical pain or displeasure, regardless of the etymology of 「~zurai」. Meanwhile, 「~gatai」 usually connects with verbs involving human mental activities. The study also confirms that it expresses the narrator’s subjective judgment that the extent or degree of a subject is prohibitively alarming, and mostly used in idiomatic expressions, literal expressions, and formal settings.

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