GENGO KENKYU (Journal of the Linguistic Society of Japan)
Online ISSN : 2185-6710
Print ISSN : 0024-3914
And and Japanese to, ni, ya, mo
A Contrastive Study of Their Meaning
Tetsuya KUNIHIRO
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1967 Volume 1967 Issue 50 Pages 34-49

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Abstract

In translating ‘A and B’ into Japanese, and is replaced by one of ‘to, ni, ya, mo’ as the case may be. This fact led the author to attempt to analyze and contrast the sememes of those words, and then to clarify the translation mechanism in terms of semantics. In this paper the author put some emphasis upon one of the procedures of semantic analysis which is based upon the principle that the sememe of a form is more or less manifestly reflected on the context, in short ‘the principle of manifestation’. This principle is by no means the most important, however.
The sememes of the words are hypothesized as follows, though to and ni have already been dealt with in his previous paper, ‘A sememic analysis of the Japanese case-particles’. The schematic representations shown below are newly added in this paper:
to:‘it indicates a cooperator on an equal footing’(A-B)
ni:‘it indicates the object of adhesion’(A←B)
ya:‘it parallels items severally as examples’(A)(B)()()..mo:‘it additionally indicates the limits to which a thing or amount of the same category extends’
1.(↔A);(↔A)(↔B) 2.(A↔B) and:‘simple connective’ A·EB
The sememe of mo presupposes a basic item whether or not it is manifest in the context or situation. However, the basic item is sometimes wanting there and noteasily supplied: e. g., Sigoto mo icidanraku cuita kara, ippai nomi ni iko ka. Together with some other similar instances, this usage seems to characterize the Japanese expression. This expression which he tentatively calls ‘suggestive deletion’ serves to render Japanese expressions soft, indirect, and full of vague implication.

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