This paper focuses on learner examples of unnatural question sentences ending in “ka.” After conducting a recognition survey on learners, the study examined Japanese native speakers’ informal question sentences ending with “ka.”
First, we surveyed intermediate learners regarding changing from the polite form to the informal form and investigated their recognition of informal interrogative sentences. We found a tendency to add “ka” at the end of informal question sentences.
Next, we used the BCCWJ to collect examples of informal questions to examine those ending in “ka.” All the informal question sentences ending in “ka” were uttered by male learners, and the sentences could have been questions without the final “ka.” This demonstrates that “ka” at the end of an informal sentence does not necessarily express a question but rather functions as a final particle predominantly used among males. However, since today’s men in their 20s to 40s do not add “ka” at the end of informal question sentences, “ka” in such a position is a “role word,” according to Kinsui (2003). Just as the final particles “ze” and “zo” are exclusive to males, we concluded that in informal question sentences, “ka” at the end of the sentence also functions as a final particle exclusive to men.
Additionally, this paper shows that even when a language textbook drill omits the “ka” at the end of a question sentence, learners tend to use it to express an informal question. Informal questions can be expressed solely through rising intonation, but informal questions ending in “ka” function as final particles exclusively for men. This point should be explicitly taught in Japanese language education.