Modality in Japanese
This thesis offers a detailed structural account of a full range of grammatical markers available for the expression of modality in Japanese. Twenty modal expressions are systematically analyzed in the context of a Western typological approach, with special attention being paid to the issue of subjectivity, in the spirit of the indigenous grammatical tradition. The approach is a distributional one in which the elusive distinction between subjective and objective modality is subjected to scrutiny by the employment of a battery of overt tests. These diagnostics are designed to ensure that the theoretical distinction rests on empirical foundations . A distinctive mark of the present work is the attempt to make a genuine synthesis of ideas drawn from the Japanese tradition and Western linguistic theory, and, it is emphasized that this amalgamation opens up new dimensions for the study of modality. The most important contribution of the Japanese grammarians is that they have highlighted the fact that the expression of subjectivity permeates linguistic coding, a theoretical insight which presents itself directly from the structural facts of Japanese. The methodological approach taken here, that is, the employment
Larm, Lars Ingemar
Modality in Japanese. This thesis offers a detailed structural account of a full range of grammatical markers available for the expression of modality in Japanese. Twenty modal expressions are systematically analyzed in the context of a Western typological approach, with special attention being paid to the issue of subjectivity, in the spirit of the indigenous grammatical tradition. The approach is a distributional one in which the elusive distinction between subjective and objective modality is subjected to scrutiny by the employment of a battery of overt tests. These diagnostics are designed to ensure that the theoretical distinction rests on empirical foundations . A distinctive mark of the present work is the attempt to make a genuine synthesis of ideas drawn from the Japanese tradition and Western linguistic theory, and, it is emphasized that this amalgamation opens up new dimensions for the study of modality. The most important contribution of the Japanese grammarians is that they have highlighted the fact that the expression of subjectivity permeates linguistic coding, a theoretical insight which presents itself directly from the structural facts of Japanese. The methodological approach taken here, that is, the employment
modality japanese offer_detailed structural account full_range grammatical marker available expression modality japanese twenty modal_expression systematically analyze context western typological special_attention_pay issue subjectivity spirit indigenous grammatical tradition distributional elusive distinction subjective objective modality subject scrutiny employment battery overt test diagnostics design ensure theoretical distinction rest empirical foundation distinctive mark present_work attempt_make genuine synthesis idea draw japanese tradition western linguistic_theory emphasize amalgamation open_new dimension study modality important japanese grammarian highlight fact expression subjectivity permeate linguistic coding theoretical insight present directly structural fact japanese methodological take employment