What is it about?

Japanese speakers are often characterised as 'indecisive'. The indecision is indicated by epistemic markers such as 'kana', 'darou ka' and '(n) janai ka'. Although these expressions are often treated as 'synonyms', they are not necessarily interchangeable. This article defines these epistemic markers using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

New definitions are presented to clarify semantic differences between three markers. Explications are readily translatable across all languages and can be compared with presumed equivalents in other languages.

Perspectives

The proposed definitions are also useful for learners of Japanese.

Dr Yuko Asano-Cavanagh
Curtin University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Being ‘indecisive’ in Japanese, Studies in Language, April 2016, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/sl.40.1.03asa.
You can read the full text:

Read

Contributors

The following have contributed to this page