Modality and the Japanese Language: Volume 44 (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, Band 44000) - Hardcover

Johnson, Yuki

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1929280181 ISBN 13: 9781929280186

Verlag: UNIV OF MICHIGAN PR, 2003

Inhaltsangabe

In English, the concept of modality has been the subject of studies crucial to the understanding and functioning of the language. Modality governs, for example, the choice of whether to use "may," "shall," or "must" as an auxiliary of the main verb in sentences. The study of these modal auxiliaries reveals the speaker's intention when making statements. Although modality has been studied in Japanese as a field of Japanese linguistics for decades, its study has been historically unfocused, and few articles or books have been written on it in English. Modality and the Japanese Language is innovative as an English-language text that examines a wide range of grammatical categories in terms of both modal and propositional content--namely, modal auxiliaries, aspectual categories, and conditionals--and reveals a new approach to Japanese modality that relies more centrally on concepts developed in the study of English modality. Yuki Johnson finds many practical and theoretical similarities between English and Japanese modal auxiliaries and argues that modality can be thought of as an expression of the degree of a speaker's conviction concerning a proposition's truth or realization in the form of possible or non-actual words. Such a definition adds perspective to the study of Japanese modality: propositions, for example, become objects of that study in the form of conditional sentences and aspectual categories.Modality will benefit scholars in Japanese linguistics and those engaged in research on the general theory of modals. It will also be helpful to language educators generally, graduate students, and advanced students of Japanese.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Yuki Johnson received her PhD in Japanese linguistics from the University of Minnesota. After directing the Japanese language program at the University of Michigan and then at the University of British Columbia, she is now the Director of the Center

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: UNIV OF MICHIGAN PR
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2003
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1929280181
• ISBN 13: 9781929280186
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 296
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar