A semantic analysis of Japanese epistemic markers: chigainai and hazuda

Abstract

This paper presents a semantic analysis of two epistemic markers in Japanese— chigainai and hazuda. These are often translated as I am sure, must, or should in English, and they indicate the speaker’s certainty about the truth or falsehood of a proposition. While chigainai and hazuda are semantically similar, they are not always interchangeable. Thus questions arise about the level of certainty implied by the terms and also about how to articulate their differences. Although certainty is a convenient vehicle for capturing the meaning, it is problematic in explaining the differences between these synonyms since the level of certainty cannot be accurately articulated. Previous studies have attempted to explicate the differences between the two expressions by the use of qualifying terms such as ‘firm faith’, ‘reliable and firm grounds’, or ‘absolute basis for assertion’. These attempts are also problematic because the definitions they propose are not necessarily consistent with the actual usage of each expression. Alternatively, this paper adopts the framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) Theory. It addresses the issue of how to explain the speaker’s certainty by using semantic primes. The findings of the study indicate that the semantic differences between chigainai and hazuda are not concerned with the degree of the speaker’s certainty. Instead, the meanings of the expressions are illustrated by cognitive scenarios such as ‘I can’t think not like this’, or ‘I think that it can’t be not like this’. The definitions proposed by this approach clarify the differences between chigainai and hazuda, and more generally serve as a practical guide to the understanding of the epistemic markers in Japanese.