Japanese Adverbs Research Articles

Semantic Positioning Model Incorporating BERT/RoBERTa and Fuzzy Theory Achieves More Nuanced Japanese Adverb Clustering

Japanese adverbs are difficult to classify, with little progress made since the 1930s. Now in the age of large language models, linguists need a framework for lexical grouping that incorporates quantitative, evidence-based relationships rather than purely theoretical categorization. We herein address this need for the case of Japanese adverbs by developing a semantic positioning approach that incorporates large language model embeddings with fuzzy set theory to achieve empirical Japanese adverb groupings. To perform semantic positioning, we (i) obtained multi-dimensional embeddings for a list of Japanese adverbs using a BERT or RoBERTa model pre-trained on Japanese text, (ii) reduced the dimensionality of each embedding by principle component analysis (PCA), (iii) mapped the relative position of each adverb in a 3D plot using K-means clustering with an initial cluster count of n=3, (iv) performed silhouette analysis to determine the optimal cluster count, (v) performed PCA and K-means clustering on the adverb embeddings again to generate 2D semantic position plots, then finally (vi) generated a centroid distance matrix. Fuzzy set theory informs our workflow at the embedding step, where the meanings of words are treated as quantifiable vague data. Our results suggest that Japanese adverbs optimally cluster into n=4 rather than n=3 groups following silhouette analysis. We also observe a lack of consistency between adverb semantic positions and conventional classification. Ultimately, 3D/2D semantic position plots and centroid distance matrices were simple to generate and did not require special hardware. Our novel approach offers advantages over conventional adverb classification, including an intuitive visualization of semantic relationships in the form of semantic position plots, as well as a quantitative clustering “fingerprint” for Japanese adverbs that express vague language data as a centroid distance matrix.

Japanese Native Speakers’ Perception on Learners’ Pronunciation of Double Consonant Sounds in Japanese Adverbs (Fukushi)

The purpose of this study is to determine the perception of Japanese native speakers on the pronunciation of the double consonant「促音」 (sokuon) in Japanese adverbs or 「副詞」 (fukushi) namely「ゆっくり 」 (yukkuri),「ずっと」(zutto), and「やっと」(yatto) by ten Japanese language students in a state university in East Java, Indonesia. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative approach with conducting assessments of students’ pronunciation of Japanese adverbs (fukushi) by three Japanese Native Speakers (JNS). The results showed that eleven data were pronounced perfectly and naturally, sixteen data were pronounced naturally, four data were pronounced a little naturally, and one data was pronounced a little unnaturally and unnaturally. However, there were seven data misunderstood by the JNS. The results also show that differences in JNS perception of the respondent’s pronunciation have an impact on the assessment, and the double consonants also affect the duration of pronunciations which affects the assessment from JNS. In addition, the Japanese language students participated in this study were all considered able to pronounce the three「副詞」(fukushi) or Japanese adverbs correctly according to JNS.

Some syntactic properties of psychological adverbs in Japanese

This paper presents a comprehensive theory for the licensing of Japanese Psychological Adverbs (PAs, e.g. oisiku ‘deliciously’, omosiroku ‘interestingly’) being grounded on their syntactic, interpretations, and lexical properties. PAs can appear in at least three different types of constructions. One of the constructions where Agent of the main verb and Experiencer of a PA is identical will be examined in particular. Investigating their syntactic and semantic characteristics, the paper claims that PAs are structurally licensed when they are c-command by the local Agent, following the same structural condition that Ernst (2002) argues for subject-oriented (SO) adverbs. There is a set of data that seems to contradict this condition, but I argue that the data indeed exhibits PAs’ another property: they are polarity-sensitive. In order to comprise this lexical property into the condition aforementioned, I classify PAs into three types being based on Ernst’s (2009) PPI trichotomy for speaker-oriented adverbs (SpOAs).

The Effect of Chinese Proficiency on Determining Temporal Adverb Position by Native Japanese Speakers Learning Chinese.

The present study aimed to investigate how native Japanese speakers learning Chinese choose preferred positions for temporal adverbs depending on their level of Chinese proficiency. A naturalness judgment task conducted on native Chinese speakers showed that the most natural position for Chinese temporal adverbs was before the subject and that placement after the locative prepositional phrase was incorrect. The same task applied to native Japanese speakers found the most natural position for Japanese temporal adverbs was also before the subject. Further, when they appear at the beginning of a sentence, they provide the time for the entire sentence. Accordingly, temporal topicalization appears to influence naturalness decisions by both native Chinese and Japanese speakers. A point of difference was that in Japanese, a temporal adverb placed after a locative prepositional phrase was judged to be acceptable. When the same task was given to native Japanese speakers learning Chinese divided into three Chinese proficiency level groups, placement before the subject was the most preferred by the higher Chinese proficiency group. In addition, placement after the locative prepositional phrase was unfavored by them while the same position was frequently selected by the lower level group. As Chinese proficiency increases it appears that the preferred temporal adverb position is before the subject and the placement after the locative prepositional is judged to be unnatural. Thus, a sense of suitable temporal adverb positions in Chinese is influenced by the level of Chinese proficiency of native Japanese speakers.

The Use of Japanese Adverb [ikura

Japanese language has so much uniqueness in its characters, especially when it comes to similar words. One of those words is [ikura] as known as a question word to express ‘how much” or “no matter how much” in English. The word is used to be written as 幾ら (ikura) but nowadays it is not necessary to write it in Kanji (Chinese character), but just written by Hiragana.For Japanese learners, it is sometimes confusing how to divide the meaning and the use of [ikura] comparing to other word like [donna ni] when it is followed by auxiliary -temo. Both are remarkably similar but surely have different meanings. This research is to study the use and the meaning of Japanese [ikura], and thus compared to [donna ni]. By conducting the observation on those meanings, we will know the differences between the two words so that Japanese learners will be able to know the correct use of these expressions.

Creation of an intensifier in progress: a study of the Japanese adverbhutuuni

AbstractThis paper examines the emergent new usage of the Japanese adverbhutuuni. For most speakers of Japanese, this adverb means ‘ordinarily, usually, normally’, but among young adult speakers of Japanese, it has come to be used as an intensifier. Based on blog and conversation data as well as two surveys, the paper identifies wide ranging new senses ofhutuuni, such as ‘very’, ‘fairly/pretty’, ‘contrary to or more than what I expected’, ‘not flattery’, and ‘honestly, speaking a true mind’. Focusing on its intensifier function, Imoto, Ryō. 2011. ‘Futsūni kawaī’-kō [A study of ‘Futsūni cute].Shōgaku Ronshū79(4). 59–75 proposes a scale analysis. Noticing thathutuunitypically occurs in a context where the expected level is set low, he argues that the function ofhutuuniis to upgrade the level to thehutuu‘standard’ level. He states that the intensifier usage is not the result of the semantic change ofhutuu. The present study, on the other hand, suggests that the intensifier usage ofhutuuniinvolves both syntactic and semantic change. Syntactically,hutuuniwhich is a verb modifier has come to modify adjectives, which has contributed to its new intensifier function. Semantically, we propose two possible paths to a degree word/intensifier forhutuuni, in line with the framework of the ‘subjectification’ and ‘intersubjectification’ of meaning proposed in Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. 2003. From subjectification to intersubjectification. In Raymond Hickey (ed.),Motives for language change, 124–139. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mind your weight: ‘Motionlessly’ sitting between the object and the verb in Japanese

The object in Japanese is often displaced from its canonical position next to the sentence-final verb, due to motivations such as information structure or animacy. Such flexibility allows for an adverb to be placed between the object and the verb. In the literature, there are suggestions for an almost equal preference to place Japanese manner adverbs before or after the object, inferred from both online and offline results. We will present a corpus study with a representative Japanese manner adverb zitto ‘motionlessly’ to show that either order may be preferred in different accounts of word order variation, but none can satisfy both requirements of distance minimization and accessibility, which are manifested in competing directions in Japanese, a verb-final language. In both accounts, weight has immense effect and should not be neglected. By using two heuristic methods to measure the weight effect, we propose that this case study with an object and an adverb sheds new light on the explanatory power of the distance minimization account, in particular by the Mimimize Domains principle (Hawkins 1994), which operates at both levels of (1) the constituency construction of the full VP, which favors the object-first order, and (2) the Phrasal Combination Domain between the head of object and the verb, which favors the adverb-first order. It is also proposed to implement a complement-and-adjunct distinction in the MiD principle, as a step toward a more effective study method of weight effect which I shall call efficiency profiling.

Japanese subject-oriented adverbs in a scope-based theory of adverbs

While English exhibits a clausal-manner alternation that is sensitive to where adverbs occur in clausal structure (e.g., Rudely, John left vs. John left rudely), it has not been clear to what extent Japanese behaves the same way. The present study argues, in the spirit of a scope-based theory of adverb licensing, that there is evidence that the Japanese adverbial system is scope-based similarly to its English counterpart. Focusing on mental attitude adverbs, the paper argues that Ernst’s (2002) generalization holds for Japanese: that subject-oriented adverbs lose their otherwise available clausal readings when pure manner adverbs c-command them in the same clause. The paper also claims that clausal mental attitude adverbs must be clause-mates of Tense, which is not reduced to the scope-based theory.

Perbandingan Adverbia Issou, Nao, dan Sara ni dalam Bahasa Jepang

This research aims to analyze the meaning of issou, nao, and sara ni. These three words are Japanese adverbs which having the same lexical meaning ‘furthermore’, but contextually the meanings are different. The data were collected from article posted on website asahi.com by observation method and note-taking techniques. They were analyzed using distribution method with expansion techniques. The meanings of these three adverbs were analyzed using contextual meaning theory by Pateda (2001) The results show that issou, nao, and sara ni have the same meaning that is 'something more than before’. The difference is on the spesific context. Nao can be used to indicates a state that still continuing until now without any much improvement. Sara ni. Can be used to indicates addition of something that already sufficient.

Formation and Development of Japanese adverbs ‘TAKADAKA’ and ‘TAKAGA’

Formation and Development of Japanese adverbs ‘TAKADAKA’ and ‘TAKAGA’

The Contrastive Analysis of Inchoative Aspect of Japanese and Indonesian Language

Compound verb –dasu in Japanese language, adverb mulai (start), and adverb baru (just) in Indonesian language are marks of inchoative aspect. This research aims to describe the difference and similarity of those three marks of inchoative aspect. The method applied in this research is intralingual padan method. As the result of the research, it is proven that compound verb –dasu and adverb baru are focusing on the beginning of an activity or alteration, meanwhile adverb mulai (start) is a sign of the beginning of an event with an exact finished oriented. Compound verb –dasu, adverb mulai (start), and adverb baru can be constructed as activity verb and punctual verb, both volitional and non volitional with animate and inanimate as the subject. Then, the differences are compound verb –dasu shows the beginning of an event that happens suddenly, meanwhile the adverb mulai (start) and baru (just) do not; beside, the adverb mulai (start) can be modified as stative verb, adjective and noun, meanwhile compund verb –dasu can not.

Co-occurrence patterns of Korean and Japanese adverbs expressing speculation

Co-occurrence patterns of Korean and Japanese adverbs expressing speculation

Co-occurrence patterns of Korean and Japanese adverbs expressing speculation

이 연구에서는 추측을 나타내는 한국어와 일본어 부사를 대상으로 문말의 어떠한 표현과 공기관계를 맺고 있으며, 그 차이점은 무엇인가에 대해 분석하였다. 분석의 대상으로 한 부사는 일본어의 ‘たぶん’, ‘どうやら’, ‘もしかすると’와 이에 대응하는 한국어의 ‘아마(도)’, ‘아무래도’, ‘어쩌면’이다. 분석을 통해 도출한 한일 부사어의 차이점은 다음과 같다. 먼저, 일본어의 부사는 ‘ダロウ’가 나타내는 ‘추량’, ‘ヨウダ／ラシイ／シソウダ’가 나타내는 ‘증거성’, ‘カモシレナイ’가 나타내는 ‘가능성’이라는 문말형식의 의미범주에 따른 공기 양상이 두드러진다는 특징이 있다. 특정 형식과의 공기가 강하고 타 형식과의 공기는 어울리지 않는다는 점에서 부사에 따른 공기 양상이 ‘상보적’인 관계에 있다고 할 수 있다. 다음으로, 한국어의 부사도 특정 형식과의 공기관계가 현저하게 나타나지만, 일본어의 부사에 비해 그 정도가 낮고, 우언적 표현과 공기하는 비율이 높다. 일본어 부사에 비해 ‘추량’, ‘증거성’, ‘가능성’이라는 의미범주와의 공기 양상이 두드러지지 않고 서로 ‘연속적’인 관계에 있다고 할 수 있다. 즉 넓은 의미의 ‘추측’이라는 점에서 사태가 실현되는 개연성의 차이를 나타낸다고 할 수 있다.

일본어 부사의 오용과 지도방안에 관한연구 : 한국인 초 · 중급 학습자를 중심으로

일본어 부사의 오용과 지도방안에 관한연구 : 한국인 초 · 중급 학습자를 중심으로

A Comparative Study on Synonyms of Korean and Japanese Adverbs of Degree ―Focusing on “Gajang” and “Jeil” in Korean and “Mottomo” and “Ichiban” in Japanese―

A Comparative Study on Synonyms of Korean and Japanese Adverbs of Degree ―Focusing on “Gajang” and “Jeil” in Korean and “Mottomo” and “Ichiban” in Japanese―

副詞「ほんに」をめぐって : 「ほん」とその周辺

副詞「ほんに」をめぐって : 「ほん」とその周辺

副詞「別に」の意味変化と主観化

This article describes various meanings and functions of the Japanese adverb betsuni, and discusses the process of the semantic change of that from the point of subjectification. In summary, the semantic change of betsuni can be illustrated as below. Each stage of semantic change is a case of subjectification. Its acquisition of the function as an interjection represents an increase in subjective meaning. 1. Betsuni used with affirmative predicate means “besides”, “in addition”. This adverbial meaning is related to the lexeme betsu “another” and can be noticed that it derives from the adjective betsuno/betsuna as well. In this case, betsuni is synonymous with Japanese adverb hokani. 2. Betsuni used with negative predicate means “particularly”. As a stance adverb, a speaker uses it to emphasize his or her negation. It can be interchanged with Japanese adverb tokuni. 3. Betsuni is used alone as an interjection in response. In this case, betsuni may also carry expressive value as a mild refusal to the addressee. It expresses a negative emotional involvement by speakers as an interjection.

A study on Japanese Adverb [Shidaini

A study on Japanese Adverb [Shidaini

On Japanese Adverbs and Quasi-Adverbs

On Japanese Adverbs and Quasi-Adverbs

An utterance situation-based comparison

The Japanese comparative adverb motto has two different uses. In the degree use, motto (typically) compares two individuals and denotes that there is a large gap between the target and a given standard with a norm-related presupposition. On the other hand, in the so-called ‘negative use’ it conveys the speaker’s attitude (often negative) toward the utterance situation. I argue that similarly to the degree motto, the negative motto is a comparative morpheme, but unlike the degree motto it compares a current situation and an expected situation at the level of conventional implicature (CI)/expressive. I argue that the speaker’s negative evaluation of the utterance situation in question comes from the large gap between the expected degree and the current degree. The theoretical implications of this paper are that there is a natural extension from semantic comparison to expressive comparison and that there is a type in natural language that can be called an ‘indirect expressive’, as opposed to ‘direct expressives’ like bastard and man (Potts, The logic of conventional implicatures, 2005, 2007a; McCready, Linguist Philos 31:671–724, 2009; 35:243–283, 2012).