ATTRIBUTIV JAPANSKA. En analys av modifiering av substantiv i romanen No. 6

Abstract

Noun modification in Japanese is complex and difficult to understand for the learners of Japanese. This thesis examines the use of the noun modification in modern Japanese literature, using the novel No. 6. What sort of noun modification is most often used in Japanese modern literature, and is the structure mostly single-worded or complex? Does the type of noun modification differ in the narrative part and dialogue part in the novel? These are a few questions that the study will strive to answer. To do this Kanehira’s (2005) categories of noun modification for teaching Japanese to L2 learners were used as framework. Furthermore, the results were also compared with the analysis of noun modification for Sarada Kinenbi - tanka poems, conducted by Sall (2015). Both No. 6 and Sarada Kinenbi are addressed to young readers. How does the noun modification differ in the two genres of Japanese literature? The result showed an overwhelming use of attributive nominal phrases, noun + (no) + noun, in both narrative text and in dialogue. The structure proved to be mostly single-worded, in both narrative text and dialogue. However, a closer examination of the narrative text showed that the attributive nominal phrases were the only categories to be more often single-worded than complex. In all other categories complex noun modification was more frequently used. In dialogue most categories were single-worded, with an exception for attributive clauses, or relative clauses. The results mostly matched those of Sall’s (2015). However, some phenomenon, like modification of the personal pronoun or the head element ending a sentence, found in Sarada Kinenbi could not be found in No. 6 or were very rare. This might be thought of as a characteristic of Japanese poetry.