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Semantic analysis of Japanese epistemic markers

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.

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.

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The following have contributed to this page:
Yuko Asano-Cavanagh
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