Degrammaticalization of Japanese NPI kiri-nai

초록

This study clarifies the degrammaticalization of modern Japanese kiri corresponding to negative predicates. In previous studies, kiri and shika were treated as having the same expression because of their similarity in syntactic and semantic features. This study argues that the points of past studies should be modified and that these two expressions are not the same. This argument is supported by the corpus and informant findings. Kiri had features very similar to shika around the Meiji-Taisho period, but since the middle of the Showa era, degrammaticalization has progressed, losing its grammatical function as an NPI/adverbial particle. However, the grammaticalization of shika as an NPI/adverbial particle is currently in progress. The reason for this phenomenon is that kiri and shika have been competing for approximately a century as synonyms for allophones, but for certain reasons, shika has won the competition and undergone grammaticalization as an NPI/adverbial particle. By contrast, kiri, which has been defeated in a competitive relationship, is in the process of degrammaticalization from an NPI/adverbial particle. Furthermore, when kiri is grammaticalized as an NPI/adverbial particle, the morphological change is also accompanied by ‘kirishika > kiri.’ When degrammaticalization from an NPI/adverbial particle is performed, it is like ‘kiri > kirishika.’

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