GrammarSoft ApS

Japanese Symbol Set

(Under Construction)

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Japanese Case Markers and Pragmatic Markers

Analytical Case Markers Pragmatic Markers Complement markers other than Case Terms Special Patterns (case markers followed by certain verbs)

Functions (specified with CAPITAL letters)

Utterance (or discourse) Functions: STA, QUE, COM, EXC, PER. Basic Clause Functions: S, P, O, A, C.

Subordinate Clauses: SUB. Group Functions:

Noun Groups Verb Groups Adjective Groups Adverb Groups Postposition Groups

Forms (specified with small letters)

Clause (cl) Group (g) Word classes (n, v, vn, adj, adjn, adv, pro, postp, conj, num, intj)

The stacking convention

Function stack form stack

Analytical Case Markers:

Nominative	nom	ga	Kyoo wa tenki ga ii desu.
Accusative	acc	o	Tako o tabemashita.
Dative	dat	ni	Otoo-san ni tegami o misemashita.
Genitive	gen	no	Watashi no hon desu.
Postposition marker	ppm		NB: Another way of looking at these constructions is to see them as mirror images of English preposition groups.
instrumental	ppm	de	Hashi de tabemashoo.
locative	ppm	de	Yokohama de hatarakimashita.
instrumental	ppm	de	Ichiman gosen-en de kaimashita.
	ppm	to	Watashi wa otoo-san to hanashimasu.
locative	ppm	ni	Inu wa niwa ni imasu.
	ppm	ni	Eiga o mi ni ikimasu.
direction	ppm	e	Nomiya e ikimasu.
source	ppm	kara	Kyoto kara kaerimasu.
extent	ppm	made	Nichiyoobi kara Suiyoobi made Ken-san no uchi ni imashita.

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Pragmatic Markers:

Topic marker	tpm	wa	Sensei wa Amerikajin desu.
Question marker	qum	ka	Sensei wa Nihonjin desu ka.
Exclamation marker	exm	yo	Kore desu yo.

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Complement Markers other than Case Terms

Nouns as Complements

Subject Complement	dative	ni	Sensei ni narimashita.

Adjectives as Complements

Subject Complement	ku replaces i	Samuku narimashita.

Adjectival nouns as Complements

Subject Complement	dative	ni	Genki ni narimashita.
Object Complement	dative	ni	Heya o kirei ni shimashita.

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Special Patterns (case markers followed by certain verbs)

Accusative marker plus the verb "ori.ru"	Kyoto de kisha o orimashita.
Accusative marker plus the verb "deru."	Futari wa Michiko-san no ie o demashita.

FUNCTIONS (SPECIFIED WITH CAPITAL LETTERS)

UTTERANCE (OR DISCOURSE) FUNCTIONS

We operate with FIVE utterance functions: STA, QUE, COM, EXC, PER.

STA	Statement	Kore desu. Ikimasu. Watashi wa gakusei desu. Tokyo e ikitai n desu. Biru o nomimashita. Tako o tabeta koto ga arimasu.
QUE	Question	Nanji desu ka. O-namae wa. Enpitsu ga arimasu ka. Sushi o tabeta koto ga arimasu ka. Nani o shimasu ka. Ikimashoo ka. Dooshite.
COM	Command	Yukkuri ite kudasia. Kite.
EXC	Exclamation	Kore desu yo.
PER	Performative

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CLAUSE FUNCTIONS

We operate with SIX basic clause functions: S, P, Od, Oi, A, C.

S	Subject	Kyoo wa tenki ga ii desu. Hon ga arimasu. Sashimi o tabeta koto ga arimasu.
P	Predicator	Ikimasu. Ichigo o tabemashita. Daigaku de hataraite imasu.
Od	Direct Object	Tegami o kakimashita. Ken-san ni hon o misemashita.
Oi	Indirect Object (NB: In Japanese, indirect objects are always marked with the analytical case marker ni, which corresponds to the English preposition to.	Otoo-san ni tegami o kakimashita.
A	Adverbial	Mainichi shinbun o yomimasu. Tomoko-san itsu kaerimasu ka? Taihen shizuka ni hanashite imasu. Yoku benkyo shimasu. Tokyo de eiga o mimasu.
C	Complement (=Subject Complement) (NB: C is always equivalent to Cs.)	Tenki ga ii desu. Sensei wa Amerikajin desu. Kore wa otooto no heya desu. Sensei ni narimashita. Samuku narimashita.
Co	Object Complement	Heya o kirei ni shimashita.

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SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

The clause functions within subordinate clauses are the same as those within main clauses, with one addition: SUB.

SUB

Subordinator

Heya ga shizuka datta kara, watashi wa yoku nemashita.

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GROUP FUNCTIONS

A group is by definition a HEAD with one or more DEPENDENTS. Consequently,in our system there are only TWO functions which constituents may have within a group. These are H (Head) and DEP (dependent).

The basic groups can be recognized (and labeled) by the head of the group.This gives us FIVE basic types of group:

• noun groups
• verb groups
• adjective groups
• adverb groups
• postposition groups

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NOUN GROUPS

H	Head	Tanaka-san wa shizuka desu. O-sake o nomimasu. Michiko-san wa oka-san ni Ken-san no tegami o misemashita.
DEP	Dependent	Tanaka-san wa shizuka desu. O-sake o nomimasu. Michiko-san wa oka-san ni Ken-san no tegami o misemashita.

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VERB GROUPS

H	Head	Oishiku arimasen deshita. Hanashite imasu. Yoku benkyo shimashita.
DEP	Dependent	Oishiku arimasen deshita. Hanshite imasu. Yoku benkyo shimashita.

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ADJECTIVE GROUPS

H	Head	Fukuda-sensei wa totemo wakai desu.
DEP	Dependent	Fukuda-sensei wa totemo wakai desu.

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ADVERB GROUPS

H	Head	Yoshi-san taihen shizuka ni hanashimasu.
DEP	Dependent	Yoshi-san taihen shizuka ni hanashimasu.

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POSTPOSITION GROUPS

H	Head	Itsu Nihon e ikimasu. Daigaku de hatarakimasu. Honya wa soko ni arimasu.
DEP	Dependent	Itsu Nihon e ikimasu. Daigaku de hatarakimasu. Honya wa soko ni arimasu.

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Form (specified with small letters)

We operate with THREE types of forms: cl, g, "word class".

Clause

Clause is abbreviated "cl", which can represent a main clause or a subordinate clause, finite or non-finite.

cl

clause

Hon desu. Enpitsu ga arimasu ka? Heya ga shizuka datta kara, yoku nemashita.

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Group

Group is abbreviated "g", which can represent a noun group, a verb group, an adjective group, an adverb group, or a postposition group. Since the type of group is uniquely determined by the nature of the head (e.g. a noun group is a group with a noun as its head), it is not necessary to write e.g. ng (for noun group) or vg (for verb group). All five types of group are illustrated below:

g

group

Watashi no heya wa nikai ni arimasu. Hashi de tabete imasu. Kore wa totemo ii desu. Totemo shizuka ni hanashite imasu. Niwa ni inu ga imasu.

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Word classes

We operate with 11 word classes. Each of these is illustrated below:

n	noun	Tegami o kakimashita.
v	verb	Nani o shimasu ka?
vn	verbal noun	Nihongo o benkyo shimasu.
adj	adjective	Sensei wa wakai desu.
		Michiko-san wa wakai sensei desu.
adjn	adjectival noun	Kanojo wa kirei desu ne.
		Kore wa kirei na kanajo desu.
adv	adverb	Takusan nomimashita.
pro	pronoun	Sono jitensha wa takai desu ka.
ppm	postposition	Kyoto kara kaerimasu.
conj	conjunction	Ken-san to Yoshi-san to Tomoko-san ikimashita.
num	numeral	Kore wa ichiman gozen-en de kaimashita.
intj	interjection	Ee, nani o shimashita ka?

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The stacking convention

In this convention we use a capital X for an otherwise unspecified function, and a small x for an otherwise unspecified form:

X	FUNCTION STACK	Example of X:cu Suzuki-san wa maiban nomiya e itte, o-sake o takusan nomimasu.
x	form stack	Example of CJT:x (twice) Suzuki-san wa maiban nomiya e itte, o-sake o takusan nomimasu.

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