Abstract
This study attempted to analyze the function of “nantoka,” which is used to ambiguously verbalize a target, in a Corpus of Everyday Japanese Conversation. The results revealed that “nantoka” has the following three functions; (i) indicating ambiguous aspects, (ii) indicating omissions of information, (iii) being used as a variable. Furthermore, in this study, we highlighted that “nantoka” can constitute an important strategy for learners to continue having interactions in Japanese.
