Abstract
In the colloquial Japanese language of the medieval period, hon-ni was used as a predicative modifier attached before the predicate verb, acting as an extension of a noun or adjectival verb. From the 17th century to the early 18th century, hon-ni came to be used as an adverb to emphasize the meaning and subject matter of the following predicate, after which it came to sometimes be used as a discourse marker. While hon-ni continued to be used late into early modern times, its meaning became gradually more abstract, until usage of it declined during the Meiji period. On the other hand, usage of honto-ni began to expand within the Edo and Tokyo dialects during the same period. The background process underlying this phenomenon was not simply a change in the usage of hon-ni as an adverb, but encompassed an overall transition in the usage of the basic noun hon and its derivational forms: 1) A decrease in use with predicates such as hon-de-gozaru. 2) The coexistence of the predicative modifier hon-ni and the attributive modifier hon-no forms. 3) Standardization and abstraction of the forms, followed by a decline in usage of one of the two forms. In conclusion, honto-ni expanded in use from the basic form of honto in a process paralleling that of the development of hon-ni.
