2019 Volume 15 Issue 2 Pages 1-17
The aim of this article is to reveal the function of the Japanese copula ja, used widely in the modern Kansai area. In previous studies, ja tends to have been considered from a historical point of view because it is known to be a traditional copula in the Kansai dialect, now changed to ya. Although ja is still used in the modern Kansai area, there are few studies which treat it in a synchronic way. This paper is a description of the modern ja based on our introspection and basic research, which concentrates on the morphological, syntactic and functional features, as well as actual situations of using ja.
We conclude that it appears ja has a function which expresses the speaker's minus emotion and evaluation against elements related to the speech situation, such as utterances or attitude of the listener. Also, it appears that the speaker is more prone to use ja under the following two conditions: first, when the speaker feels a gap between his “desires”, referring to one's expectations, wishes, assumptions and common sense towards the situation, and the situation which actually occurred; second, when the speaker is at that moment encountering the source of their minus emotion.
This article argues the possibility that, in the process of changing into the modern standard copula ya in the Kansai dialect, ja is provably left with a modal tendency, which expresses the speaker's minus emotion and evaluation.
