Volitional Expressions in Subordinate Clauses in Medieval Japanese

Abstract

In Present-day Japanese, the conjugation (y)oo, used at the end of subordinate clauses, expresses only an inference and cannot express the speaker's will. In contrast, in Late Middle and Early Modern Japanese, there are examples in which (y)oo at the end of ga, hodoni, kara, keredo, and si clauses appears to express the speaker's will.

This paper shows that these examples of (y)oo contain this meaning of will, based on a comparison with the conclusive form of the verb and an examination of materials from different periods. From this discussion, we distinguish the following three stages in the history of (y)oo.

(I) In Late Middle Japanese, (y)oo was used at the end of subordinate clauses to mark irrealis mood, including will and inference.

(II) In Early Modern Japanese, (y)oo ceased to mark irrealis mood, while still possibly expressing will.

(III) In Modern Japanese, (y)oo no longer expressed will at the end of subordinate clauses; will could thus only be expressed in the main clause ending.