The Emergence of “Made” in Expressing Isolation

Abstract

This article investigates the properties of the Japanese particle “made”, used to express isolation, or the concept of “only”. Additionally, it delves into the evolutionary process of how this grammatical function was established. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the isolative usage of “made” could be appended to both nouns and clauses, constraining objects as well as situations. It is primarily positioned at the predicate, indicating a limitation to the lowest element on a scale that arranges elements sequentially.

In Early Middle Japanese, “made” was not coupled with the particles “ni” and “wo”, nor did it find its place in the predicate position. However, instances of such usage started appearing in Late Middle Japanese. Until the 14th century, the majority of predicate usages were affixed after nouns and demonstratives. However, from the 15th century onwards, there was a significant increase in examples where “made” was appended after clauses.

The isolative usage of “made” originated from its function expressing limitation. In this context, the element in question becomes the upper limit on the scale, and all preceding elements are included. In contrast, when expressing isolation, only the element in question is considered as the limit, with no other elements included. The limitation usage is frequently found in the predicate position, and the exclusivity implied by this usage is emphasized, resulting in the evolution of the isolative usage of “made”.