History of the “de + kanau negation”-type deontic expression

Abstract

This study clarifies the following two points about dewa kanau maji > ide(wa) kanawazu in Middle Japanese:

1) When it first appeared in the early medieval period, it was [condition + impossible], with “dewa” defining the condition and “kanau maji” indicating impossibility. However, it changed into a compound auxiliary verb that expresses a [necessary condition]. A [necessary condition] has a goal state, but it was then expanded in meaning to an [unconditional necessity]. The meaning was further expanded to an [inevitability] in the late medieval period.

2) Various morphological changes occurred in the late medieval period, such as dewa changing into idewa, a non-conjectural form appearing as a negative particle; the appearance of idewa termination; and of ide kanawazu and idemo kanawazu. The background of these phenomena is surmised. Furthermore, these phenomena were interpreted as reflecting a gradual process by which dewa kanau maji > ide(wa) kanawazu went from being viewed as a type of (i)dewa conditional statement to not being viewed as such.