接尾辞「―いい」の意味用法について

Abstract

This dissertation is intended to examine the usage and meaning of the suffix ‘-Ii’, the adjective suffix in the Japanese language, which has not caught attention for a long time, by looking at how it is used. The usage and meaning of the suffix ‘-Ii’ are investigated as a comparison with another adjective suffix ‘-Yoi’ in usage that Lee et al.(2012) examined in their study in order to see if the suffix ‘-Ii’ can substitute the suffix ‘-Yoi’ in Japanese verbs without changing the meanings of them. If any change in meaning occurs, closer study and further examination have been administered. And if it has been found that the two suffixes cannot be interchangeably used, the case has been examined to find out the possible reasons for it. In Ⅲ-1 the focus has been placed on Japanese verbs in which the suffix ‘-Yoi’ is used with a lexical meaning such as Suru(no)ni-Yoi, meaning it is convenient to do something. As a result, it has been found that a change in grammatical meaning occurs for the most part such as in Shiyasui, meaning it is easy to do something, when the suffix ‘-Yoi’ is substituted with the suffix ‘-Ii’, although there are some occasions when no change occurs. In Ⅲ-2 the focus has been positioned on Japanese verbs in which the suffix ‘-Yoi’ is used with a grammatical meaning such as Shiyasui, meaning it is easy to do something. It has been found that a change in meaning does not occur when the same substitution used above in Ⅲ-1 is applied. In addition, it is note worthy that there are some cases found when it is impossible for that substitution to take place. In Ⅲ-3 the focus has been put on Japanese verbs in which the suffix ‘-Yoi’ is used with its lexical and grammatical meanings. It has been found that when the suffix ‘-Yoi’ used with a lexical meaning is substituted with the suffix ‘-li’ in a Japanese sentence, it results in a grammatical meaning change for most of the time. There are, however, some cases that causes no change in meaning. It has also been found that when the suffix ‘-li’ substitutes the suffix ‘-Yoi’ in a Japanese sentence used with a grammatical meaning, it causes no change in lexical meaning.