現代日本語における「まで」の程度用法 - 「形容詞＋まで」に注目して -

Abstract

Previous research has focused on the use of made as a case particle and a focus particle, and little research has been conducted on the degree uses of made. Therefore, in this study, we focused on “adjective + made” to clarify the degree uses of made in modern Japanese based on actual examples. The main four findings are as follows. First, in its degree uses, made is mainly used in two forms, “adjective + made(ni)” and “adjective + madeno”. Second, when the preceding adjectives are classified into <negative evaluation>, <positive evaluation>, and <extraordinariness>, while many adjectives represent <negative evaluation> or <extraordinariness>, there are also a significant number of adjectives that express <positive evaluation> such as migotona (“excellent”), utukusii (“beautiful”) and subarashii (“wonderful”) in modern Japanese. Third, uses can be roughly divided into three types based on the relationship between the meaning of the adjective and the modifier. These are “when the adjective and the following word have a similar meaning”, “when the adjective and the following word have opposite meanings”, and “when the adjective has a meaning exceeding the usual extent”. Finally, the degree use of made is shared with its use as a case particle and focus particle in representing a limit, but differs in that it is a subjective limit based on the speaker's criteria, not objective or related to other things, which makes the aspect of “speaker’s evaluation” prominent.