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Part of
Pragmatics of Japanese: Perspectives on grammar, interaction and culture
Edited by Mutsuko Endo Hudson, Yoshiko Matsumoto and Junko Mori
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 285] 2018
► pp. 173–196

Chapter 7
From subjectivity to intersubjectivity

A discourse-pragmatic study of the Japanese epistemic marker kamo (shirenai)

| Carthage College

This study investigates the discourse-pragmatic functions of the Japanese sentence-final expression kamo (shirenai) ‘maybe’ in natural conversations. By investigating 72 cases of kamo (shirenai) in sequential contexts, my study demonstrates that showing epistemic uncertainty is not the only function that kamo (shirenai) carries in conversational discourse; rather, it mainly serves for intersubjective purposes to downplay the assertiveness of statements, or to present non-full approval in a noncommittal manner. Further, I suggest that kamo (shirenai) shows a new tendency of usage in contexts when the speaker attempts to express personal emotions in a less ego-focused manner.

Keywords: epistemic, mitigator, intersubjectivity, emotion, Japanese, pragmatics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous studies
  • 3.Semantic meanings of kamo (shrienai)
  • 4.Data
  • 5.The functions of kamo (shirenai)
    • 5.1 To mitigate propositional certainty
    • 5.2 To mitigate assertiveness of statements
      • 5.2.1Confirmation or disconfirmation
      • 5.2.2 Weak agreement or compromise
      • 5.2.3 Pre-disagreement
    • 5.3 To present an assessment in a noncommittal fashion
    • 5.4 To express personal emotion in a less ego-focused manner
  • 6.Potential grammaticalization of kamo (shrenai)
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Appendix
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 16 April 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.285.07wan
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