終助詞「な」の使用に見る日本語の談話 / An aspect of Japanese discourse through an observation of the use of a Japanese sentence-final particle na

Abstract

This paper discusses the interrelationship between language and the identity of the speaker including gender, age and social status by examining the interactional function of a Japanese sentence-final particle na. It is well known that the particle na has similar functions to ne which is one of the most frequently used among sentence-final particles, while it differs from ne in a way that its use has some restrictions in terms of the speaker�s gender, age and social status: for example, na is used by male speakers only; when na is used with the polite form desu/masu, it indicates that the speaker is an aged male with a certain social status. To date, however, little research has systematically examined the mechanism of how na indicates the speaker�s particular gender, age and social status. This study provides a comprehensive account for the unexplored usages of na and sheds light on some aspects of the nature of the language-identity interface as to how the speaker�s identity can be presented through the use of language. The study will claim that the indication of the speaker�s gender, age and social status is not a genuine property of na. Rather, the particle has the function that indicates the speaker�s attitude of sharing �camaraderie� with the hearer, in addition to its �incorporative� function, and this �camaraderie� function in connection with sociocultural values on gender and formality in the Japanese language is the primary factor that restricts its use with regard to the speaker�s gender, age and social status.