からとのでの異同に関する研究(その2)

A Study on Parallelisms and Differences between Kara and Node:Focusing on the Meaning and Usage of Node

A study on parallelisms and differences of kara and node was conducted in 1952 by Nagano, whose result showed that kara is used for cases of subjective reasons, while node is used for cases of objective reasons. After 60 years, his theory has still been cited in its original form in most dictionaries and grammar books. Recently, however, many grammarians have persistently rejected the simple dichotomy of kara and node. This paper analyzes the uses of kara and node in sentence‐medial and sentence‐final positions, and shows that in many cases, node is used for cases of subjective reasons and kara for cases of objective reasons. This analysis suggests that the usage of the two particles depends on how positively or negatively/politely the speaker expresses his/her ideas, rather than whether the speaker expresses subjective or objective reasons. In fact, the use of the two expressions depends on several factors of the speaker’s choice of linguistic expressions, gender (male or female), and age(elder or younger). This result indicates that Nagano’s dichotomy relating to the speaker’s subjective and objective reasons should be revised.