The purpose of this paper is to analyze data collected from Twitter to clarify the morphological variations, preceding part, and usage of kunai. The results showed that kunai has a variety of variations followed by a final particle, and that it can be directly connected to any part of speech. It also became clear that the usages of kunai can be classified into five categories: “confirmation request”, “expression of opinion”, “agreement request”, “denial”, and “incomplete acceptance”. However, since it sometimes straddles several meanings in use, it is not possible to draw a clear boundary between the usages. Two language-internal factors in the formation of kunai are presented: the generalization of the negative conjugation pattern kunai and the tendency in the use of adjectivization. These results show that the newly created kunai fills the gap in the existing grammatical system. The use of kunai in negative questions indicates the contradictory communication style of the younger generation, which avoids definitive expressions and shares responsibility with others while asserting its own subjectivity.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze data collected from Twitter to clarify the morphological variations, preceding part, and usage of kunai. The results showed that kunai has a variety of variations followed by a final particle, and that it can be directly connected to any part of speech. It also became clear that the usages of kunai can be classified into five categories: “confirmation request”, “expression of opinion”, “agreement request”, “denial”, and “incomplete acceptance”. However, since it sometimes straddles several meanings in use, it is not possible to draw a clear boundary between the usages. Two language-internal factors in the formation of kunai are presented: the generalization of the negative conjugation pattern kunai and the tendency in the use of adjectivization. These results show that the newly created kunai fills the gap in the existing grammatical system. The use of kunai in negative questions indicates the contradictory communication style of the younger generation, which avoids definitive expressions and shares responsibility with others while asserting its own subjectivity.
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