[[alternative]]A Study of Japanese Time Adverbs - Focusing on Adverbs that Express “Immediacy”

[[abstract]]This study focuses on adverbs that express “immediacy”: “sugu,” “sikyuu,” “tadachini,” and “tachimachi.” These adverbs are examined according to their sentence-final predicate forms, volitive modality, point of view, whether or not the situation they refer to has already been realized, and whether or not they can be used in a negative sentence. We conclude that sentences which use these four adverbs are all time-restricted, the sentence-final predicate must contain motion and telicity, and most of these adverbs are used to express the beginning of an action or transformation. Similarities and differences are : “sugu,” and “tachimachi” may be used to convey the nature or qualities of people or animals, which are not limited by time ; “sugu,” “sikyuu,” and “tadachini,” mostly appear in the volitive mood, whereas “tachimachi” is largely non-volitive; “sikyuu” is typically used to request the listener to immediately begin an action, while “tachimachi ” is primarily used to describe what is currently happening from a bystander’s point of view; “tachimachi” can only be used to describe realized situations whereas the others may be used to modify realized or non-realized situations; and “sikyuu” and “tachimachi” may not be used in a negative sentence. We conclude that “sugu” is the most frequent adverb and “tachimachi” is the least common adverb.[[journaltype]]國外[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]紙本[[countrycodes]]JP