Marking of case and referential intent: A study of the ka-indefinite noun in Japanese

Moore (1998) suggests that ka-indefinite nouns in Japanese, such as dareka ‘somebody’ and nanika ‘something’, are more likely to yield a referring interpretation when they occur with a case particle than without. This contention was, however, purely introspective by the author and the data size was limited. Restricting the investigation to direct objects, Fujii and Ono's (2000) study argues that a similar pragmatic motivation, salience, influences o-marking, and they suggest referentiality is closely associated to this. Using a quantitative data-set of 410 instances of ka-indefinites and using objective methods, this study assesses and supports the validity of Moore's contention. It investigates the correlation in the light of propositional modalities in which the target expressions occur; in relation to the presence of noun modification and elaboration, both of which are understood to be associated with high degree of referential intent; and by introspective accounts of 16 native informants.The study also reveals individual characteristics of nanika, denoting an inanimate entity, and dareka, a human referent, in terms of their behaviours of occurring with or without a case particle, suggesting that the animacy hierarchy is at work.

► A correlation was supported in the light of propositional modalities.
► A correlation was supported in relation to noun modification and elaboration.
► A correlation was supported by accounts of 16 native informants.
► All the cases of nanika in subject position were marked in a ‘fact’ modality.
► Dareka tends to be marked more frequently than nanika across all modalities.