TransWikia.com

modifying a noun

Japanese Language Asked on November 8, 2021

Example sentence to illustrate the question:

抑えられない幸せにしたい気持ち can either be understood as (抑えられない幸せ)にしたい気持ち or (抑えられない幸せにしたい)気持ち

Is there a way to disambiguate what the speaker is trying to imply? In other words, if someone tells me that, how do I know which meaning the speaker is trying to imply?

One Answer

  1. [抑えられない幸せ]にしたい気持ち
  2. 抑えられない[幸せにしたい]気持ち

These two are distinguishable in speech, because when you mean #1, you are going to say the whole phrase in a single intonation block, but #2 will be two: 抑えられない/幸せにしたい気持ち, reflecting the structure that two chunks being parallel modifiers of the last noun.

If written, it is ambiguous in theory. I said "in theory" because most people would parse it in #2 if you showed them the line.

幸せ works both as a na-adjective and a noun. Na-adjective is basically a noun in form except limited particle connection, using な to modify nouns, and being adjective in meaning. If you parse like #1 i.e. 抑えられない modifies 幸せ, 幸せ needs to be a noun because adjective can only modify a noun with the dictionary form. As a result, it means:

(1') a feeling that [I] want to turn [something else] into an irresistible happiness

If #2, 幸せにしたい has no modifier and would be either na-adjective or noun, but na-adjective by default. Then it means:

(2') an irresistible feeling that [I] want to make [somebody else] happy

Which is a likelier situation? :)

Answered by broccoli facemask on November 8, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP