118 Unit 15: Special particles 1
Ⱎ㧊䋊㧊GἾ䝚⯒G⺆㤢㣪 “Michael learns golf”
Ⱎ㧊䋊㧊GἾ䝚⓪G⺆㤢㣪 “As for golf, Michael learns (it)”
㑮㧪㧊G㓺䕢Ợ䕆⯒G㫡㞚䟊㣪 “Susan likes spaghetti”
㑮㧪㧊G㓺䕢Ợ䕆⓪G㫡㞚䟊㣪 “As for spaghetti, she likes (it)”
Second, a special particle can appear after an existing case particle, such
as 㠦, 㠦㍲, and 㦒⪲, in order to add the special meaning.
ぢ⧒㧊㠎㧊GỆ㔺㠦㍲G㧦㣪 “Brian sleeps in the living room”
ぢ⧒㧊㠎㧊G Ệ㔺㠦㍲⓪G 㧦㣪 “As for the living room, Brian sleeps
(there)”
Third, a special particle can appear not only after a noun but also after an
adverb, such as ゾⰂ “fast” and 㕎ỢG“cheaply; at a low price.”
⁎G㔳╏㧊G㦢㔳㦚GゾⰂG㭮㣪 “That restaurant serves the food fast”
⁎G㔳╏㧊G㦢㔳㦚GゾⰂ⓪G㭮㣪 “(I don’t know about other things but)
that restaurant serves the food fast”
⁎GṖỢṖGὒ㧒㦚G㕎ỢG䕪㞚㣪 “That store sells fruit at cheap prices”
⁎G ṖỢṖG ὒ㧒㦚G 㕎Ợ⓪G 䕪㞚㣪 “(I don’t know about other things
but) that store sells fruit at a low price”
Consequently, one cannot simply memorize where a certain particle (includ-
ing both case and special particles) always appears in a certain context.
This is because, as seen above, a particle can appear in the place where
you would expect the other particle to be.
The special particle Ⱒ
The one-form special particle Ⱒ adds the meaning of “only” or “just” on
the noun it attaches to. The special particle Ⱒ can appear in place of the
case particles 㧊VṖ or 㦚V⯒.
⋮㡺ↂṖG䄺䞒⯒GⰞ㎪㣪 “Naoko drinks coffee”
⋮㡺ↂⰢG䄺䞒⯒GⰞ㎪㣪 “Only Naoko drinks coffee”
⋮㡺ↂṖG䄺䞒ⰢGⰞ㎪㣪 “Naoko drinks only coffee”
㌂㧊ⴂ㧊G䞲ῃ㠊⯒GὋ䟊㣪 “Simon studies Korean”
㌂㧊ⴂⰢG䞲ῃ㠊⯒GὋ䟊㣪 “Only Simon studies Korean”
㌂㧊ⴂ㧊G䞲ῃ㠊ⰢGὋ䟊㣪 “Simon studies only Korean”
The particle Ⱒ can also be attached to an existing case particle, such as
㠦 and 㠦㍲.
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