Consecutive n desu Structures in Japanese : Communicative Effects Resulting from n ja nai n desu in Discourse

The n desu structure is recognized as one of the most frequently used sentence final expressions in Japanese. Various linguistic studies have examined the structure’s communicative properties in interactional situations, however; most of these studies focus solely on sentence-final expressions that include a single case of the n desu structure, and consecutive occurrences of the n desu structure such as taberu n ja nai n desu ‘(it is that it is not that) I am going to eat’ have not been explored in depth. By using a linguistic corpus as a database, the present study has explored the usage of consecutive n desu structures, and examined in which kinds of contextual situations consecutive n desu is likely to be used. The findings of the present study suggest that there are two main types of usages of consecutive n desu. The two types are consecutive n desu used when the speaker denies a generally held idea that is expected to be true, and consecutive n desu used in assertive rhetorical questions formulated based on an idea that is generally expected to be true.


Introduction and Background
The n desu structure has been the focus of various studies in Japanese linguistics; however, two consecutive occurrences of the n desu structure as in watashi wa taberu n ja nai n desu '(it is that it is not that) I am going to eat' have not been explored in previous studies.In the present study, two consecutive occurrences of the n desu structure will be explored by examining a linguistics corpus, with a focus on the contextual information before and after the occurrences of consecutive n desu.
The Japanese n desu structure has been analyzed in various scholarly inquiries in the field of Japanese linguistics (Jorden, 1963;Alfonso, 1966;Kuno, 1973;McGloin, 1980McGloin, , 1981McGloin, , 1984McGloin, , 1989;;Aoki, 1986;Tanomura, 1990;Takatsu, 1991;Maynard, 1992Maynard, , 2005;;Noda, 1997;Ijima, 2010; among many others).The n desu structure consists of the nominalizer n and the copula desu, and the structure is used as a predicate-final expression that creates various communicative effects in interactive situations.Compare the a. sentences with the b.sentences in (1) and ( 2).bag TP large N CP '(It is that) the bag is large.'(1a) and (2a) are merely about the semantic information included in the sentences, whereas (1b) includes the n desu structure, and (2b) includes n da, which is a non-polite variant of n desu.The n desu structure in Japanese is typically translated as 'it is that' in English (Jorden and Noda, 1987;McGloin, 1980McGloin, , 1989;;Lammers, 2005;McGloin et al., 2013;etc.),but it is also recognized as one of the most obscure and difficult-to-conceptualize grammatical structures in Japanese.Due to its wide range of usages and versatile interactional effects, various arguments have been formulated on the interactional functions of the n desu structure.For example, McGloin (1989) argues that by using the n desu structure, the speaker can "present information which is known only to the speaker or the hearer as if it were shared Flourishing Creativity & Literacy information" (p.89), and the structure has communicative functions such as explanation, rapport building, and providing background information.On the other hand, some discuss the n desu structure from the perspective of evidentiality.Aoki (1986) argues that the n desu structure functions as a marker of "nonspecific evidential statements" (p.223).According to Aoki, the n desu structure as an evidential marker does not explicitly indicate the source of the stated propositional information, but the information is still presented as factual information by the speaker.
As for the negation of a sentence that includes the n desu structure, Japanese grammar reference books as well as textbooks for learners of Japanese mostly introduce the sentence pattern that negates the component that precedes the nominalizer n (Jorden and Noda, 1987;Makino andTsutsui, 1989, Lammers, 2005;Banno et al., 2011;Hatasa et al., 2015;etc.).Examples (3) and ( 4) demonstrate such location of negation in sentences with the n desu structure. (3) Watashi wa hirugohan o tabenai n desu.I TP lunch O eat-NEG N CP '(It is that) I do not eat lunch.' (4) Kore wa tsukue ja nai n da.this TP desk CP NEG N CP '(It is that) this is not a desk.'However, it is also grammatically acceptable to negate the copula component in the n desu structure, keeping the part before the nominalizer n affirmative.( 5) and ( 6) show this way of forming negative sentences with the n desu structure.
( Even though sentences such as ( 5) and ( 6) are considered to be grammatically acceptable, they are typically not covered in Japanese grammar reference books.Also, in the field of teaching Japanese as a second language, the n desu structure is almost always introduced in elementary level courses, but no information is included on negating the n desu structure itself as in taberu n ja nai '(it is not that) I will eat' in textbooks for learners of Japanese (Jorden and Noda, 1987;Lammers, 2005;Miura and McGloin, 2008;Oka et al. 2009;Banno et al., 2011;Hatasa et al., 2015;etc.).Furthermore, it is also grammatically possible to use two cases of n desu consecutively in negative sentences, by adding another n desu after the negation of the first n desu structure.Observe (7) and ( 8). (7) Kare wa gakusee datta n ja nai n desu. he TP student CP N CP NEG N CP '(It is that it is not that) he was a student.' (8) Watashi wa osake o nomitai n ja nai n da.I TP alcohol O want to drink N CP NEG N CP '(It is that it is not that) I want to drink alcohol.' Even though sentences such as (7) and ( 8) are not grammatically unacceptable, past studies on the n desu structure do not explore such sentences for the most part.As far as the author is aware, a study by Noda (1997) is the only study that touches on consecutive n desu.Noda's study includes one example sentence with two cases of n desu.The following example is from Noda (1997). (9) Omae ni kiite iru n ja nai n da.you to asking N CP NEG N CP '(It is that it is not that) I am asking you.' (Noda, 1997, p. 201) According to Noda, the first n desu structure in ( 9) is used to indicate what she calls the 'scope' of the sentence, and the second n desu structure is what she calls n desu of 'mood,' which indicates how the stated information is relevant to the preceding or the following utterance.However, Noda does not provide any further analysis for this particular example sentence.In addition, as far as the author of the present study is aware, no studies have been conducted specifically on the discourse functions of consecutive n desu structures, nor the pragmatic environment in which the n desu structure is likely to be used consecutively.
As argued in the previous studies, the n desu structure creates interactional effects such as presenting information as if it were shared between the speaker and the addressee.However, when the n desu structure is used consecutively in one predicate ending, it may create some other interactional effects that are differentiated from using just one case of the n desu structure.Furthermore, when the n desu structure is used consecutively, there may be some tendencies or patterns of interpretation for the first case of n desu, as well as the second case of n desu.In order to explore such possibilities, the present study will explore consecutive n desu in discourse, and analyze what kinds of interactional effects are created by consecutive n desu.

Overview of the Present Study
As mentioned in the introduction, consecutive occurrences of the n desu structure have not been explored in depth in previous studies on Japanese linguistics.By using a linguistic corpus as a database, the present study explored cases of consecutive n desu quantitatively and qualitatively, and analyzed in which kinds of contextual situations consecutive n desu is used and how consecutive n desu's interactional properties are utilized by speakers of Japanese.The corpus used for the present study was the Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written Japanese (BCCWJ), which is a database for linguistic research created by the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (Maekawa, 2008).The data in the BCCWJ is comprised of approximately 104.3 million words, and it contains text genres such as general books, magazines, newspapers, business reports, blogs, internet forums, textbooks, and legal documents, among others.The search for the linguistic data in the database was conducted through the Chunagon search portal, which was also developed by the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics.The Chunagon search portal has a user interface similar to an internet search engine.In the following section, the search results are summarized and several select examples are qualitatively analyzed.
As an initial step to look up the individual examples of consecutive n desu in the BCCWJ, the two possible hiragana sequences for consecutive n desu with the negative form, which are the present tense n ja nai n (んじゃないん) and the past tense n ja nakatta n (んじゃなかったん), were input into the Chunagon search portal. 1 The search yielded 408 cases of n ja nai n and n ja nakatta n, however 57 cases were coincidentally matching cases such as n ja nai n in okyakusan ja nai n desu '(it is that) he/she is not a customer.'After eliminating these coincidentally matching but irrelevant cases, 351 cases of consecutive n desu structures were available for further analysis.In addition, n datta n (んだったん), which is a possible hiragana sequence with consecutive n desu in the affirmative form, was also input into the Chunagon search portal. 2 The search yielded 144 cases of n datta n, but all of those cases were coincidentally matching cases that did not include any consecutive n desu structures.
Secondly, each of the 351 cases of consecutive n desu structures found in the BCCWJ was qualitatively examined, and classified into the following two categories based on the type of statements in which it is used.The two categories are "consecutive n desu in statements of denial of generally held ideas," and "consecutive n desu in assertive rhetorical questions."Table 1 shows the quantitative summary of the cases of consecutive n desu in the BCCWJ.In the following section, examples of consecutive n desu structures from each of the two categories will be explored and discussed.

Consecutive n desu in Statements of Denial of Generally Held Ideas
In the BCCWJ, 179 out of the 361 total cases of consecutive n desu were used in statements of denial of generally held ideas.The following example is an utterance made by a doctor, which is from a book about medical treatments in the BCCWJ.
(10) Kanja san wa, watashi tachi no chiryoo dake de naoru n ja nai n desu.patients TP we LK treatment only by recover N CP NEG N CP '(It is that it is not that) illnesses are only cured by our treatments.'Jibun de naoshite iku n desu.oneself by cure N CP 'Patients themselves cure their illnesses.'In (10), a doctor expresses his personal belief on the effectiveness of medical treatments.As indicated by the negative morpheme nai, the above utterance is made as a statement of denial of the propositional information that precedes the consecutive n desu structures.More precisely, the above statement can be interpreted as denial of a generally held idea, which is that illnesses are cured by the treatments performed by doctors.McGloin (1989) argues that one of the n desu structure's communicative functions is to present information as if it were shared between the speaker and the addressee.Also, Kikuchi (2000) argues that the n desu structure is used when the speaker and the addressee have some amount of shared knowledge, and either the speaker or the addressee has more information in addition to the shared portion of the knowledge.Based on this type of interpretation of the n desu structure, in sentences such as (10), the information stated before the first case of n desu is presented as a shared idea that is held by the speaker and the addressee, but the sharing is being denied because of the negation that follows it.In addition, the second n desu structure is still in the affirmative form, which can be interpreted as an indicator of information sharing between the speaker and the addressee.Therefore, by using consecutive n desu, the speaker can indicate that the information that is usually expected to be shared between the speaker and the addressee is being denied.As for the case of (10), the doctor denies the generally held idea that doctors cure illnesses, and he attempts to establish a mutual understanding that the generally held idea is not true.
The above mentioned explanation for the occurrence of consecutive n desu in (10) also applies to the following example.( 11) is a line said by a character in a novel in the BCCWJ.
(11) Fukushuu to iu no wa ne, shinda mono no tame ni suru n ja nai n desu.
revenge QT N TP FP dead person LK for do N CP NEG N CP '(It is that it is not that) revenge is not for the dead.'Taitei wa, ikite iru mono ga, atarashiku iki naosu tame ni suru n desu yo.usually TP alive person SB newly live for do N CP FP 'Usually it is for the one who is still alive, and it is done in order to start a new life.' In the first sentence in (11), a character makes an utterance that includes a case of consecutive n desu.Similar to what we observed in (10), the first n desu structure in negation in (11) seems to be used to indicate the denial of a generally held idea that is expected to be shared between the speaker and the addressee.Generally speaking, the idea of revenge is typically believed to be an act of vengeance performed for the sake of the dead, but what this character says denies this generally held idea.In addition, the second case of n desu in (11) appears to be functioning as a marker of shared information, which operates to establish mutual understanding between the speaker and the addressee.Therefore, similar to the case of the consecutive n desu structures in (10), the consecutive n desu in (11) seems to be used to establish a mutual understanding that the generally held idea is being denied.
In addition to consecutive n desu used in statements of denial for ideas that are based on our common knowledge, consecutive n desu was also used in statements that deny the information that is expected to be true based on the local context specific to the interactional situation.The following example, (12), is from a conversational exchange in a novel in the BCCWJ.A case of consecutive n desu is used in B's utterance in (12).Prior to example (12), the text of the novel explains that B (Tomoda) is currently unemployed since her former employer recently went bankrupt.( 12 no that like request O do to came N CP NEG N CP 'No, (it is that it is not that) I came here to make a request like that.' As indicated by the negative morpheme nai, B's utterance in ( 12) is uttered as a statement of denial, and it includes a case of consecutive n desu structures.The cases of consecutive n desu structures in ( 10) and ( 11) were used in statements of denial of an idea based on our common knowledge.In contrast, what is being denied in ( 12) is not based on common knowledge.In (12), A's utterance is an offer to refer B to a job opportunity, which is based on the presupposition that B is currently looking for a job.For this given context of the interaction, it is highly plausible that B is looking for a job since she is currently unemployed, and A's utterance is based on that presupposition.However, in response to A's offer, B states that the reason for visiting A is not to make a request for an employment opportunity, which is denial of the presupposition on which A's utterance is based.This type of denial seems to be analogous to what Horn (1989) calls "metalinguistic negation" (p.362), which is defined as "a device for objecting to a previous utterance on any grounds whatever, including the conventional or conversational implicata it potentially induces, its morphology, its style or register, or its phonetic realization" (p.363).Based on Horn's definition of metalinguistic negation, example ( 12) can be interpreted as a demonstration of metalinguistic negation with consecutive n desu.In addition, even though what is being denied is not based on generally held common knowledge in ( 12), the statement of denial in ( 12) can still be recognized to be similar to what we observed in ( 10) and ( 11), since they all involve denial of an idea that is expected to be shared between the speaker and the addressee.

Consecutive n desu in Assertive Rhetorical Questions
The previous section examined the cases of consecutive n desu used in statements of denial of generally held ideas.In this section, cases of consecutive n desu used in assertive statements will be explored.In the analysis of the BCCWJ, 155 out of 391 cases of consecutive n desu were classified into this category.
The Japanese negative morpheme nai is usually used to negate the semantic information in the sentence, it does not always indicate the negation of propositional information in interactive situations.For example, Yamane (2013) notes that ja nai desu ka is used in situations such as when the speaker is seeking confirmation, making an assertion, and/or introducing a new topic.In those usages of ja nai desu ka, the negative morpheme nai does not indicate that the propositional information in the sentence is negated.
(13) Kaigi wa tashika san ji kara ja nai desu ka.meeting TP perhaps three o'clock from CP NEG CP Q 'The meeting starts at three o'clock, right?' '*The meeting does not start at three o'clock, right?' (Yamane, 2013, p. 464) As shown in the English translation, the negative morpheme nai does not negate the semantic information in the sentence in ( 13).In addition, as McGloin (2002) argues, ja nai in Japanese has a function as a rhetorical question marker that is strongly expressive, as well as its function as a marker of a tag-question similar to the sentence-final right? in English.From the perspective of Conversation Analysis, Hayashi ( 2010) calls ja nai used as a sentence-final expression a "grammaticalized negative expression" (p.2989), which can function as a sentence extension seeking agreement/confirmation from the addressee rather than contributing to the propositional content of the sentence to which it is attached.
All cases of consecutive n desu found in the BCCWJ included the negative morpheme nai between the two cases of n desu, as in n ja nai n desu.However, nai used in sentences with consecutive n desu does not negate the propositional information when the statement is formulated as an assertive rhetorical question.The following example is from a book about learning how to play the saxophone in the BCCWJ.The utterance in ( 14) is made by a student, during a conversational exchange between the student and her instructor.
(14) E!? Kokyuuhoo tte tada iki o sutte hake ba ii n ja nai n desu ka.oh breathing QT just breath O inhale exhale if good N CP NEG N CP Q 'Oh!? Isn't it ok if I just breathe in and breathe out for breathing?'At the end of ( 14), a case of consecutive n desu structures is used, and the statement appears to be formulated as a rhetorical question.As for the more detailed communicative effects created by using the consecutive n desu structures, the notion of generally held idea also seems to be relevant in (14).In ( 14), by using the first case of the n desu structure, the speaker appears to be presenting the information as a piece of generally held knowledge, which is breathing is nothing more than breathing in and breathing out.After presenting the information as generally held common knowledge, the speaker utters ja nai n desu ka as a sentence-final expression.As argued in the studies by McGloin (2002), Hayashi (2010), and Yamane (2013), the negative morpheme nai in ja nai does not negate the semantic meaning of the sentence when it is uttered as part of an assertive rhetorical question.As a result, ja nai n desu ka as a whole can also be interpreted as a rhetorical question marker suffixed with n desu, which operates to establish mutual understanding between the speaker and the addressee.In sum, by using consecutive n desu as part of a rhetorical question in (14), the speaker makes an assertive statement by utilizing the generally held knowledge as the basis of her assertion.This type of usage of consecutive n desu is similar to uttering isn't it generally recognized to be true? in regards to the stated propositional content in the sentence.
As mentioned earlier in the quantitative summary, the examined corpus also included various cases of consecutive n desu structures used in rhetorical questions, and ( 15) is one of these examples.( 15) is a line said by a character in a novel in the BCCWJ.Similar to what we observed in ( 14), example (15) includes a case of consecutive n desu used in a statement that is formulated as an assertive rhetorical question.The propositional information before the case of consecutive n desu is presented as generally held common knowledge about someone who committed suicide two years ago, and the speaker appears to be making an assertive statement formulated as a rhetorical question by framing the propositional information as something that is generally considered to be true.
In both ( 14) and ( 15), the basis of the assertion is the common knowledge about the world we live in, and the common knowledge is stated before the case of consecutive n desu in the sentence.However, the knowledge base for the information before consecutive n desu can be highly localized information, such as the contextual situation specific to the topic of the ongoing conversation.The following example, ( 16), is from a novel in the BCCWJ, and it is a statement by a detective uttered to an informant in a murder case.
( Before the scene of the conversation that includes ( 16), the main body of the novel explains that the informant is an old friend of the victim (Aoki) who is also a lawyer.Based on this background information, it is reasonably plausible that the victim consulted with his old friend about monetary inheritance, and this high level of plausibility appears to be utilized as the basis for the assertion.Unlike the previous two examples, the basis for the assertion in ( 16) is not our commonly held knowledge about the world we live in.However, as McGloin (1989) and Kikuchi (2000) argue, the n desu structure has an interactional function of presenting the information as shared information between the speaker and the addressee.Therefore, when the information stated before consecutive n desu is highly plausible under a given circumstance, the information can also serve as the basis for making an assertion even if the information is not solely based on our common knowledge.

Conclusion
The present study has explored the usages of consecutive n desu structures by qualitatively examining examples from a linguistic corpus.The findings have shown that the usages of consecutive n desu can be mainly categorized into two types.
The first type of usage is consecutive n desu in statements of denial of generally held ideas.The qualitative analysis of several cases of consecutive n desu has demonstrated that the information included before the first case of n desu in the sentence is presented as a generally held idea.However, the negative morpheme nai in consecutive n desu negates the propositional information in the sentence, and the second n desu structure operates to establish a mutual understanding that the generally held idea is being denied.This usage of consecutive n desu structures often occurs when the speaker denies a piece of commonly held knowledge, or a seemingly plausible presupposition in a given situation.
The second type of usage of consecutive n desu was found in assertive statements in the form of rhetorical questions.In this type of usage of consecutive n desu, the negative morpheme nai in consecutive n desu does not negate the propositional information in the sentence, and the use ofconsecutive n desu is interpreted as a component of an assertive rhetorical question marker.When consecutive n desu is used in an assertive rhetorical question, the propositional information that precedes consecutive n desu is expressed as a piece of information that is generally expected to be true, and it also serves as the basis for the assertion that is being made.For this type of usage of consecutive n desu, the information used as the basis for the assertion can be either generally held common knowledge, or information that is highly plausible in a given circumstance.
In both types of usages of consecutive n desu, the information before the first case of n desu is presented as an idea that is generally considered to be true based on our common knowledge about the world, or a piece of information that is expected to be true in the specific conversational situation.Depending on how consecutive n desu is used in discourse, it can be part of a statement that denies the generally held information, or part of a statement that presents the information in an assertive manner.
The present study has examined the usages of consecutive n desu structures in discourse, and demonstrated in which kinds of contextual situations they are likely to be used.I hope that the findings of the present study will serve as a departure point for expanding our understandings on consecutive n desu in discourse.
The author of the present study is aware of its limitations.The present study does not include a comparison section that examines consecutive n desu with other similar but subtly different expressions such as n ja nai, ja nai n da, and n ja nai no da.A comparative study between consecutive n desu and these similar but differentiated expressions may further enhance our understandings on the usages of consecutive n desu in interactional situations.In addition, the linguistic corpus used in the present study did not include any cases of consecutive n desu used in non-negated sentences such as Hanako wa hirugohan o tabeta n datta n desu ka? '(Is it that it was that) Hanako ate lunch?,' and this type of usage of consecutive n desu remains unexplored.Examining consecutive n desu in affirmative sentences is another potential future research topic that could deepen our understandings on consecutive n desu in Japanese.

ASP
wa ookii n da.

( 15 )
Ni nen mae ni jisatsu shita hito no koto nante moo dare mo oboete inai two years ago suicide did person LK N about already no one remember NEG n ja nai n desu ka.N CP NEG N CP Q 'No one remembers a person who committed suicide two years ago, right?'