6 Sino-Japanese a ffi xes
The concept of“Sino-Japanese affixes”in Japanese was clearly specified as a word- level unit in the section titled“Gohōshinan”(Instruction in grammar) printed in the introduction toŌTSUKI Fumihiko’s Genkai(1882), the first dictionary of Japanese.
In addition to eight parts of speech, there were listedsettōgo (prefix words) and setsubigo (suffix words) within each of which several Sino-Japanese prefixes and suffixes were listed in addition to native words. This section will consider as S-J affixes primarily single character S-J affixes that attach to two-character S-J words.
It is important to note, however, that many S-J affixes are not limited in use to Sino- Japanese words but also attach to native and foreign bases as well. This point was already shown in Table 6, and additional examples are given below in (35).
(35) a. [Pref. + S-J base]最下位 sai-kai[most-low.rank]‘the lowest rank’ [Pref. + Foreign base]全ヨーロッパ zen-yooroppa[whole-Europe]
‘the whole Europe’
[Pref. + Native base]再貸し出し sai-kasidasi[again-lend]‘lend out again’ b. [S-J base + Suf.]改革派kaikaku-ha[reform-faction]‘reformist faction’
[Foreign base + Suf.]カナダ人 Kanada-zin[Canada-person]‘Canadian’
[Native base + Suf.]田舎風 inaka-huu[country-style]‘rustic’
This section willfirst examine the semantic characteristics of S-J affixes in Section 6.1 and then discuss their morphological characteristics in Section 6.2.
Thegoappearing in (36a) is an archetypical example of a Sino-Japanese prefix, but it is also used as a suffix. In both uses it has the common meaning of showing politeness or respect. However, the underlined single character S-J morphemes in (36b, c) each have different meanings. 上 zyoo means ‘upper’in zyoo-hansin and
‘good’inzyoo-deki. Intatiba-zyoo, the meaning ofzyoo is more abstract, along the lines of ‘on the point that . . . , on the basis of . . .’.Dai indai-hakken means‘big, great’ but in kometubu-dai it means ‘size, bigness’. Opinions are divided as to whether thezyoo in (36b) and thedai in (36c) should be analyzed as affixes or as compound constituents. There are quite a few such cases concerning S-J words where the distinction between affix and compound constituent is not clear.
It is often thought that affixes, unlike content words, are devoid of substantive meaning. However, since Sino-Japanese morphemes from the beginning carry specific meanings, compared to affixes in English or native affixes, they often show substan- tive semantic concepts. Meanings carried by affixes are shown in (37) and (38). The examples in (37) are prefixes and those in (38) are suffixes.
(37) a. The prefix limits or modifies the meaning of the base.
貴(大学)ki(daigaku)‘your (university)’,好(成績)koo(seiseki)‘good (results)’,新(発売)sin(hatubai)‘newly (for sale)’,高(濃度)koo(noodo)
‘high (concentration)’,遠(赤外線)en(sekigaisen)‘far (infrared)’, 低(レベル)tei(reberu)‘low (level)’
b. The prefix has a verbal meaning and the base noun corresponds to its argument.
反(体制)han(taisei)‘anti(establishment)’,助(監督)zyo(kantoku)
‘assistant (director)’,有(酸素)yuu(sanso) [having (oxygen)]‘aerobic’, 脱(サラリーマン)datu(sarariiman) [escape (salaried worker)]‘setting oneself free from a white-collar job’,省(エネルギー)syoo(enerugii)
‘reduce (energy)’
c. The prefix limits the reference of the base noun (“determiner-like” prefixes).
本(製品)hon(seihin)‘this (product)’,同(大学)doo(daigaku) [same (university)]‘the previously mentioned university’,前(総理大臣) zen(sooridaizin)‘ex-(prime minister)’,各(参加者)kaku(sankasya)
‘every (participant)’,
d. The prefix modifies a predicate-like base adverbially.
急(成長)kyuu(seityoo)‘rapid (growth)’,超(過激)tyoo(kageki)
‘super(radical)’,過(保護)ka(hogo)‘over(protective)’,再(検討)sai(kentoo) [again(consider)]‘reconsider’,激(辛)geki(kara)‘intensely (spicy)’
Sino-Japanese words 123
e. The prefix shows negation.
不(確か)hu(tasika)‘un(certain)’,無(責任)mu(sekinin)‘ir(responsible)’, 未(経験)mi(keiken) [not.yet(experience)]‘inexperienced’,非(正規雇用) hi(seiki-koyoo)‘non(regular employment)’
Prefixes of the type in (37a) are comparatively common. Prefixes like this function to modify the right-hand constituent. Such prefixes are also found in native words as in 大騒ぎoo-sawagi‘big uproar’and小雨 ko-same‘light rain’. Prefixes of the type in (37b) are not as common as those in (37a). The internal structure of the derived word takes the form of a Chinese [V + N] syntactic constituent formed of the verb-like prefix and the noun corresponding to its argument. The type of prefixes in (37c) are characteristically Sino-Japanese; the only native prefix of this type being the元moto of 元(会長) moto(kaityoo) ‘former (chairman)’. The determiner-like prefixes of (37c) also have unique morphological and syntactic characteristics (see Chapter 14 [Kageyama, this volume] for details). The type of S-J prefix in (37d) is also not common and is even more uncommon in native words withほの(暗い)hono(gurai) [faintly(dark)] ‘gloomy’ being about the only example. The category in (37e) is separate from the concept of part of speech. The prefixes of this category are all com- paratively productive and share the meaning of negation. There being no native stratum negative prefixes, these are characteristically Sino-Japanese prefixes and have been placed in a single group. The internal structure of the derived words is the same as Chinese syntactic constituency. Considering all of the above factors, we can conclude that, except for those of the type in (37a), prefixes are uniquely Sino-Japanese.
(38) a. The suffix has a noun-like meaning and derives a noun.
(作曲)家 (sakkyoku)ka[(compose) person]‘composer’, (図書)館 (tosyo)kan[(books) edifice]‘library’, (乗車)券(zyoosya)ken‘(boarding) ticket’, (バス)代 (basu)dai‘(bus) fare’, (アルカリ)性(arukari)sei [(alkaline)ness]‘alkalinity’, (山田)氏 (Yamada)si[(Yamada) mister]
‘Mr. Yamada’
b. The suffix has a verb-like meaning and derives a noun or a VN.
(北海道)産 (hokkaidoo)san[(Hokkaido) product]‘product of Hokkaido’, (中国)製 (tyuugoku)sei[(China) manufacture]‘made in China’, (収入)減 (syuunyuu)gen‘(income) reduction’, (日光)浴 (nikkoo)yoku[(sun light) bathing]‘sunbathing’, (疑問)視 (gimon)si[(doubt) view]‘view as doubtful’, (無人)化 (muzin)ka[(uninhabited) change]‘depopulate’
c. The suffix adds the concept of“type”or“style”to the base noun deriving an AN or a noun.
(日本)的 (nihon)teki[(Japan)like]‘Japanese’, (振り子)式(huriko)siki
‘(pendulum) type’, (サラリーマン)風 (sarariiman)huu[(white-collar worker) style]‘white-collar style’, (文語)調(bungo)tyoo[(literary language register]‘literary-sounding’
d. The suffix attaches to a noun and derives an adverb.
(事実)上 (zizitu)zyoo[(fact) on]‘based on the facts’, (戦時)下(senzi)ka [(wartime) under]‘under wartime conditions’, (東京大阪)間Tookyoo- Oosaka)kan[(Tokyo-Osaka) between]‘between Tokyo and Osaka’, (時間)外 (zikan)gai[(hours) outside]‘outside of regular hours’, (紳士)然 (sinsi)zen[(gentleman) state]‘gentlemanly’
e. Noun classifiers
(馬2)頭 (uma ni)too[(horse 2) head]‘two horses’, (ビール3)本
(biiru san)bon[(beer.bottles 3) long.thing.counter]‘three bottles of beer’, (椅子2)脚(isu ni)kyaku[(chairs 2) furniture.with.legs.counter]‘two chairs’, (テレビ1)台 (terebi iti)dai[(television 1) mechanical.contrivance.counter]
‘one television set’, (スーツ1)着(suutu it)tyaku[(suit 1) suits.counter]
‘one suit’
The suffixes in (38a) form derived nouns and many S-J suffixes are included in this type. The suffixes -san, -sei, -gen, and -yoku in (38b) derive nouns and -siand -ka derive verbal nouns. Those in (38c) derive ANs, but their number is not large. The examples in (38d) are affixes deriving adverbs but many of this type would be better analyzed as clitics than as affixes. Those in (38e) are S-J numeral classifiers. Many of the suffixes in (38) do not add semantic characteristics but can be thought to deter- mine the category of the derived word as a whole.