著者

緑川 伝作

出版者

横浜国立大学

雑誌

横浜国立大学人文紀要. 第二類, 語学・文学 (ISSN:0513563X)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.8, pp.15-32, 1962-03-30

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The title may seem somewhat ambiguous, but it really means Coordinate Conjunction 'But' weak in its function of introducing 'a statement of the nature of an exception, objection, limitation, or contrast to what has gone before'. The 'But' treated in this thesis is that which, in its function, has virtually lost its proper sense. Upon [A] and [B], except Matzner and Poutsma, most grammarians seem not to have touched. Moreover middle-grade dictionaries such as C.O.D., U.E.D., etc. have no mention of them. For the completion of this thesis I am greatly indebted to O.E.D., W.N.I.D. and Matzner. The examples cited in this thesis, except those which have such indications as O.E.D., W.N.I.D., Matzner, or cf. N.B., are all collected by me. They are mostly rather long, because I should like to make clear the context in which the word in question is used. Most English-Japanese dictionaries have taken up [A], though their explanations are not satisfactory. But we could hardly find any English-Japanese dictionary which has touched upon [B]. In view of the fact, I have devoted much more space to [B] than to [A] and treated [B] elaborately, giving as many and various examples as I can. The following is the outline of the present thesis: [A] 'But' after an interjection or exclamation: (a) Expressing some degree of the feeling of opposition, objection, protest, etc., that is, some degree of adversative feeling. (b) Expressing mere surprise. (c) Expressing mere recognition of something unexpected. [B] 'But' merely expressing disconnexion, or emphasizing the introduction of a distinct or independent fact: (a) Merely expressing disconnexion. (b) Merely emphasizing the introduction of a distinct or independent fact, (as the minor premiss of a syllogism), in short, marking a transition of thought.