Japanese Grammar of Mind and Language (46) Multifunctionality of Expressions: One Expression Having Multiple Functions (3)

(Continued from above)

To summarize the above, it is as follows.

"Wagahai wa" = Propositional element (I) + Objective modality (topic) + Interpersonal modality (social position)

"Neko" = Propositional element (cat)

"de aru" = Objective modality (judgment/attitude of assertion) + Interpersonal modality (low level of politeness)

The expression "Wagahai wa neko de aru" possesses a "function of the mind" that integrates all of these propositional elements, objective modalities, and interpersonal modalities.

If one were to dare to illustrate this, it would look like the following.

Please consider the innermost square layer to represent the proposition, the middle square layer to represent objective modality, and the outermost square layer to represent interpersonal modality.

From this diagram, it can be seen that the linguistic expression "Wagahai wa" strongly possesses the functions of the inner proposition, the middle objective modality, and the outer interpersonal modality.

On the other hand, it can be seen that the linguistic expression "neko" strongly possesses the function of the inner proposition.

It can be seen that the linguistic expression "de aru" strongly possesses two functions: the middle objective modality and the outer interpersonal modality.

Grammar until now has been analyzed on the premise that each expression carries one meaning out of proposition, objective modality, or interpersonal modality.

However, such a methodology cannot elucidate the full picture of the role of language, and cases where grammatical theory can be effectively utilized in practical settings are also limited.

I believe that this is one of the reasons why grammar has generally been thought to be of no practical use until now.

(Continued below)

[1] In "Grammar of the Mind," expressions of natural language that have been transferred into such symbolic expressions are called "propositional functions." This borrows the concept of propositional functions from symbolic logic, but whereas propositions in symbolic logic are for determining true or false, the propositional functions in "Grammar of the Mind" are essentially different in that they do not have such constraints. In the case of "Global Japanese Grammar of Mind and Language," the basic form of a propositional function is to have the "predicate part" as the function and the "supplementary part" as the variable.