66 Anthony E. Backhouse
tives are almost all gradable antonyms as opposed to complementaries. If gradabil-
ity is assumed to be a core semantic feature of adjectives, this is an indication that
central members of the class are well represented in this type.
4.1.2. Uninflected adjectivesWe comment here first on uninflected adjectives in general, and subsequently on
na, no, and na/no items.
Uninflected adjectives are not bound by the above phonological restrictions,
and they take in items from all lexical strata (cf. Martin 1975: 760-5, 826-9 f°r a
summary of lexical sub-types found). Sino items are probably numerically pre-
dominant across all uninflected types; as with foreign items, many are excluded
from the inflected type on phonological grounds.^11 This also applies to lexically
simple native items such as mizime (na) 'pitiful' and mare (na/no) 'rare' with stems
ending in e. Many native uninflected items are lexically complex (cf. Martin 1975:
760-1; Uehara 1998: 220-8), and some of these are likewise phonologically dis-
favoured: this applies, for example, to complex adjectives with a final verbal elem-
ent, since verb stems in Japanese end in i or e.
At the same time, there are many native complex items which are phonologic-
ally unexceptionable but are nevertheless uninflected, which suggests that other
factors play some role in membership of inflected vs. uninflected types. Items dia-
chronically derived by affixation of -kal-yakal-raka (Martin 1975: 760; Backhouse
1984:180-1) are a clear case, as are compound adjectives involving combinations of
noun + inflected adjective which, as notedby Uehara (1998:226-8), often (although
by no means always) produce uninflected adjectives: thus iro 'colour' + siroi 'white'
iroziro (na/no) 'fair(-skinned)'; ki 'spirit' + mizikai 'short' > kimizika (na) 'impa-
tient'. Clearly, both these cases suggest the influence of lexical morphology.
Within uninflected adjectives, many items occur only with na (57 per cent of
Uehara's sample mentioned in §3.2). Some (not considered in Uehara's figures)
occur only with no; these were said to be predominantly Sino in Backhouse (1984:
183), but they also include (generally lexically complex) native and mimetic items.
Finally, as discussed in §3.2, a larger number than generally thought occur with
both na and no.^12 Below we note and illustrate some correlations with linguistic
factors which are of potential relevance here:
(a) Lexical stratum: Virtually allforeign items (which are mainly lexically simple) are
na adjectives: examples include uetto 'sentimental', dorai 'unsentimental, business-
like', siNpuru 'simple', tahu 'tough', sumaato 'slim', tyaamiNgu 'charming', syuuru 'sur-
real', zyuusii succulent'. A rare exception appears to be hum (no) 'full', given in Uehara
(1998:113); in texts this item is also attested with na, but cf. Sino ippai (no) 'full'.
(^11) Note that sikakui 'square' (also sikaku (na/no)), a rare example of an inflected adjective with a
purely Sino stem, is phonologically unexceptionable. (Kuwait endearing, cute' is native, not Sino,pace
Backhouse (1984:180) (cf. Uehara 1998: 212).)
(^12) For example, seisiki'formal', given as a no adjective in Backhouse (1984:183), also occurs with na.