4.3. MORE PARTICLES 183
- Dubitative
is the effeminate version of , reserved for women (as well as
effeminate homosexuals and transvestites, in all fairness). While most par-
ticles can be used by either gender but may make someone sound effem-
inate, using this particle as a man makes you sound gay. Quite literally,
in fact, as it means you are leĴing people know that you consider yourself
effeminate and wish others to know this.
- Hopefulness
This combination of the particles and is used to indicate a hope, or
wishful thinking, such as in for instance:
( )
”It’d be nice if today had good weather too.””(She)’ll call today, (I) think (I hope)...”- Open noun list, resignation
There are two roles that plays. The first is as open, or non-exhaustive,
noun lister, used similarly to :
”As for drinks, I got (us) (amongst other things,) whiskey and rum.”Unlike , which presents an all-inclusive list, leaves this list open,
typically in a way that allows us to interpret it as meaning ”these things,
and other things like them”.
In addition to being the non-exhaustive noun lister, we can also use
as a sentence ending particle, where it signifies a resignation to one’s
fate in the face of hardship:
”(I) guess there’s nothing (I) can do about it..”Finally, at the end of a sentence is in many regions in Japan con-
sidered a copula, replacing. In these regions, you may also find it in-
flected as negative, as. However, in this use (both affirmative and
negative inflections) it is simply a copula, not indicating resignation of any
kind.