Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Emotive Right-Dislocation

In Japanese, emotive right-dislocation happens in sentences featuring dislocation without a pause, where the speaker is surprised, shocked, disgusted, insulted, and so on. Such sentences often resemble questions, but the speaker doesn't expect answers, they're just expressing their emotions.

Examples include: nani kore なにこれ, nani sore なにそれ, nani are なにあれ, "what's this/that," nanda koitsu なんだこいつ, "what's [up with] this guy," nani kono onna なにこの女, "what's [up with] this woman," and so on.

Similarly: dare da omae 誰だお前, "who are you?" baka ka omae 馬鹿かお前, "are you stupid?" korozu zo temee 殺すぞてめえ, "[I'm] going to kill you," and so on.

See the article on dislocation for details about the grammar.

Examples

For reference, some examples of emotive right-dislocation.

なんだよこれ・・・入墨? えっ 本物か!? うん
Manga: Horimiya ホリミヤ (Chapter 3)
  • nanda yo kore... irezumi?
    なんだよコレ・・・刺青?
    What is this... a tattoo?
  • e'? honmono ka!?
    えっ?本物か!?
    Eh? It's real!?
  • un
    うん
    Yeah.

なにこれ・・・・・・? へへへ♡当たってる?
Manga: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Part 5: Golden Wind, JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Ougon no Kaze ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 黄金の風 (Chapter 456, 5プラス1)
  • Context: Fugo フーゴ gives Narancia ナランチャ a math question to solve.
  • 16 × 55 = 28.
  • *stares puzzledly.*
  • nani kore......?
    何これ・・・・・・?
    What is this?
  • hehehe♡
    へへへ♡
    *giggle*
  • atatteru?
    当たってる?
    [Did I get it right]?

ちょっとお金貸してくれない? なんですかこの人!?
Manga: Gabriel DropOut, ガヴリールドロップアウト (Chapter 24)
  • Context: the speaker is walking around when all of sudden this girl shows up and...
  • chotto okane kashite kurenai?
    ちょっとお金貸してくれない?
    Won't [you] lend [me] a little money?
  • nandesuka kono hito!?
    なんですかこの人!?
    What's [up with] this person!?
    What's [up with] this [girl]!?
    What's [up with] [her]!?
  • She just asked money from a complete stranger!

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