Installing Docker

To get this to work, you must have docker installed. If you don’t, take care of that first before you complete any of the next steps.

On Arch Linux, it is as simple as running sudo pacman -Syu docker.

Installing SearXNG-Docker

All of these next steps are also available on the readme at searxng-docker’s github repo.

To get searxng-docker on our machine, clone the git repo to /usr/local and navigate there.

cd /usr/local
git clone https://github.com/searxng/searxng-docker.git
cd searxng-docker

Generate the secret key with the following command, so you have a secret key in your settings.yml. You just have to run it, no need to edit the actual settings.yml file.

sed -i "s|ultrasecretkey|$(openssl rand -hex 32)|g" searxng/settings.yml

Now just run docker compose up -d and you should be able to see your SearXNG instance at http://localhost:8080.

Configuring the SearXNG Instance For Use With HTTPS

Setting http://localhost:8080 to be the default search engine in Firefox doesn’t work. Firefox seems to correctly identify SearXNG’s OpenSearch plugin, but searches cannot be completed with the address bar or through other interfaces except directly through the search bar while you are already on the page http://localhost:8080. It seems that Firefox doesn’t allow such pages to be implemented as a search engine. To fix this, we must serve SearXNG over HTTPS.

Install and Setting Up mkcert

mkcert is a tool for making locally-trusted development certificates. I can install it via pacman with sudo pacman -Syu mkcert.

For install instructions on other platforms, you should see the readme at mkcert’s github repo.

Then run mkcert -install to set up a local certificate authority.

Generating Certs to Use with SearXNG

If you aren’t already in /usr/local/searxng-docker, cd there and then run

mkcert localhost

mkcert should then give you two files called localhost.pem and localhost-key.pem. Put these two files in /usr/local/searxng-docker/certs (you will have to create this directory). DO NOT share these keys. Keep them private.

You do not actually have to name the certificate “localhost.” If you want to use a fake domain name like “mysearch.test” you can do this by editing /etc/hosts and adding the line

127.0.0.1 mysearch.test

Configuring Caddyfile

Now open your Caddyfile. Add these four lines of code below the first block:

https://localhost {
	tls /certs/localhost.pem /certs/localhost-key.pem
	reverse_proxy searxng:8080
}

Make sure the tls line points to the location of the .pem files you just generated.

Then replace

# SearXNG
reverse_proxy localhost:8080

with

# SearXNG
reverse_proxy searxng:8080

Configuring docker-compose.yaml

Now open your docker-compose.yaml. Replace the entire caddy: block with this

  caddy:
    container_name: caddy
    image: docker.io/library/caddy:2-alpine
    depends_on:
      - searxng
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - searxng # <-- Attach to searxng
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:443:443" # <-- Map localhost port 443 to container port 443
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
      - ./certs:/certs:ro  # <-- Your mkcert certs go here
      - caddy-data:/data:rw
      - caddy-config:/config:rw
    environment:
      - SEARXNG_HOSTNAME=${SEARXNG_HOSTNAME:-localhost}
      - SEARXNG_TLS=${LETSENCRYPT_EMAIL:-internal}
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-size: "1m"
        max-file: "1"

Effectively, we are mapping the localhost port 443 to the container port 443. You can change the host port (e.g., “8443:443”) to avoid conflicts. We also add a line to volumes so that caddy can see the certs we generated with mkcerts.

Now navigate down to the searxng: block. Replace the entire thing with this:

  searxng:
    container_name: searxng
    image: docker.io/searxng/searxng:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - searxng
    expose:
      - "8080"  # <-- Internal only
    volumes:
      - ./searxng:/etc/searxng:rw
      - searxng-data:/var/cache/searxng:rw
    environment:
      - SEARXNG_BASE_URL=https://${SEARXNG_HOSTNAME:-localhost}/ # <-- The base URL is modified
    logging:
      driver: "json-file"
      options:
        max-size: "1m"
        max-file: "1"

This makes port 8080 available only to other containers on the Docker network and not the host. No one else on the network has access to SearXNG.

Now run:

docker compose restart caddy
docker compose restart searxng

We can now access SearXNG via Caddy at https://localhost and use this local instance as our search engine in Firefox!

EXTRA: Making This Work With uBlacklist

uBlacklist is a Firefox addon that lets you add “blacklists,” or lists of sites that you don’t want showing up in your search results. It’s also available for Chrome, but using Chrome defeats the purpose of configuring SearXNG in the first place. Don’t use Chrome with this.

The default implementation of uBlacklist supports SearXNG, but only through a list of publically available instances in its SERPINFO list. That means uBlacklist cannot see your private instance of SearXNG.

To fix this, go to the extension’s Options page. Under “General”, click “SERPINFO”.

Then under “My SERPINFO”, add the following code:

name: SearXNG
homepage: https://github.com/ublacklist/builtin#readme

pages:
  - name: All
    includeRegex: "/search(\\?|$)"
    results:
      - root: .category-general
        url: a
        props:
          title: h3
          $category: [const, "web"]
      - root: .category-images
        url: .result-url > a
        props:
          title: .title
          $category: [const, "images"]
      - root: .category-videos
        url: a
        props:
          title: h3
          $category: [const, "videos"]
      - root: .category-news
        url: a
        props:
          title: h3
          $category: [const, "news"]
    commonProps:
      $site: searx # backwards compatibility
    matches:
     - https://localhost/*

You should be able to use SearXNG with uBlacklist now. If you’re not using “localhost” as your domain name, you need to change the last line to match it.

Youtube Is Not As Useful As I Once Thought It Was

It’s been like this for over 13 years for me. The number of times I’ve sat down to eat with youtube probably vastly outnumbers the times I’ve sat to eat without it. But I’ve only started to recognize this as a huge problem recently. I was somewhat aware about how much time I’d spend on youtube, but I never viewed it as something detrimental. After all, youtube has shaped my political inclinations, helped me study for school, given me hobbies and interests, and introduced me to so much great art over the years.

In the online language learning community, there’s a pervasive idea about how we acquire language called the input hypothesis, which linguist Stephen Krashen originally wrote about. Put simply, it’s the idea that second language acquisition can be sped up by focusing your study on “input”: consuming material in the target language that involves reading and listening. This contrasts with studying through “output”, the process of writing and speaking. This is the theory behind how I structured my study routine with Japanese, and I’d say it’s been highly successful at getting me to a proficient level.

Why do I bring this up? An earlier tendency among the community that I’ve seen is to completely avoid output, effectively taking a vow of silence in their target language to focus exclusively on listening and reading media in the language they are studying. In fact, I was one of people that subscribed to this application of the hypothesis. The idea behind this practice is that output will come naturally to you once you have achieved a certain stage of proficiency in understanding the language through input. You would get the benefit of streamlining your learning process and avoid developing an accent in the target language. At some point in my studies, I had consumed so much Japanese media that I had a vocabulary of roughly 13,000 words, passed the JLPT N1, and could understand almost everything in everyday Japanese. Which made it all the more embarrassing that I was not even conversational at that point in time.

What actually helped me start to output? Starting to output. Not more input. It’s the only way you’re ever going to get used to doing it. It’s true that input is the only thing that teaches you actually understand the language, but neglecting to output during your learning journey comes with a risk. You can become uncomfortable and anxious with outputting, and you may start to associate outputting with the feeling of failure; which is what I experienced.

This is applicable not only to language learning, but to youtube as well. The act of watching a youtube video is analogous to immersing yourself in “input.” Actually, it’s not just analogous, because watching a youtube video in your target language is a way of getting input. I can watch a hundred videos of baseball games, but that won’t make me a pro baseball player. Youtube offers possibly the biggest library of art in the entire world. Has spending over a decade of my life religiously watching this art made me a better artist? No. Input is useful because it allows you to form your own mental model, a “deeper understanding” of the subject you are immersing in. When it comes to putting this mental model into practice, the only way you can improve your skill is not by further developing your mental model, but by doing.

The Addictive Side of YouTube

Okay, so I can reason my way out of over-consuming educational/informational youtube content. Maybe on some subconscious level, I understand that the next video I want to click on is not necessarily going to inform me. But the reason I get the urge to watch youtube isn’t because I’m consciously seeking knowledge, or something like that. Sometimes, I see the thumbnail and title of another video and it doesn’t even look all that interesting…

So why do I click on it?

Here are some recent videos in my youtube history. All three of these videos are ones I remember watching on my tablet in bed before going to sleep just yesterday. At that time, if I took a step back, just a second, to think about what the content of these videos could be, I probably wouldn’t have clicked on them. No hate to any of these creators, but it’s easy to say in hindsight that these videos were a waste of my time, with which I probably could have spent getting some well-needed sleep. I don’t play survival Minecraft or Tetris, and I don’t even know why the hell I decided to watch that video on Teletubbies. The problem here isn’t that I made a bad decision “choosing” to spend my time watching these videos, but in a sense, it’s that I didn’t really make that decision at all. Sometimes I click on videos because I want to have it on in the background while I look for a more interesting video to watch. Sometimes a thumbnail grabs my attention and I just click on it without thinking about anything at all, like what the video could be about or whether I’m even interested in what the thumbnail presents. Sometimes it’s because of that stupid autoplay feature that somehow keeps turning itself on.

It feels like there are a lot of features in youtube’s UI and algorithm that interfaces with my brain and makes it turn off. Some things that come to mind are:

1. The way the algorithm is so responsive to videos that you have recently watched.
2. Videos playing as a preview within the thumbnail, something that can’t be disabled at all in the mobile app.
3. Its infinite scrolling nature and the recommended section (you never “run out” of videos).
4. Picture-in-picture (playing videos in the corner while you look at recommendations).
5. The gutting of features that encourage interpersonal interaction, like private messaging and video responses.
6. The algorithm’s tendency to fixate on categories of videos that have mass appeal (movie/TV scenes, podcast content, clickbait).
7. The algorithm’s tendency to fixate on videos with overly long run times (video essays).
8. Youtube shorts and autoplay.

I found youtube shorts so egregious that I have an extension to block them entirely on desktop and I jailbroke my tablet to get them off of the mobile app. But not all of these “features” that I listed can be avoided so easily. Most are baked into the system and can only be avoided by not using youtube at all.

Solutions?

For the better part of a year or two now, I have been looking for ways to better manage my “relationship” with youtube so I don’t end up wasting time there. Most have come in the form of extensions that limit screen time or certain features features on youtube. These can be site-specific, browser-wide, or system-wide.

Unhook

Unhook is a browser extension that lets you hide your recommendations, youtube shorts, your home feed, and a bunch of other stuff. I have found that its effectiveness is largely dependent on your own willpower. It does work to make youtube much less engaging, so you might find yourself spending a lot less time there, but it is incredibly easy to toggle youtube features back on, especially if you’re feeling particularly tempted one day or are just inattentive to your own discipline like me. In my experience, I would turn the home feed back on and leave it like that for days or weeks, before I eventually become cognizant again about how much time I’m wasting on youtube and turning it off again. And then, the cycle would repeat…

I have to say, though, that this is my favorite extension out of all the ones I am about to introduce, and it’s the only one I haven’t completely abandoned.

LeechBlock NG

LeechBlock NG is another browser extension which lets you set limits for yourself for websites of your choice, before locking you out of the site. You can set limits depending on the day of the week or the time of day. In my experience, this one, also, is only as effective as your discipline is strong. You can set a long, complicated password to the options page that configures this extension to deter you from removing your own limits, but typing in this password is trivial. I got used to typing in the password so much that it was like the password didn’t exist at all.

The Screen Time Setting on iOS

If you use an iPhone/iPad, you probably know this one. It is laughably ineffective. It literally gives you a button to bypass the limit you set for yourself once you hit it. Maybe if you have the self-discipline of a Buddhist monk, you will find this setting useful. But for me, it just turned into an minor annoyance incredibly quickly that didn’t deter me from using youtube at all.

Others Configuration-Based Strategies

• Setting youtube or your entire desktop to black-and-white. This is possible with LeechBlock NG, or various Windows/Linux software. It’s supposed to limit your dopamine response or something.
• DeArrow, an extension that removes clickbait thumbnails and video titles.
• Tuning recommendations. You can somewhat influence youtube recommendations by clicking the three dots under the video thumbnail and clicking “Not Interested” or “Don’t Recommend Channel.”

I have found all of these configuration-based strategies to be ineffective in my case, but I go into some amount of detail here in case any of you reading think this might work for you. All of these rely on the user’s own discipline, expecting them not to roll back limitations or settings they have set for themselves to reduce their youtube usage. Tuning recommendations doesn’t work very well since youtube will always sneak uninteresting or addictive videos back into your feed.

A more extreme config-based strategy to limit youtube usage I have heard about is setting youtube.com to 127.0.0.1 in your /etc/hosts file. This effectively blocks your computer from talking with youtube’s IP entirely. I have never tried this so I don’t know how effective it is, but it seems like it would be harder to self-sabotage yourself, since “turning it off” isn’t as simple as toggling a button in a UI.

The Actual Answer

You have to hate youtube.

Over time, I have come to realize just how much time this site has robbed from me. Sure, youtube has introduced me to good art, niche communities, and even shaped my personality. But then I think about how it’s still possible for me to have come into contact with these things I enjoy even if I had never interacted with youtube in the first place. I may have even discovered much more art and become much more learned if I had spent time reading books instead, as I used to before I started habitually using this site. Youtube has made so many horrendous changes to its site ever since I started using it in 2011, making it more addictive in the name of driving engagement. Why should I stick with it?

I can’t expect myself to be happier just by installing a browser extension and calling it a day. To solve my youtube addiction, I have realized that I must change my entire mindset. The only strategy that has worked for me is to adopt this hostile attitude towards youtube, and replace the time you would have spent watching youtube with something that truly fulfills you. These two points are key. So much so that I will say them again.

1. You must feel a visceral disgust with the algorithm and the design that makes youtube what it is. Realize how it has wronged you. Demand its apology.
2. Have in mind what you would like to do with the time you have, now free of the suffocating grasp of the algorithm. Maybe try writing it down. When you feel the urge to watch youtube, do it.

For me, some of the fulfilling things that I try to do instead of watch youtube are: reading, practicing coding, consuming Japanese media, and browsing the Internet Archive.

Perhaps this blog post is a bit premature, since just yesterday I found myself mindlessly scrolling in bed on my tablet again. But I’m enthusiastic because changing my mindset is the only solution that has actually worked to decrease the amount of time I spend on youtube. In essence, you need to remove the temptation you feel in the first place. About a month ago, I deleted the youtube app from my phone. I intend to keep it that way, and I have not experienced a real urge to reinstall it. I haven’t deleted the app from my tablet or blocked it on my desktop computer, because part of me is scared to quit youtube cold-turkey. The idea has been in the back of my mind ever since I read this blog post by SophiaJT, who actually did quit outright. Every day, this idea seems more and more doable.

For those of you reading this that are struggling with the same problem I have been struggling with, I sympathize with you. I hope you will join me in this journey of getting better.

珠算で使われている数字に模したフォントを配布します。 伊藤そろばん教室 の”abacus2”をベースにして作りました。 自由に使ってくださいね!

This number font is designed to look like the one used in abacus math exams in Japan. It is adapted from “abacus2” by 伊藤そろばん教室.

Sample:

.ttf のダウンロードはこちら!
Download the .ttf here! (226.6 KiB)

This is a collection of pronunciations of that are most canonically correct according to the principles of the traditional English pronunciation of Latin. This pronunciation system survives to this day in the way we say many words derived from Latin. For example, “error,” “area,” “cicada,” “martyr,” “species,” and “genius.”

Species epithets will be given in the feminine form by default.

Pronunciations with asterisks are irregular to the principles of traditional pronunciation. This happens because they derive from names/words of languages other than Greek or Latin, or because the pronunciation has become standardized.

Since writing A Guide to Wa and Ga, I’ve come to realize that some usages of が are difficult to explain with the typology given by Noda (野田 1996). Technically, his sentence typology covers most of the sentences I will explain in this chapter, but they function distinctly from typical sentences you will see in Noda’s categories, so I believe they deserve their own descriptions. Also, I am writing this because I’ve never seen any of these sentence forms described in English-language Japanese-learning resources (except for a mention of breakdown sentences in Kuno’s The Structure of the Japanese Language). All information and examples that follow come from 今田 (2010).

“Noun sentences” are sentences with a noun as its predicate. We will look at four sentence forms, all of which are topicless noun sentences, and all of which contain が.

I call these “atypical” noun sentences, but that doesn’t mean that they are exceedingly rare. I notice these sentences used in both speech and writing quite often, but the “typical” sentences described in the main guide still make up the vast majority of sentences.

Neutral-Description Noun Sentences (中立叙述型名詞述語文)

The “neutral-description sentences” make up the vast majority of typical topicless sentences as described by Noda. The term “neutral-description” is just the formal name for sentences that use descriptive が, which I introduced in the main guide. Thus, all sentences given as examples of topicless sentences in the main guide are neutral-description sentences. In this section, I will specifically be focusing on neutral-description noun sentences, as these are much rarer than their adjective or verb counterparts.

When we use が in a noun sentence with no further context, the interpretation of the sentence which uses exclusive が is usually the one the speaker means.

1. 私が田中(たなか)です。(Exclusive が)
I am Tanaka.

2. (？) 私が田中です。(Descriptive が)
(？) Look, I’m Tanaka!

Consider example (1), a noun sentence using exclusive が. We can imagine that this is a sentence spoken by Tanaka in response to someone asking “Who in this group is Tanaka?” Tanaka is specifying that he is Tanaka, so this is the natural interpretation.

But if we were to interpret the same sentence using descriptive が, as in example (2), it comes across as awkward. In The Principle of Topic Presence, I explained the conditions under which a sentence is likely to be expressed as a topicless sentence (i.e. use descriptive が). One of those conditions was that “a temporary state directly observable to the speaker, expressed at that moment,” was being conveyed. Descriptive が imparts a nuance that the sentence is describing an event or something the speaker is percieving. Thus, this interpretation is unnatural unless we imagine a fantastical situation where the speaker has magically assumed Tanaka’s body and is pointing it out (or something similar).

Nevertheless, neutral-description noun sentences are grammatical and will sound natural if the context allows for it. The following examples (3) to (10) all use descriptive が.

3. あっ、家(いえ)がドーム型(がた)だ！
Woah, the house is dome-shaped!

4. あっ、イチローが四番(よんばん)打者(だしゃ)だ！
Hey look, Ichiro’s batting fourth!

5. 信号(しんごう)が赤(あか)だ。
The traffic light’s red.

Examples (3) through (5) are neutral-description noun sentences in which something directly perceptible to the speaker is described. But as outlined in the introductory section on Topicless Sentences in the main guide, there are other categories of topicless sentences which don’t describe perceptible events/states. (6) through (10) are examples of such sentences.

6. 日本(にほん)チームの負(ま)けは濃厚(のうこう)だ。主力選手(しゅりょくせんしゅ)がベンチウォーマーだ。
The Japanese team is on the verge of defeat. Their best guy’s on the bench.

7. 上司(じょうし)があいつですよ。やる気(き)が出(で)ませんよ、まったく。
My boss is that guy. I can’t stand it.

8. 彼女(かのじょ)を信頼(しんらい)して全(すべ)てをまかせたのだが、これがとんだペテン師(し)だった。
I put my trust in her and left it all in her hands, but she turned out to be a crook.

9. 友人(ゆうじん)を家(いえ)に泊(と)めた。ところがその男(おとこ)が大酒(おおざけ)のみだ。飲(の)み始(はじ)めたら止(と)まらない。
I let my friend stay at my house. But it turns out, he was a drunkard. Once he started drinking, he wouldn’t stop.

10. と、その時(とき)、ぼくの右手(みぎて)の下(した)の布地(ぬのじ)が動(うご)く、ハッとした。ひょっとすると、席(せき)の布地だとばかり思(おも)っていたところが、彼女の。まさか。やっぱりそうだった。彼女のスカートだった。
At that moment, the fabric under my right hand shifted, and I gasped. I thought I had my hand on the fabric of the seat… it couldn’t be. But it was… my hand was on her skirt.

Examples (6) and (7) are neutral-description noun sentences which don’t describe directly perceptible states, but temporary states occurring in the present.

Examples (8) through (10) are neutral-description noun sentences which function like a description of a temporary state or event as experienced by the speaker. These examples are of recounted stories (events that happened in the past), so they demonstrate that descriptive が isn’t only used in statements narrated in the moment.

Enumeration and Breakdown (項目の列挙・内訳)

が may be used to list items or to present a breakdown of data in a noun sentence. These sentences are a subcategory of the neutral-description noun sentences, so there is no nuance of exclusion in them.

Examples of Sentences With Enumeration

11. 利益(りえき)面(めん)でも「減益(げんえき)は避(さ)けられない」が二十四社(にじゅうよんしゃ)、「増収(ぞうしゅう)、生産性向上(せいさんせいこうじょう)などで増益(ぞうえき)が可能(かのう)」が二十二社(にじゅうにしゃ)できっこう。
As opposed to the 24 companies that say that “a decrease in profits is unavoidable,” 22 companies say that “increasing profits is possible through improving yield and productivity.”

12. チンパンジーが先(さき)でヒトがあとである。
Chimpanzees came first, and humans came afterward.

13. 上(うえ)の子(こ)が二歳(にさい)三ヵ月(さんかげつ)、下(した)の子が六ヶ月(ろっかげつ)。
My older kid is 2 years and 3 months old, and my younger kid is 6 months old.

14. 正面(しょうめん)のドアを入(はい)るとすぐ右手(みぎて)がリビングルーム、隣(となり)が寝室(しんしつ)、次(つぎ)がダイニングルーム。
When you enter from the front door, the living room is to your right, the one after that is the bedroom, and then you have the dining room.

15. 山田君(やまだくん)が受付(うけつけ)、田中(たなか)さんが司会(しかい)、佐藤(さとう)君(くん)が会計(かいけい)だ。
Yamada is doing reception, Tanaka will be the presenter, and Satou will do the accounting.

Examples of Sentences With a Breakdown

16. 二十件(にじゅっけん)のうち十六件(じゅうろっけん)が六十五歳(ろくじゅうごさい)以上(いじょう)のお年寄(としよ)りだった。
Of the 20 instances, 16 of them involved people over 65 years of age.

17. 米国(べいこく)の貿易赤字(ぼうえきあかじ)は約(やく)千五百億(せんごひゃくおく)ドルに達(たっ)し、そのうち、約(やく)半分(はんぶん)が対日貿易(たいにちぼうえき)によるものだ。
The US trade deficit is over $150 billion, of which about half is with Japan.

18. 私のクラスでは、五(ご)人(にん)が男(おとこ)で、六(ろく)人(にん)が女(おんな)です。
In my class, there are five boys and six girls.

19. 大部分(だいぶぶん)の学生(がくせい)が独身(どくしん)です。
Most students are single.

20. ほとんどの学生(がくせい)が金持(かねも)ちの息子(むすこ)です。
Almost all of the students are sons of affluent families.

21. 老人(ろうじん)の多(おお)くが病身(びょうしん)です。
Many old people have fragile health.

22. 日本人(にっぽんじん)の三(さん)人(にん)に一人(ひとり)が近眼(きんがん)だ。
One out of three Japanese are near-sighted.

Identificational Sentences (同定文)

Identificational sentences are noun sentences that use が to assign characteristics or meanings to their predicate.¹ They are distinct from both neutral-description sentences and specificational sentences. They may resemble specificational sentences, but there is no nuance of exclusion within them. Here are some examples:

23. 苦労(くろう)してやっと手(て)に入(い)れたのがこれだ。
This is what I have finally gotten my hands on after much hard work.

24. 何(なに)でも反対(はんたい)するのが山田(やまだ)さんだ。
Yamada is a guy who’s quick to object to everything.

25. 結婚(けっこん)し多少(たしょう)お金(かね)もたまると欲(ほ)しくなるのが、家(いえ)だ。
A house is what everyone wants after they’ve gotten married and saved money.

26. この問題(もんだい)を分(わ)かりやすく解説(かいせつ)したのが、本書(ほんしょ)である。
This book is what provides a clear explanation of this problem.

If you have read through How to Tell When Inversion is Possible, these sentences may be confusing to you. In that section, I introduced the rule that sentences with a referential topic can’t be inverted and should not be expressed as specificational sentences. But the examples above look like sentences with a referential topic which have been inverted.

Indeed, the “uninverted” forms of (23) through (26) are indistinguishable from basic topic sentences that can’t be inverted if you only look at the meaning of their subject and predicate. But because they serve a different overall function from typical sentences with a referential topic, it is perfectly acceptable to express them in this way, with が. The functions of identificational sentences are described with (27) through (29). The prototypical identificational sentence in each example is (i), and its uninverted form is (ii).

27. Pointing out uniqueness:

1. 1. 県下(けんか)唯一(ゆいいつ)の高校野球優勝校(こうこうやきゅうゆうしょうこう)がこの高校(こうこう)だ。
   2. この高校は県下唯一の高校野球優勝校だ。
      This high school is the only one in the prefecture to have won a baseball championship.
2. 1. 世界一(せかいいち)の金持(かねも)ちが彼(かれ)だ。
   2. 彼は世界一の金持ちだ。
      He is the richest man in the world.

28. Characterization:

1. 1. 転(ころ)んでもただでは起(お)きないのが太郎(たろう)だ。
   2. 太郎は転んでもただでは起きない。
      Taro's the kind of guy to get right back up when he stumbles.
2. 1. いざというとき力(ちから)を発揮(はっき)するのが女(おんな)だ。
   2. 女はいざというとき力を発揮する。
      Women show their strengths when the time comes.

29. Assigning a definition:

1. 1. 三辺(さんぺん)の長(なが)さが等(ひと)しい三角形(さんかっけい)が正三角形(せいさんかっけい)だ。
   2. 正三角形は三辺の長さが等しい三角形だ。
      An equilateral triangle is a triangle whose three sides are of equal length.
2. 1. 茶釜(ちゃがま)を作(つく)る職業(しょくぎょう)の人(ひと)が釜師(かまし)だ。
   2. 釜師は茶釜を作る職業の人だ。
      A kettle caster is a person whose job is to make tea kettles.

In all the above examples, you will realize that we are assigning a special kind of meaning to the predicate. Instead of mentioning some aspect of the topic or placing the topic into a category like basic topic sentences, identificational sentences connect the predicate to an idea within a broader context, thus identifying it with other ideas related to that broader context.

For example, consider the identificational sentences (30) and (31).

30. ニュートンは[物体(ぶったい)から微粒子(びりゅうし)が飛(と)んでくるのが光(ひかり)だ]と考(かんが)えたが、ハイゲンスが出(で)て来(き)て波動(はどう)説(せつ)を称(とな)えこれが承認(しょうにん)されるに幾多(いくた)の年月(としつき)がかかった。
Newton believed that light was particles emitted from a source, but Huygens voiced his support for wave theory, and it took many years for Newton’s idea to garner recognition.

In (30), “光” (light) is being tied to “物体から微粒子が飛んでくるの” (particles emitted from a source). The listener/reader of this sentence probably already has an idea of what light is in their own mind. The sentence adds onto that idea of light and characterizes it by connecting light to another idea in a scientific context.

31. 次(つぎ)に卓上(たくじょう)に現(あら)われたのが、献立表(こんだてひょう)に単(たん)に ｢熊肉(くまにく)｣ と書(か)いてある料理(りょうり)だ。これについても、張伊三(ちょういぞう)が解説(かいせつ)を加(くわ)えるのである。これは、熊(くま)の腿(もも)の肉(にく)であった。[まず、肉を高熱(こうねつ)で充分(じゅうぶん)煮込(にこ)み、さらに五香(ごこう)の粉(こな)に漬(つ)け込(こ)んで一昼夜(いっちゅうや)を経(へ)、それを本(ほん)胡麻(ごま)の油(あぶら)でいためて、塩(しお)と醤油(しょうゆ)で味(あじ)をつけ、野菜(やさい)を添(そ)えて供(きょう)したのが、これであります、]と言(い)うのだ。
The next dish to appear at our table was something simply labeled “bear meat” on the menu. Chou Izou also explained this dish to us. It was meat from the thigh of a bear. He told us that the dish in front of us was meat, first thoroughly stewed at high heat, then soaked in five-spice powder for a full day, fried in sesame oil, seasoned with salt and soy sauce, and served with vegetables.

In (31),² the narrator, who is listening to “Chou Izou,” does not know what the dish “bear meat” entailed. An identificational sentence is used to recount Chou Izou’s explanation of the dish, where “これ” (referring to the dish) is the predicate. “これ” is defined with a long explanation that serves as the subject of the sentence (“まず、肉を高熱で充分煮込み、さらに…”). This subject exists among other ideas within the context of cooking, like other dishes, techniques for preparing food, common objects found in a kitchen, etc. The sentence makes a connection between the dish “bear meat” and its method of preparation, as well as the contexts that method of preparation resides in and its related ideas.

Subjects in Identificational Sentences

You may have noticed that the types of subjects that identificational sentences take are quite limited. In general, there are only three types of subjects in identificational sentences:

1. 〜の Clauses (何でも反対するのが山田さんだ。)
2. Noun-modifying Clauses (何でも反対する人が山田さんだ。)
3. Clauses Expressing Roles (反対派のリーダーが山田さんだ。)

Presentational Sentences (提示文)

Eminent researchers in Japanese linguistics disagree on how to characterize presentational sentences in sentence typology. We will take the view that presentational sentences are a subcategory of identificational sentences.

32. 丈夫(じょうぶ)な品種(ひんしゅ)がたくさんある。特(とく)におすすめなのがこれだ。
There are many hardy varieties available. This is one I particularly recommend.

Example (32) shows a presentational sentence, where “得におすすめなの” (one I particularly recommend) is the subject and “これ” (this) is the predicate. The reason why presentational sentences are often brought up in their own category is because of their information structure. Namely, the predicate is new information, and the subject is old information.³ That is, the predicate of presentational sentences are newly introduced to the listener or brought to the listener’s attention. This goes against a rule-of-thumb for Japanese commonly repeated to learners, that “は marks old information, and が marks new information.” It also differs from regular identificational sentences, where the subject is new information and the predicate is old information.

Apart from this difference, presentational sentences mostly function in the same way as identificational sentences. They are used for the same reasons brought up in (27) through (29).

33. フェラーリは第二次世界大戦(だいにじせかいたいせん)が終(お)わってレースが再開(さいかい)された時(とき)から、クルマを製作(せいさく)し、チームを作(つく)ってレースに参加(さんか)している。その後(ご)、現在(げんざい)に至(いた)るまで1年(いちねん)として休(やす)んだことはない。そのフェラーリがクルマを作るようになる以前(いぜん)、すなわち1920年代(ねんだい)や30年代に、ちょうどこの現代(げんだい)のフェラーリの役割(やくわり)を果(は)たしていたのが、アルファ・ロメオだった。
Ferrari has been building cars, forming teams, and participating in races since racing resumed after the end of World War II. This practice of theirs has continued every year, all the way up to current day. But in the 1920s and 1930s, before Ferrari was a carmaker, it was Alfa Romeo that played the role of the modern Ferrari.

34. トイレの装置(そうち)として急速(きゅうそく)に普及(ふきゅう)しているのが「音姫(おとひめ)」だ。男(おとこ)の人(ひと)にはあまり知(し)られていないようなので紹介(しょうかい)すると、衛生陶器(えいせいとうき)最大手(さいおおて)のTOTOが発売(はつばい)している擬音装置(ぎおんそうち)で、ボタンを押(お)したり、手(て)をかざすとスピーカーから流水(りゅうすい)音(おん)が流(なが)れるもの。
The toilet appliance “Otohime” is now seeing more widespread use. It’s not well known among men, so to explain: The “Otohime” is a device produced by the toilet manufacturer Toto that plays a flushing sound when you place your hand near it or push a button.

35. 人々(ひとびと)は賃金(ちんぎん)の目減(めべ)りを副業(ふくぎょう)、内職(ないしょく)で補(おぎな)ってきたが、副収入(ふくしゅうにゅう)を加(くわ)えた実質所得(じっしつしょとく)も昨年(さくねん)秋(あき)のルーブル暴落(ぼうらく)を境(さかい)に減少(げんしょう)に転(てん)じた。これに追(お)い打(う)ちをかけたのが、今年(ことし)初(はじ)め以来(いらい)の公共料金(こうきょうりょうきん)の大幅(おおはば)アップだ。公営住宅(こうえいじゅうたく)の家賃(やちん)や鉄道(てつどう)運賃(うんちん)は二・四倍(にてんよんばい)、ガス料金(りょうきん)は五(ご)倍(ばい)に跳(は)ね上(あ)がった。
Many have been making up for the reduced wages by taking on second jobs, but their real income has also been declining since the ruble crashed last fall. Compounding this is the sharp increase in public utility fees since the beginning of this year. Rents for public housing and train fares are up 140%, and gas prices have risen five-fold.

Citations

今田, 水穂. (2010). 日本語名詞述語文の意味論的・機能論的分析. (Doctoral dissertation, 筑波大学).

Notes

How is it Emphasized?

Contrastive は and exclusive が are emphasis markers, and the first stage of our flowchart is the principle of emphasis. In this chapter, I’ll discuss all usages of both contrastive は and exclusive が.

It’s possible to view both は and が as a spectrum. On the spectrum of は, we have topical は on one end, and contrastive は on the other end. On the spectrum of が, we have descriptive が on one end, and exclusive が on the other. Between topical は and descriptive が, we have a spectrum of topicality, indicating how topical the word is. Between contrastive は and exclusive が, we have a spectrum of emphasis, indicating in which way the word is emphasized.

The idea behind this figure is to illustrate that the two usages of は and the two usages of が I introduced are not mutually exclusive. Every usage of は or が falls somewhere on the spectrum.

Generally speaking, there are three categories of は.

1. Topical は marking a topic (no contrastive nuance)

1. 父(ちち)はこの本(ほん)を買(か)ってくれた。
My dad bought this book for me.

2. Contrastive は marking a topic (contrastive nuance)

2. 兄(あに)は肉(にく)が好(す)きだが、弟は魚(さかな)が好きだ。
My brother likes meat, but my younger brother likes fish.

3. Contrastive は marking a non-topic (contrastive nuance)

3. 私は肉は好きだが、魚は好きではない。
I like meat, but I don't like fish.

The same idea can be roughly applied to が.

4. Descriptive が marking a subject (no exclusive nuance)

4. 富士山(ふじさん)が見(み)えるよ。
I can see Mount Fuji.

5. Exclusive が marking a subject (exclusive nuance)

5. 君(きみ)が主役(しゅやく)だ。
You're the lead actor.

6. Exclusive が which subjectivizes a non-subject (exclusive nuance)

6. 六本木(ろっぽんぎ)のディスコが芸能人(げいのうじん)がよく来(く)る。
Celebrities come to the discotheques in Roppongi often.

There is a crucial difference between (c) and (f) here. が has not fully evolved as an emphasis marker, so there is no usage where exclusive が is fully removed from its subject-marking function, unlike は, which can be fully removed from its topic-marking function. Some instances of exclusive が mark adverbs, clauses, or case-marked nouns other than the subject, but this is only true for those that have subject-like character. Thus, when exclusive が marks a non-subject, we may interpret that non-subject as having become a subject, a process known as subjectivization (Kuno 1973).

Types of Contrast

All usages of contrastive は have one of two forms of contrast: explicit or implicit.

Explicit Contrast

Explicit contrast occurs when two explicit things are being contrasted.

7. 子供(こども)たちはカレーは作(つく)っているが、ごはんはまだ炊(た)いていない。
The kids are making curry, but the rice is not cooked yet.

It often appears with multiple contrastive は, but it is possible with just one contrastive は as well.

8. 形(かたち)はいいが、色(いろ)が悪(わる)い。
It has a nice shape, but that color is horrendous.

Explicit contrast can be further divided into two types: opposite or adjacent.

In the following examples, (9) shows opposite contrast, and (10) shows adjacent contrast.

9. 私は肉(にく)は好(す)きだが、魚(さかな)は好きではない。
I like eating meat, but I don’t like fish.

10. 私は肉はスーパーで買(か)い、魚は市場(いちば)で買う。
I buy meat at the supermarket, but I buy fish at the street market.

In sentences with opposite contrast, the predicates of the contrasted elements are usually positive and negative forms of the same predicate. They may also be predicates with opposite meanings. This is illustrated in example (9), with the predicates “好き” (like) and “好きではない” (don’t like).

In sentences with adjacent contrast, the predicates of the contrasted elements are similar but express some subtle differences. This is illustrated in example (10), where the predicates are both “買う” (buy), but the location where the food is bought is different.

Both of these usages of contrastive は are often connected with 〜が or 〜けど clauses.

Both (9) and (10) show contrastive は marking objects, while the topic of the sentence is “私”. None of the contrastive は in (9) and (10) following the topic “私は” mark the topic, so they are examples of type (c) は.

Misfortunate Contrast

Misfortunate contrast is a relatively minor usage of explicit contrastive は that appears when something with negative connotations is being described, so it is often followed by statements such as ｢困ったことだ｣, or ｢いけないことだ｣.

11. 家(いえ)は取(と)られ、妻(つま)には逃(に)げられた。
They took my house, and my wife left me.

12. ｢出席日数(しゅっせきにっすう)は足(た)りないし、レポートも提出(ていしゅつ)していないし、受験(じゅけん)も受(う)けていない。｣
“My attendence is too low, I never turned in a report, and I didn’t even take the final.”

More Examples of Explicit Contrast

13. サブはゴルフはやるが、生活(せいかつ)は派手(はで)ではない。
Sahb plays golf, but doesn’t live a flashy life.

14. ｢風(かぜ)は冷(つめ)たいけど、ええ天気(てんき)や。｣
“The wind is cold, but it’s nice out.”

Although there is only one instance of contrastive は in (14), it still has explicit contrast, because “風は冷たい” (the wind is cold) and “ええ天気” (nice weather) are approximately opposite in meaning.

15. 雨(あめ)は降(ふ)っているが、雪(ゆき)は降っていない。
It’s raining, but not snowing.

16. 私たちは数十秒間(すうじゅうびょうかん)イキを止(と)めていることはできますが、心臓(しんぞう)を止(と)めておくことはできません。
We can hold our breaths for just under a minute, but we can’t stop our heartbeat.

17. みりんは、魚(さかな)には煮(に)崩(くず)れを防(ふせ)いで味(あじ)をしめるため最初(さいしょ)に入(い)れ、野菜(やさい)にはツヤを出(だ)し、やわらかくするため最後(さいご)に入れる、というのも大切(たいせつ)なポイントだ。
Mirin should be added first to the fish so that it keeps its flavor and doesn’t fall apart during boiling, and afterwards to the vegetables for softness, and to give them a nice finish.

Implicit Contrast

Implicit contrast occurs when something being contrasted against isn’t explicitly mentioned, only implied.

18. 子供(こども)たちはカレーは作(つく)っている。
The kids are making curry. (But…)

In (18), even though the making of curry is not explicitly being compared against something else, the contrastive は here implies that there is some other thing that hasn’t been cooked yet.

Implicit contrastive は can be identified through the following properties.

The more of these properties a sentence has, the stronger its contrastive nuance becomes. Consider examples (19) and (20):

19. 私はその質問(しつもん)には答(こた)えられません。
I cannot answer that question.

20. その質問には私は答えられません。
I cannot answer that question.

When there are two or more elements in a sentence marked by は, the one closer to the predicate takes on more contrastive nuance. This happens because the emphasized portion of a sentence with contrastive は is not just the element marked by contrastive は, but also all of the content after the element up to the end of its predicate. It is easier to pick up on contrastive nuance if the emphasized portion is uninterrupted.

Thus, in example (19), it’s natural to interpret that the speaker is clarifying that he cannot answer that question specifically. In (20), it’s natural to interpret that the speaker is clarifying that he, specifically, cannot answer the question.

However, you may notice that in (19), the more contrastive は marks a 〜に element, while in (20), the more contrastive は marks a subject. As we know from the table above, contrastive は tends to mark objects, 〜に elements, or adverbs, instead of subjects. As a result, it is possible to interpret that there is almost no contrastive nuance on “私” in (20), but incredibly unnatural to interpret that there is no contrastive nuance on “その質問に” in (19).

More Examples of Implicit Contrast

21. こうしたなかで、子宮(しきゅう)がんだけは年々(ねんねん)確実(かくじつ)に減(へ)っていく。
Amidst all this, uterine cancer is the only cancer that is steadily decreasing year by year.

22. 私はみかんは好(す)きだ。
I do enjoy oranges.

23. 子供(こども)たちはキャンプファイヤーはしなかった。
The kids didn’t light a campfire.

Contrastive は in Negative Statements

Implicit contrastive は is extremely common when the predicate is negative. These are predicates that end in じゃない, ていない, くない, ではない, じゃなくて, ません, ず, etc. For example, if we were to make the statement (24) negative, it is natural to add contrastive は, as shown in (25).

24. 日本(にほん)の老人(ろうじん)はシャワーでがまんできる。
The elderly of Japan can get by with just showering.

25. 日本の老人はシャワーではがまんできん。
The elderly of Japan can’t stand just showering.

This happens because a positive predicate is typically considered to be the default state. When something is expressed to go against that default, we are implicitly contrasting it with something with the predicate’s positive state. If we were to explicitly contrast the example above with this positive state (i.e. make the contrastive は explicit), it would look like (26).

26. 日本(にほん)の老人(ろうじん)は入浴(にゅうよく)なら週2回(しゅうにかい)でもがまんできるけど、シャワーではがまんできん。
The elderly of Japan can get by with bathing as long as it’s at least twice a week, but they can’t stand just showering.

However, we are not always strongly conscious of this implicitly contrasted state, and with some negative statements, it’s not easy to imagine something that is contrasted against.

27. 人間(にんげん)の麻薬(まやく)には中毒(ちゅうどく)がつきものだが、猫(ねこ)のマタタビには中毒はない。
Human drugs are addictive, but there is no addictiveness in silver vine for cats.

In example (27), there is explicit contrast between “人間の麻薬には” (in human drugs) and “猫のマタタビには” (in silver vine for cats). However, it’s hard to imagine something that can be explicitly contrasted with “中毒は” (addictiveness). Thus, when contrastive は is used with negative statements, the nuance of contrast is often weaker than that of positive statements, or completely absent, as is the case in (27).

You may also be familiar with the set phrase ではない/ではありません. The は in this phrase is also thought to be implicit contrastive は, but it has almost entirely lost its contrastive nuance.

Negative Statements without Contrastive は

Some statements will not contain contrastive は even if they are negative. Such cases are listed below.

(28) and (29) are cases where the inflected ending is strongly bound to its stem.

28. 杉矢(すぎや)、ボー然(ぜん)としている。
杉矢｢…ホタルがいない…｣
*Sugiya stares into the distance*
Sugiya: “I don’t see a single firefly…”

29. ウイルスのプログラムは、単(たん)に行動(こうどう)形態(けいたい)がウイルスに似(に)ているから、そう名付(なづ)けられているだけで、あらかじめプログラムの上(うえ)で決(き)められた行動をする以外(いがい)の何者(なにもの)でもない。そして、自然界(しぜんかい)に存在(そんざい)するウイルスと違(ちが)って、人間(にんげん)が作(つく)ったものだということである。この点(てん)が、意外(いがい)と知(し)られていない。
Computer viruses are named so simply because their behavior resembles that of a virus, but they are nothing more than programs that carry out predetermined actions. And unlike viruses that exist in nature, these viruses are man-made. It’s this detail that is, surprisingly, not widely known.

(28) is a topicless sentence, while (29) is an specificational sentence. The ending ない seen with the predicate いる in (28) has a negating effect on the entirety of the word “いない”, but unlike in negative statements with contrastive は, this effect does not extend to other words. So it is not the entire sentence ホタルがいる which is negated, but only the word いる. “いない” may be viewed as one component separate from all other phrases, similarly to the word 不在 (absent).

The structure of (28) is:

ホタル が + (いる + ない) → ホタルがいない。

This statement by Sugiya is simply a description of what he sees. As he stares into the distance, he comments tangentially about how there are no fireflies that he sees. He is not talking topically about fireflies, nor is he answering a question about whether or not there are fireflies there.

If we were to use は in this statement instead, it would change the implied context of the sentence. As you can see in the following structure, contrastive は may be added if the entire sentence ホタルがいる is negated.

(ホタル が いる + ない) → ホタルはいない。

A speaker might use this sentence as an answer to someone else asking「ホタルはいますか？」(“Are there fireflies there?”). Since ホタルがいる is being negated, we can rephrase this entire sentence to ｢ホタルがいるというわけではない。｣ (“It is not true that there are fireflies.”)

(29) also follows the same principle, where contrastive は does not appear because ない is strongly bound to the predicate 知られている (known). Whether or not “this detail” (この点) is known has not been called into question, and the point of the sentence is not to confirm or deny whether or not “this detail” is well known, but to specify that it is “this detail” that is not well known.

This is the same concept acting through the addition of は in example (25).

日本の老人 は + (シャワーで がまんできる + ない) → 日本の老人はシャワーではがまんできない。

Although the entire sentence is not negated here, the contrastive は (after “シャワーで”) is added as a result of ない acting upon the portion “シャワーで”, not just “がまんできる.” The question is whether or not Japan’s elderly can bear with showering, and the answer is no, they would much prefer taking baths instead; they can’t stand it when they can only shower.

The second point listed in the table at the beginning of this section, where the negative predicate is strongly bound to its subject, covers sentences like (30).

30. 野上(のがみ)は、学生(がくせい)の頃(ころ)から、女(おんな)がいないことがなかった…それも、いつも複数(ふくすう)で…
Nogami’s never been without a girl, ever since we were students… and it’s always been at least two at the same time…

The portion “女がいない” (without a girl) takes が because it’s a strongly subordinate clause (see Levels of Subordination). The が after こと, however, is present because it belongs to the set phrase ことがない. Usually, you can tell that something is a set phrase if it appears as one entry in a dictionary. If it appears with が, it is less likely to be expressed with contrastive は.

Types of Words Contrastive は Can Mark

Generally speaking, contrastive は can attach to all case-marked nouns (〜が, 〜を, 〜に, 〜で, 〜へ, 〜と, 〜から, 〜より, and 〜まで).

31. きょうはパン屋(や)へは行(い)かなかった。
Today, I didn’t go to the bread store.

However, contrastive は usually can’t attach to the following cases:

(32) and (33) are ungrammatical, because contrastive は are attaching to words marked by で expressing means and cause.

32. ×きょうは電車(でんしゃ)では来(こ)なかった。
Today, I didn’t come by bus.

33. ×きょうはかぜでは休(やす)まなかった。
Today, I didn’t stay home because of my cold.

If the speaker is mentioning some condition instead of a matter of fact, however, then contrastive は can attach to these cases.

34. 頂上(ちょうじょう)までは、車(くるま)では行(い)けない。
You can’t get to the peak with a car.

35. あいつは、ちょっとしたかぜでは休(やす)まない。
He wouldn’t take the day off just because of a cold.

Now, let’s take a look at which adverbs contrastive は can mark.

36. ×これはたいへんは面白(おもしろ)くない。
This is very uninteresting.

37. ×もうは着(つ)いていないと思(おも)う。
I think they haven’t arrived yet.

38. お昼(ひる)ごろまでは家(いえ)にいた。
I was at home until noon.

39. ×きっとは来(こ)ないと思う。
I think he will definitely not come.

40. 二百本(にひゃっぽん)は売(う)れない。
Two hundred copies is too much for me to sell.

41. 全部(ぜんぶ)は食(た)べなかった。
I didn’t eat all of it.

Generally speaking, the only adverbs that can be marked by は express tense or a quantity of something. In some cases, contrastive は can mark adverbs that express manner, but only when mentioning some condition instead of a matter of fact, shown in (42) and (43).

42. ×そっとは手渡(てわた)さなかった。
I didn’t hand it over without putting up a fight.

43. そっとは手渡せない。
I can’t hand it over without putting up a fight.

Contrastive は may also mark 〜て appearing in successive phrases.

44. かすかな音(おと)を立(た)てて降(ふ)りそそぐ雨(あめ)が、睡蓮(すいれん)の葉(は)に似(に)た輪(わ)を描(えが)いては消(き)えて行(い)く。
The rain falls with a soft sound, making short-lived circles on the water like lily leaves.

Contrastive は may also mark conditional clauses. When it marks 〜たら, 〜(れ)ば, or 〜と, the clause ending must change into 〜ては. When it marks 〜なら, the clause ending must change into 〜のでは.

45. 甘(あま)いものを食(た)べても太(ふと)らない人(ひと)もいますし、そんな子(こ)が無理(むり)に甘(あま)いものをガマンしてノイローゼになっては、元(もと)も子(こ)もありません。
There are people who don’t gain weight even if they eat sweets, so I think it’s counterproductive for her to resist them so hard if it just stresses her out.

Finally, contrastive は may appear within a predicate. The predicates 聞いてはくれた, 愛しはする, おいしくはある, and 雨ではある are all examples of this case.

46. 女性(じょせい)は凡庸(ぼんよう)さに近(ちか)いものを愛(あい)しはしますが、それだけのことです。
Women love mediocre things sometimes, that’s all.

47. また、日本IBM製(にほんあいびーえむせい)のパソコンでも、日本語(にほんご)モードを使(つか)っていれば感染(かんせん)はするが発病(はつびょう)はしないのである。
Using a computer from IBM Japan with a Japanese locale will not stop the virus from infecting your computer, but it will prevent it from delivering its payload.

Types of Exclusion

All forms of exclusive が can have one of two forms of exclusion: strong or weak.

Strong Exclusion

The nuance of strongly exclusive が expresses a clear comparison between one thing marked by exclusive が versus some other thing(s). Strong exclusion often takes the form of 〜のほうが… or 〜がいちばん… because these phrases directly imply the existence of other options that can be marked by exclusive が.

48. 神戸(こうべ)より大阪(おおさか)のほうがにぎやかだ。
Osaka is a much more livelier place than Kobe.

49. あれも嫌(きら)い、これも嫌い、と否定(ひてい)を表明(ひょうめい)しつづける人(ひと)より、あれも好(す)き、これも好き、と肯定(こうてい)を表明しつづける人のほうが、なにごとによらず喜(よろこ)びは多(おお)い。
People who are vocal about the things they love will always be more happy than people who are vocal about the things they hate.

50. 一度(いちど)帰(かえ)ったら、なかなか出(で)てこられないことは、桃子(ももこ)が一番(いちばん)よく知(し)ってるでしょう？
Out of all of us, Momoko knows better than anyone how hard it is to leave home after coming back.

Weak Exclusion

With weak exclusion, whatever is marked by exclusive が is still being singled out, but no clear comparison is drawn between it and some other thing(s). (51) through (53) and the previous example (29) are all specificational sentences with weak exclusion.

51. 君(きみ)が主役(しゅやく)だ。
You’re the lead actor.

52. 暇(ひま)を見(み)つけては遊(あそ)ぶ。これが仕事(しごと)の極意(ごくい)!
Slack off whenever you have the chance. That is the secret to working!

53. ｢そこが出口(でぐち)よ｣ と彼女(かのじょ)は言(い)った。
“The exit’s that way,” she said.

Exclusive が used in questions to ask for specification are often weakly exclusive.

54. ｢どの辺(あたり)がスキー場(じょう)になるんですか？｣
“Where is the ski resort?”

55. ｢あなたが代表者(だいひょうしゃ)ですか？｣
“Are you the representative?”

Specificational sentences that express intention are also considered weakly exclusive.

56. ｢私が行(い)きます。｣
“I will go.”

Another case where weak exclusion appears is in commands where the subject is explicitly stated. It’s rare for the subject to be mentioned in commands, so when it is, it’s likely because the speaker is specifying who should carry out the command, adding exclusive nuance.

57. ｢どいて｣
と、桃子(ももこ)は、良介(りょうすけ)のショッピングカーをつついた。
｢そっちがどけや｣
“Move,” said Momoko, nudging Ryosuke’s shopping cart.
“You move.”

Types of Words Exclusive が Can Mark

We already know that exclusive が can mark a subject, but there also exists another form of exclusive が called subjectivizing exclusive が that may mark non-subjects, turning them into subjects.

Unlike contrastive は, the set of case-marked nouns that subjectivizing exclusive が can mark is much more limited. For example, it may not mark objects.

58. わたしはジュースは飲(の)んだが、お酒(さけ)は飲まなかった。
I had juice, but no alcohol.

59. ×わたしはお酒ではなくジュースが飲んだ。
I did not drink alcohol, but juice.

The following table details the markers of case-marked nouns that subjectivizing exclusive が may replace. The original case particles must be deleted and replaced with が.

(60) is an example where の expressing possession has been replaced by subjectivizing exclusive が.

60. だが、現在(げんざい)はまだ北(きた)の高気圧(こうきあつ)の方(ほう)が勢力(せいりょく)が強(つよ)い。
But for the time being, the high-pressure system in the north is still the most severe.

(61) is an example where に expressing location has been replaced by subjectivizing exclusive が.

61. 広島(ひろしま)は流川ながれかわあたりがバーや飲屋(のみや)がおおいが、広島駅(ひろしまえき)のすぐそばの駅西えきにしの路地(ろじ)で飲(の)んだ。
In Hiroshima, there are many bars and drinking establishments around Nagarekawa, but we drank in an alley shop at Ekinishi, which is very close to Hiroshima Station.

(62) is an example where に expressing direction has been replaced by subjectivizing exclusive が.

62. 六本木(ろっぽんぎ)のディスコが芸能人(げいのうじん)がよく来(く)る。
Celebrities come to the discotheques in Roppongi often.

(63) is an example where で expressing location has been replaced by subjectivizing exclusive が.

63. この店(みせ)がつけで買物(かいもの)できる。
You can shop on credit here.

This subjectivizing function of exclusive が allows for the formation of sentences with multiple subjects. Example (60) and (62) are double-subject sentences, and the first clause of (61) is a triple-subject structure. Double-subject sentences can also be formed with topical は, which I explain in Additional は Structures.

The set of adverbs that subjectivizing exclusive が can mark is also narrower than that of contrastive は. Generally, only adverbs that express tense, such as 今 or ことし, may be marked.

64. 洗濯(せんたく)屋(や)さんはいまが一年(いちねん)で一番(いちばん)忙(いそが)しい。
The cleaners are at their busiest at this time of year.

Contrastive は and Exclusive が In Negative Statements

Consider (65) and (66):

65. あいつが許(ゆる)せない。(Exclusive が)
He is not forgivable.

66. あいつは許せない。(Contrastive は)
He is not forgivable.

The English translations and the emphasized words are approximations of the sentence’s nuance. The first sentence with exclusive が is a statement that specifies who is unforgivable out of all people, while the second sentence with contrastive は is a statement that specifies whether or not this person is unforgivable (as contrastive は in a negative statement). We can rephrase (66) here into ｢あいつが許せるというわけではない。｣ (“It is not true that he is forgivable.”)

Notice that exclusive が makes an implication about other people (that they are not the unforgivable ones), whereas this particular usage of contrastive は makes no implications about other people. Thus, contrastive は is not interchangeable with exclusive が in statements that explicitly specify something out of a pool of other things, like (67) and (68).

67. こいつよりあいつが許せない。
She’s okay, but he’s unforgiveable.

68. こいつではなくあいつが許せない。
He’s the unforgiveable one, not her.

Continued in 4. The Principle of Subordination...

The Flowchart Model

We can broadly categorize prior research findings about the Japanese topic into five main principles. There’s no need to memorize these.

1. Exclusive が vs. Contrastive は (三上章 1963, 久野暲 1973)
2. Subordinate Clauses vs. Main Clauses (南不二男 1974)
3. Judgment Sentences vs. Phenomenon Sentences (三尾砂 1948)
4. Old Information vs. New Information (松下大三郎 1930)
5. Specification vs. Supposition (三上章 1953)

Further research into the role of は and が in Japanese syntax structures has made it possible to construct a hierarchy of priorities each of these principles take when it comes to choosing between the two particles. We can use this hierarchy to construct a flowchart, but we’ll have to change up these principles so that they play nicely with each other.

Here’s the resulting flowchart:

The names of all of these new principles might sound daunting, but you can actually think of them as simple questions.

We’ll take a look at the rules that govern these principles in Chapters 3 through 6.

There are two usages of が not covered in the flowchart: “Object-Marking が” explained in Chapter 7 and が in identificational sentences explained in the addendum.

EXTRA: Alternate Flowchart

This flowchart is one based off of the full flowchart adapted from Noda’s book that contains more yes/no questions. This is approximately my thought process when I want to think about why は/が is used in a sentence.

This chart doesn’t always lead to the actual usage of は/が, partly because it doesn’t account for some rules that you’ll read about in the next sections, and partly because usage of は/が is mostly, but not entirely predictable.

EXTRA: The Unpredictability of は and が

There is evidence that the usage of は and が is not entirely predictable. The following examples (1) and (2) are introductory sentences from two different newspaper reports about the same story. But (1) is a topicless sentence, and (2) is a topic sentence.

1. インドのラオ外相(がいしょう)が十七日(じゅうしちにち)午後(ごご)六(ろく)時(じ)前(まえ)、大阪空港(おおさかくうこう)着(ちゃく)の日航(にっこう)機(き)で来日(らいにち)した。
Indian Foreign Minister Rao arrived in Japan on a Japan Airlines flight at Osaka Airport just before 6:00 p.m. on the 17th. - (｢朝日新聞｣ 1982.4.18 新刊 p.2)

2. インドのナラシマ・ラオ外相は十七日午後六時前、大阪空港着の日航機で来日した。
Indian Foreign Minister Narasimha Rao arrived in Japan on a Japan Airlines flight at Osaka Airport just before 6:00 p.m. on the 17th. - (｢毎日新聞｣ 1982.4.18 新刊 p.2)

Here is another example. 長友和彦 (1991) conducted a survey asking people to answer whether they would use は or が within the brackets【  】in the passage below (from『雪国』by 川端康成).

3. 汽車(きしゃ)が動(うご)き出(だ)しても、彼女(かのじょ)は窓(まど)から胸(むね)をいれなかった。そうして路線(ろせん)の下(した)を歩(ある)いている駅長(えきちょう)に追(お)いつくと、
       ｢駅長さん、今度(こんど)の休(やす)みの日(ひ)に家(うち)へお帰(かえ)りって、弟(おとうと)に言(い)ってやってください。｣
       ｢はあい。｣ と、駅長【  】声(こえ)を張(は)りあげた。
Even as the train began to move, she kept her body out of the window. As she passed the conductor walking below the tracks, she yelled,
       “Mr. Conductor! Tell my brother to come back home when he can!”
       “I will!” the conductor shouted back.

30% of those surveyed responded that they would use が (which was what was originally in the text), and 70% responded that they would use は.

In our flowchart, this unpredictability in the examples above stems from the “Principle of Topic Presence” stage. However, there is slight unpredictability at all stages of the flowchart.

Continued in 3. The Principle of Emphasis...

Additional は Structures

Of the other six は structures introduced alongside the basic topic sentence structure ｢父はこの本を買ってくれた。｣, four of them (excluding ｢花が咲くのは7月ごろだ。｣ and ｢このにおいはガスが漏れてるよ。｣) are double-subject structures. Double-subject structures are clauses that contain two subjects, which is ungrammatical in English, but quite common in Japanese. They are marked in bold in the following table.