Japanese Geminate Marker “small Tsu” as a Sentence-Final Expression in Written Japanese
Abstract
The present study explores cases of the small tsu (つ) in the sentence-final position in Japanese. The small tsu in Japanese is typically labeled as a marker of gemination, which consists of double consonants in Japanese. Double consonants in Japanese typically occur only word-medially and do not occur at the word-initial or word-final position; however, the small tsu is also used in the sentence-final position, and these cases of the small tsu do not involve double consonants or gemination. The present study demonstrates that the sentence-final tsu is used as a discourse marker signaling that the writer is reacting to what is being stated in an emotional manner. The present study also explores cases of the sentence-final small tsu followed by the exclamation mark (!) in written Japanese.
Publication Title
East Asian Pragmatics
Recommended Citation
Nishi, H. (2025). Japanese Geminate Marker “small Tsu” as a Sentence-Final Expression in Written Japanese. East Asian Pragmatics, 10 (1), 98-120. https://doi.org/10.3138/EAP-2024-2666
