可能性を無くした「かもしれない」

Abstract

This paper shows that the expression kamo(shirenai) in Japanese can be used both as (a) an epistemic modal indicating a possibility of states and as (b) a direct evidential marker, where the alternative possibility disappears. This paper concludes the characteristics of kamo(shirenai) as follows. 1. For the epistemic use (kamo1), the speaker uses kamo1 to express that the truth of the proposition p has not yet been committed. Thus, there exist both the possibility of p and the possibility of not p. 2. For the direct evidential use (kamo2), the speaker's evaluative judgment based on evidence from his/ her direct experience is the essential condition for its interpretation. This evaluative judgment causes the possibility of not p to disappear. 3. The evaluative judgment must involve (i) description of the current state, and (ii) scalar predicates. 4. Since kamo2 is attached to a proposition p involving evaluative judgment, which entails the truth of p, kamo2 does not express a possibility but serves as a hedge.