May 2012
Ishiki Tanaka
A Japanese expression “mono-desu” at the end of sentences is often used in news reporting such as “kono jiken ha … shita-mono-desu” meaning “This case involved …” or “It is confirmed that this case was …” This unique phrase makes news reports more “news-like,” but some involving in news broadcasting say that “this expression is too stiff and pompous and should be replaced by something else.” In order to find clues for solution, the author analyzes the expression “mono-desu” from various angles.
To examine the structure of news scripts including “mono-desu,” author categorized “mono-desu” expression into four types to analyze the sentence structure, using past findings from studies on Japanese grammar.
One type is represented by “kono moyooshi ha … ga hiraita mono-desu” (It is confirmed this event is organized by …) in which “mono-desu” can simply be omitted while another type is represented by “kono jiken ha … shita-mono-desu” (This case involved …) in which “mono-desu” cannot be easily omitted. In exploring what makes the difference, the author came up with the difference in the forms of adnominal modification, or how “mono” in “mono-desu” is modified in a sentence. After examining past news script quantitatively using a database, it was revealed that the usage of “mono-desu” was decreased to about one fourth over the past twenty years. Further analysis of the four types showed the degree of decrease considerably differs depending on the above-mentioned types. The author examines the expression” “mono-desu” in broadcasting news based on the sentence structure analysis as well as the quantitative word analysis.