Study On [DAKARA]

[DAKARA] is formerly a connective linking things with causal relationships. However, in actual daily conversation, especially among those who take Japanese as their mother tongue, not only does it has this theoretical function of connecting, it has also assumed more complex functions and meanings. To better facilitate foreigners learning Japanese to use this word properly, it is justifiable to clarify its various functions and meanings. There are some researches about [DAKARA] domestically, but concerning its context spread function, little evidence can be found.Within the framework of pragmatics, based on former researches from home and abroad, this thesis which picks up substantial daily conversations will concentrate on the context spread function of [DAKARA] and the way it relates to character relationships and conversational scenes.This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction which depicts the research background, research purpose, research order and the materials adopted. In the second chapter, the nature and functions of [DAKARA] in the former researches are rearranged and the question points are brought out. The third chapter is the main body of this thesis, for it makes a detailed and classified analysis of [DAKARA] concerning its context spread function in daily conversation, and eventually finds out [DAKARA]'s spread functions in ten types of conversations within 3 categories. Then, the forth chapter observes the relationships between the usage of [DAKARA] and character relationships and also conversational scenes, which will lead to the finding that the occurring frequency of [DAKARA] increases if the relationship is closer. Finally, the fifth chapter draws the conclusion and provides some possible research topics in the future.