na vs i adjectives...

[SilEighty]

If an adjective is a -na adjective, but has an i ending, can it also be used as an i adjective?

example:
kokkei - could this be used as
kore wa kokke kuna katta?

[zengargoyle]

no. -i adjectives are true adjectives, they have a builtin "is" verb-ish function:

難しい日本語 -- muzukashii nihongo -- hard japanese (a modified noun)
日本語が難しい。 -- nihongo ga muzukashii. -- japanese *is* hard (complete sentence)

-na adjectives aren't. they're nouns. a sorta special type of noun, but nouns nonetheless.

変な夢 -- hen na yume -- strange dream -- (a noun modified by a descriptive noun with na)
夢がへんだ。 -- yume ga hen da. -- the dream is strange. -- (complete sentence: noun ga noun desu.)

here the *is* part is played by the copula "da" or more politely "desu".

so, just because a descriptive noun ends in -i doesn't make it an adjective, it still needs the na or the da/desu.

i have a sneaky suspicion that "na" in this usage is some bizarre form of "da", but that's a different matter.

[SilEighty]

ぜんぜんわからない。。。。 I guess this is something that just makes itself clear over time? I hope so, because my ears are bleeding.....

[skrhgh3b]

You know, speaking of な and だ, it occurred to me the other day that です is probably just a contraction of ではあります. I don't know for sure - just a sneaking suspicion. Anyway, な and だ have got to be related, but I'm no authority on Japanese etymology whatsoever.

[zengargoyle]

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/afaq/de-arimasu.html

maybe, maybe not...

[skrhgh3b]

and i said ではあります - that was typo, I assure you