Saturday, 30 May 2015

grammar - What does なる mean in these cases?


I'm not sure if these two have the same meaning, but I don't think they bear the meaning that I know which is the basic なる (to become).





  1. 内なる声と言いますか・・




  2. 彼女よりさらに深遠の、未知なる人物こそが黒幕なのではないかと疑わせるのだ…。







Answer



This なる is a form of the old copula なり (equivalent to modern だ), and specifically an earlier form of the usage that became the modern な particle used with adjectives. There are a few adjectives that can still take なる instead of な in modern Japanese; this form generally has a literary or poetic-sounding effect.


In the case of the specific two adjectives used here, 内 and 未知, the なる form is actually the only form they can take as な-adjectives in modern Japanese - 内なXX and 未知なXX aren't really used. However, they can be used regularly as noun forms, so 未知なるXX could be rephrased as the equivalent but less poetic-sounding 未知のXX, and 内なるXX similarly as 内のXX (though in the latter case it's perhaps not the most natural expression).


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