When do you use に to indicate a cause or reason for something?

Question

I was reading a children's book and came across the following sentence:

あまりの寒さに目を覚ました。

I can tell that it means "Because of the extreme cold, he woke up," but I was kind of surprised to see に used as the particle to indicate cause.

An Internet search does tell me that に can be used to indicate a reason or cause, especially, it seems, for feeling verbs, like in the case of something like 雷に驚いた (startled by lightning) or 私に怒っている (angry with me). But I wouldn't have thought "waking up" was a feeling verb, so I'm not sure why the author used に instead of で to indicate the reason the character woke up.

Is it just a matter of style or personal preference? Is it idiomatic and I just need to grow more accustomed to when it feels more natural to use に? Would あまりの寒さで目を覚ました also be correct or does that sound weird?

Answer 1

In short,

• あまりの寒さに目を覚ました is idiomatic.
• あまりの寒さで目を覚ました is equally natural.
• There is a difference in nuance, but it is small enough and you shouldn't worry unless you are translating literary texts.

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My impression is that the usage of に is common when describing some reaction. E.g., あまりのうれしさに泣き出す (From #7 of this) is another example of "non-feeling" verb.

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Some other things vaguely relevant:

• In English, I suppose it is possible to say I wake up to the sound of something (even if not to the coldness).
• The に in に怒る means more object of the anger, not reason. English angry to should be unacceptable, but anger towards someone should be fine.

So as you mention, it is ultimately a matter of getting accustomed to various usages, but in my opinion に shares much with to, even when using to itself is not the norm in English expression.