4

In the phrase かといって or かと言って, meaning having said that, on the other hand, I'm not sure what the か and と are.

My first guess is that these are the generic particles (か+と+いって), but I couldn't find any evidence to suggest that　(or, for that matter, to refute it).

Of course, I could be over thinking this, so it could be a "that's just how it is said" kind of phrase.

||improve this question
2

Like you say, かと言って is just か＋と＋言って.

  • か makes it into a question
  • と is the quoting particle
  • 言って is "say/called"

It can appear without any ambiguity in the middle of a sentence

家まで送ろうかと言ってくれた。
He offered to bring me home.

When it is used as a conjunction at the beginning at a sentence it works like というか, なので, だから, etc., which apply to the whole preceding sentence (or argument).

||improve this answer
  • 2
    The ka to itte being used in your sentence and the one in this question are semantically different. The later requires a negative predicate. – Dono Mar 29 '13 at 1:41
  • @Dono I guess that's true. I wonder why, though. Maybe because かといって as a conjunction that "quotes" a whole phrase implies a stronger contrast? Then the whole preceding sentence is taken to be a positive statement and the following sentence contrasts it and must be negative...? – Earthliŋ♦ Mar 29 '13 at 1:50
  • 3
    I don't see it as a given that the か in the question's かといって is the same morpheme as the question-か. It might originally have been, but I hardly see any semantic relation anymore. The meaning is more like だからといって. – dainichi Mar 29 '13 at 8:14
  • @dainichi I see. I think of it as a shortening of そう(なの)かといって. (Similarly, the conjunction なので could be expanded to そうなので, だから to そうだから etc.) The か in そう(なのか)といって seems to be exactly the か that appears as question marker. – Earthliŋ♦ Mar 29 '13 at 15:23
  • 2
    ^ そうですね。「かといって」は、「そうかといって」とも言いますよね。（なぜ「だからといって」「そうだからといって」と同じ意味になるのか不思議です。。。ちょっとググったけどわかりませんでした） – user1016 Mar 29 '13 at 18:12

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.