Particle usage of に in 南北に長い?

Question

I was reading page 5 of my 上級へのとびら textbook, and in line 12, the following sentence caught my eye:

日本は南北に長いので……

I cannot figure out why the に is used instead of が (南北が長い). Is に the 連用形 of なる here?

Upvoted being a fan of Tobira myself. I read it all three times over the years. — Tommy, Jul 18 '17 at 8:09

macraf · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-18 05:58:54Z

6

Turns a noun 南北 into an adverbial expression, i.e. answers the question "how?" Let's say ..."north-south-directionally".

And the expression then modifies the adjective "long".

In English it would translate to "long in north-south direction".

answered Jul 18 '17 at 5:58

macraf

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mackygoo · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-18 10:35:33Z

日本語

「日本は南北方向に長い」という意味で「日本は南北に長い」と言います。「東西に長い」も「東西方向に長い」の代わりにごく普通に使います。

We usually say "日本は南北に長い" having a meaning of "日本は南北方向に長い". In addition to this, it is very common to use "東西に長い" in place of "東西方向に長い".