Page 283 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

nakanaka 209

1. Nakanaka modifies only adjectives with positive meanings. Thus,
nakanaka in the following examples is unacceptable.

(3) za)Y=xc& It76 l*&tJ~&fPI %~h,
(Your tennis is quite bad, isn't it?)

2. When nakanaka occurs with the negative form of a verb it indicates the
difficulty or slowness with which s.t. desirable reaches its realization, as
shown in KS(C) and Exs.(f) - (j).
3. There are cases in which the affirmative form of a verb can be used as
shown in KS(D) and Ex.&). Notice that in these cases one could say
that the adverb yoku is understood. The deletion of yoku appears to be
allowed when it is followed by a verb that already includes the meaning
of 'well' like dekiru of KS(D) or hanaseru of Ex.&). So, if a verb
doesn't include the meaning of 'well', yoku cannot be omitted.
(5) ZO&&&%P& I&< /*#I &~f-m&,
(This picture is well painted.)
4. It is not the case that any N can follow nakanaka; only those nouns that
include the idea of an adjective or adverb can be used with nakanaka.
For example, bijin in KS(E) and benkyd-ka in Ex.(l) come from
utsukushii hito 'a beautiful woman' and yoku benkydsuru hito 'a person
who studies well.' Even the loan word purei-bdi can be used with
nakanaka, because it means yoku onna-no-ko to asobu hito 'a person
who habitually plays with girls.'