Page 322 - Makino,Tsutusi.DictionaryOfIntermediateJGrammar

248 ni hokanaranai
where Y is either N as in KS(A) and Exs.(a), (b), (c), (f) or kara-clause
as in KS(B) and Exs.(d), (e), (g) or koto-nominalized clause as in KS(C)
and Ex.(h).
2. The phrase in question is used in written or very formal spoken Japa-
nese. The final negative -nai can be replaced by the archaic negative
marker -nu in formal written Japanese, as in (1) below:

The phrase ni suginai which means 'nothing but' sounds very close to ni
hokanamnai but they are quite different. The former means kt. / s.0. is noth-
ing more than what is stated, in terms of amount, degree, status, signifi-
cance, etc,' whereas the latter means kt. / s.0. is nothing other than X.' The
former often has downgrading nuance, but the latter lacks this nuance.

[I] a. ?;kb2%k &b&~\ / ha& 5 &L\],
(That is nothing but a rumor.)
L L t! -wl% dab, cb%
b. ~H~~FJL~~&E!E {Bd&t\/*C%h>&%&~\l~
(Yoshida is nothing but an average white-collar worker.)

Another crucial difference between the two is that ni suginai can be used
with a quantity expression but ni hokanamnai cannot, as shown in [2] and [3]
below:
<
ZD* ih.
/
[2] RO71k1t.f l-%bi5i3 N6 {B~&L\ *C%ha&%&L\),
(The hourly pay for my part-time job is merely 500 yen. (lit. The
hourly pay for my part-time job doesn't exceed 500 yen.))
tVAh. I: d.L
/
[3] %~a)EE[l~$~dcih, 54~K Iid&~\ *C%ha&%&~\l~
(I usually don't get more than four to five hours' sleep. (lit. My
sleeping hours are only 4 to 5 hours.))
Connection-wise, ni hokanaranai is attached only to a noun / noun phrase or
a kam-clause, but ni suginai is attached to a noun, a quantity expression and
Vinf.