な directly after a noun (not a な-adjective)


While reading a grammar book, I read the following explanation of な

> **な** **_na,_** **a masculine** **_ne_**
>
> Both sexes use _ne_ , but male speakers often use _na_ instead. There are
> other uses of _na_ common to both genders, but it's mostly masculine to use
> it as the equivalent of a rhetorical tag question that expects or solicits
> agreement. **One important difference:** **_na_** **cannot be used directly
> after a noun the way** **_ne_** **is used in the example**
> **「まあ、ふきのとう。春ねえ。」** **whether as an exclamation or as a tag question/request
> for confirmation.**

Why can't な be used directly after a common, non-な-adjective noun without
declarative だ like ね? What would the meaning be if it were? For example, if a
Japanese speaker read「まあ、ふきのとう。春なあ」how would the interpretation change?

Edit: わ, ぞ, and ぜ also require the declarative だ at the end of noun-type
sentences. Why?




Whether or not you need だ/です between a noun and a sentence-end particle
depends on the choice of the particle. **Unfortunately, you have to memorize**
which requires だ/です. Anyway, each combination has its own "feeling", and you
have to read lots of Japanese text to familiarize yourself. That said, it's
good to know だ itself tends to have a bit masculine or blunt overtone.

よ and ね work without だ, but adding だ makes it sound more masculine.

  * 春よ。: highly feminine
  * 春ですよ。: neutral but slightly feminine, polite
  * 春だよ。: relatively masculine or tomboyish
  * 春ね。: feminine (sounds like a mom speaking to her child)
  * 春ですね。: neutral, formal
  * 春だね。: relatively masculine (sounds like a dad speaking to his child)

* * *

な, わ, ぜ and ぞ require だ or です after the noun.

  * ×春わ。 (ungrammatical)
  * △春ですわ。: extremely feminine (sounds like a fictional noble girl)
  * 春だわ。: highly feminine
  * ×春ぜ。 (ungrammatical)
  * △春ですぜ。: highly masculine (sounds like a rough guy trying to be polite)
  * △春だぜ。: highly masculine (sounds like a heroic boy in a shonen manga)
  * ×春な。 (ungrammatical, although [Yotsuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsuba_Koiwai) uses this a lot. It also makes sense when it works like a topic particle, e.g., お前なぁ…)
  * △春ですな。: masculine (sounds like an elderly pompous butler, novelist, etc.)
  * 春だな。: masculine
  * ×春ぞ。 (ungrammatical, but rare archaic copula-like ぞ exists, e.g. 我は魔王ぞ)
  * △春ですぞ。: masculine (sounds like a comical old man)
  * 春だぞ。: masculine or tomboyish

* * *

さ/や/じゃ works like a copula themselves.

  * 春さ。: masculine or tomboyish, dialectal
  * ×春ですさ。 (ungrammatical)
  * ×春ださ。 (ungrammatical)
  * 春や。: masculine, dialectal
  * ×春ですや。 (ungrammatical)
  * ×春だや。 (ungrammatical)

(× indicates ungrammatical. △ indicates the expression is part of a role
language and used only by a certain category of people in fictional works.)

Na-adjectives like 元気 follow the same pattern. Explanatory-の/ん works basically
in the same way (because の/ん is a formal noun), but some are strongly
associated with either one of の and ん.




Whether or not you need だ/です between a noun and a sentence-end particle
depends on the choice of the particle. **Unfortunately, you have to memorize**
which requires だ/です. Anyway, each combination has its own "feeling", and you
have to read lots of Japanese text to familiarize yourself. That said, it's
good to know だ itself tends to have a bit masculine or blunt overtone.

よ and ね work without だ, but adding だ makes it sound more masculine.

  * 春よ。: highly feminine
  * 春ですよ。: neutral but slightly feminine, polite
  * 春だよ。: relatively masculine or tomboyish
  * 春ね。: feminine (sounds like a mom speaking to her child)
  * 春ですね。: neutral, formal
  * 春だね。: relatively masculine (sounds like a dad speaking to his child)

* * *

な, わ, ぜ and ぞ require だ or です after the noun.

  * ×春わ。 (ungrammatical)
  * △春ですわ。: extremely feminine (sounds like a fictional noble girl)
  * 春だわ。: highly feminine
  * ×春ぜ。 (ungrammatical)
  * △春ですぜ。: highly masculine (sounds like a rough guy trying to be polite)
  * △春だぜ。: highly masculine (sounds like a heroic boy in a shonen manga)
  * ×春な。 (ungrammatical, although [Yotsuba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsuba_Koiwai) uses this a lot. It also makes sense when it works like a topic particle, e.g., お前なぁ…)
  * △春ですな。: masculine (sounds like an elderly pompous butler, novelist, etc.)
  * 春だな。: masculine
  * ×春ぞ。 (ungrammatical, but rare archaic copula-like ぞ exists, e.g. 我は魔王ぞ)
  * △春ですぞ。: masculine (sounds like a comical old man)
  * 春だぞ。: masculine or tomboyish

* * *

さ/や/じゃ works like a copula themselves.

  * 春さ。: masculine or tomboyish, dialectal
  * ×春ですさ。 (ungrammatical)
  * ×春ださ。 (ungrammatical)
  * 春や。: masculine, dialectal
  * ×春ですや。 (ungrammatical)
  * ×春だや。 (ungrammatical)

(× indicates ungrammatical. △ indicates the expression is part of a role
language and used only by a certain category of people in fictional works.)

Na-adjectives like 元気 follow the same pattern. Explanatory-の/ん works basically
in the same way (because の/ん is a formal noun), but some are strongly
associated with either one of の and ん.

