What does 「なし」in 「問題なし」 mean?


I just started playing the video game Mother 3, and if you try to examine the
trash can in front of his house, Lucas says, `問題なし`.

I expect this means something like, "no problem here", but I haven't been able
to confirm that so far.

What kind of construction is the なし part?




The basic meaning of なし is the same as ない, but its grammar is different.

* * *

Long ago, adjectives used to have separate sentence-final forms (with し) and
pre-noun forms (with き). People gradually started using the き form at the end
of sentences too, and eventually the /k/ dropped out, turning it into い:

[code]

    　赤　　　root 
    　赤し　　       sentence-final form                    　　(historical)  
    　赤き　　                                 pre-noun form　　(historical)  
    　赤い　       　sentence-final form  AND  pre-noun form　　(modern)
    
[/code]

A few adjectives had the し ending built-in as part of the root. They
conjugated pretty much the same way, except the sentence-final form didn't
need an extra し added since one was already built-in:

[code]

    　美し　　root 
    　美し　　       sentence-final form                    　　(historical)  
    　美しき　                                 pre-noun form　　(historical)  
    　美しい　       sentence-final form  AND  pre-noun form　　(modern)
    
[/code]

The し ending is now lost for most adjectives, although you'll hear it
sometimes when people quote the literary language. The き ending too is
considered literary, but you'll probably recognize it from literary contexts
such as song titles, where it's used to this day.

* * *

However, certain adjectives have fossilized forms available that are still
used in modern Japanese as modern words, without the feeling that they're
literary forms. なし is one of these. Etymologically, it's the same word as ない,
but it should be distinguished in modern Japanese because its usage is
different.

Of course, なし can be used more than one way, and some of those ways overlap
with ない, which is unsurprising since they're historically the same word. Let's
focus on the way it's used in 問題なし:

  1. It attaches directly to nouns without giving the impression that anything is omitted:

> 問題なし

Although phrases like 問題な **い** are relatively common as well, I think 問題
**が** なし is significantly less common than 問題 **が** ない. It's probably best not
to consider 問題なし as a case of ellipsis.

  2. なし is commonly treated as though it's nominalized, in which case it can be followed with the copula だ, genitive の, adverbial に, etc.:

> ○問題なしだ okay  
>  ×問題ないだ non-standard

In this sense, we can say なし means ないこと. In this usage, it's often
characterized as suffix-like or as forming compounds, but it can be treated as
nominalized even when it's not attached to a noun, so "suffix" doesn't work as
a complete description.

  3. It can be translated "no 〜" or "without 〜" in many cases.

> 問題無し (literally "no problem[s]" / "without a problem")

Although なし can be treated as nominal, it doesn't have to be. You can use
「問題なし」 or 「異常なし」 and such as complete utterances, if you like. But any large
dictionary should have plenty of examples where it's followed by particles
that follow nominals such as だ・の・に・で・と. Let's take a look at some examples
from 研究社 新和英大辞典:

>   1. 休日 **なしで** 働く  
>  _work without even a holiday_
>
>   2. アスピリン・砂糖 **なしの** 錠剤  
>  _an aspirin-free, sugar-free tablet_
>
>   3. さあさあ、堅苦しいことは **なしだ** 。  
>  _Relax. Stop being so formal._
>
>   4. 断りも **なしに** 休まれては困るね。  
>  _If you take the day off without even telling me, it causes problems._
>
>   5. 一歩後退の感 **なしと** しない。  
>  _One would be hard put to deny that things have taken a step backward._
>
>   6. お互い隠し事は **なしに** しましょう。  
>  _Let's not have any secrets between us._
>
>

There are plenty more! It's common to use なし this way, even though it was
historically a sentence-ending form. One more usage of note is as a
conjunctive form, similar to なく. Here's an example from Martin's 1975
_Reference Grammar of Japanese_ , p.833:

> 今でもね、あたくしのうちっていうのは、ラジオは **なし** 、黒白のぶっ壊れのテレビしかないんです。  
>  _Even now, you know, at my house there's no radio, there's just busted
> black-and-white television._

Personally, I suggest you memorize なし as having its own set of grammatical
patterns in modern Japanese, and pay attention to how it's used. You'll find
that certain phrases with なし are especially common, and your example of 問題なし
is one of those.

(There's probably more to say about it, so watch for additional answers!)




The basic meaning of なし is the same as ない, but its grammar is different.

* * *

Long ago, adjectives used to have separate sentence-final forms (with し) and
pre-noun forms (with き). People gradually started using the き form at the end
of sentences too, and eventually the /k/ dropped out, turning it into い:

[code]

    　赤　　　root 
    　赤し　　       sentence-final form                    　　(historical)  
    　赤き　　                                 pre-noun form　　(historical)  
    　赤い　       　sentence-final form  AND  pre-noun form　　(modern)
    
[/code]

A few adjectives had the し ending built-in as part of the root. They
conjugated pretty much the same way, except the sentence-final form didn't
need an extra し added since one was already built-in:

[code]

    　美し　　root 
    　美し　　       sentence-final form                    　　(historical)  
    　美しき　                                 pre-noun form　　(historical)  
    　美しい　       sentence-final form  AND  pre-noun form　　(modern)
    
[/code]

The し ending is now lost for most adjectives, although you'll hear it
sometimes when people quote the literary language. The き ending too is
considered literary, but you'll probably recognize it from literary contexts
such as song titles, where it's used to this day.

* * *

However, certain adjectives have fossilized forms available that are still
used in modern Japanese as modern words, without the feeling that they're
literary forms. なし is one of these. Etymologically, it's the same word as ない,
but it should be distinguished in modern Japanese because its usage is
different.

Of course, なし can be used more than one way, and some of those ways overlap
with ない, which is unsurprising since they're historically the same word. Let's
focus on the way it's used in 問題なし:

  1. It attaches directly to nouns without giving the impression that anything is omitted:

> 問題なし

Although phrases like 問題な **い** are relatively common as well, I think 問題
**が** なし is significantly less common than 問題 **が** ない. It's probably best not
to consider 問題なし as a case of ellipsis.

  2. なし is commonly treated as though it's nominalized, in which case it can be followed with the copula だ, genitive の, adverbial に, etc.:

> ○問題なしだ okay  
>  ×問題ないだ non-standard

In this sense, we can say なし means ないこと. In this usage, it's often
characterized as suffix-like or as forming compounds, but it can be treated as
nominalized even when it's not attached to a noun, so "suffix" doesn't work as
a complete description.

  3. It can be translated "no 〜" or "without 〜" in many cases.

> 問題無し (literally "no problem[s]" / "without a problem")

Although なし can be treated as nominal, it doesn't have to be. You can use
「問題なし」 or 「異常なし」 and such as complete utterances, if you like. But any large
dictionary should have plenty of examples where it's followed by particles
that follow nominals such as だ・の・に・で・と. Let's take a look at some examples
from 研究社 新和英大辞典:

>   1. 休日 **なしで** 働く  
>  _work without even a holiday_
>
>   2. アスピリン・砂糖 **なしの** 錠剤  
>  _an aspirin-free, sugar-free tablet_
>
>   3. さあさあ、堅苦しいことは **なしだ** 。  
>  _Relax. Stop being so formal._
>
>   4. 断りも **なしに** 休まれては困るね。  
>  _If you take the day off without even telling me, it causes problems._
>
>   5. 一歩後退の感 **なしと** しない。  
>  _One would be hard put to deny that things have taken a step backward._
>
>   6. お互い隠し事は **なしに** しましょう。  
>  _Let's not have any secrets between us._
>
>

There are plenty more! It's common to use なし this way, even though it was
historically a sentence-ending form. One more usage of note is as a
conjunctive form, similar to なく. Here's an example from Martin's 1975
_Reference Grammar of Japanese_ , p.833:

> 今でもね、あたくしのうちっていうのは、ラジオは **なし** 、黒白のぶっ壊れのテレビしかないんです。  
>  _Even now, you know, at my house there's no radio, there's just busted
> black-and-white television._

Personally, I suggest you memorize なし as having its own set of grammatical
patterns in modern Japanese, and pay attention to how it's used. You'll find
that certain phrases with なし are especially common, and your example of 問題なし
is one of those.

(There's probably more to say about it, so watch for additional answers!)

