What is the meaning of のか and how does it differ from か?


What is the meaning of のか in the following sentences? Does it have the same
meaning as のですか?

> 漢字はどう正しく書くのか、どう正しく読むのか、彼らは時々迷います。
>
> 参加するのか、参加しないのか、ここではっきり返事しなさい。

Also, I have found sentences of the same structure but instead of のか, they
contain only か. For example:

> 「白」という漢字はどんな時に「はく」と読むか、どんな時に「しろ」と読むか、首をかしげます。
>
> 彼はどの大学に入るかはまだ決めていません。

If I change the か in the above two sentences to のか, will it change the
meaning?




> "What is the meaning of のか in the following sentences? Does it have the same
> meaning as のですか?"

It appears that you may be confusing the 「か」 and 「のか」 used at the end of wh-
question clauses with the 「か」 and 「のか」as question-sentence endings. In all of
your example sentences, the 「か」 or 「のか」 is used as the former kind.

> 「どう/だれ/いつ/どこ/なに/なぜ + Mini Sentence + か/のか」 makes the wh-question clause
> complete. "how to ~~", "who ~~", "when ~~", etc.

The 「か」 or 「のか」 by itself does not have such an important meaning but it MUST
be used in pair with a question word in a question clause. You simply have no
choice but to use it.

Regarding the difference between 「か」 and 「のか」 in these types of sentences, it
seems that at least in informal speech, we have been using the two more
interchangeably by the decade. That is my honest personal observation as a
Japanese-speaker. Strictly speaking, though, you would need to use 「のか」 with a
wh-word.

If I were a grammarian, I would probably explain the difference by saying that
you would be placing more emphasis on the wh-question part by using 「のか」 than
by using 「か」. **By using 「のか」, you would be requesting a clearer or more
precise answer from the other person** (or from yourself, depending on the
context).

That would be the difference that you would probably be required to know if
you were asked about it on a test. If, however, you were just trying to make
sense of a 「か」 or 「のか」 used in a wh-question clause in an email or something
that is informal from a Japanese-speaker, you might end up reading too much
into it.

