So in the third line of the song Hacking to the Gate there is a も that comes after the verb. I don’t think I’ve seen it used like that anywhere else. Is it an abbreviation of some longer grammar function?
数十億もの 鼓動の数さえ
あなたには 瞬き程度の些事な等級
過去に囚われて 未来を嘆くも←This one
塵一つ 誤算を許さぬ必然
Edit: Link to the song:
I’m actually watching Steins;Gate at the moment, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this thread.
Maybe this も isn’t 100% grammatically correct in terms of how it’s placed in this case, but it works with the music. There is some ambiguity, but I think it could be translated as and/or i.e. “trapped in the past and/or grieving for the future”
Initially, I thought maybe it was being used as “also/too” to emphasize that 嘆くwas not the only feeling involved, but upon listening to that section, I can confidently say that its used as a 副助詞. も being used as a 副助詞 has three functions, which are; comparing differences, comparing similarities, and showing emphasis. In this case も is being used to emphasize 嘆く. This is similar to how も is used in the following sentence: 「店に入るのに2時間もかかった。」
So this is a case of the rest of the line being omitted because it makes sense even without it? Like omitting 私は and the like except the end of the sentence is dropped? Any idea what would come there?
I don’t think its omitting it as much as it is changing up the order for composition/lyrics.
Much like you would say:
“Today I ate some bread” normally, but for emphasis/drama you can say “I ate some bread, today.”
So,
“過去に囚われて 未来も嘆く” can turn to “過去に囚われて 未来を嘆くも”, I think it even makes more sense if you consider that も usually overtakes を when used.
So to kind force this into natural™ English も is basically changing from “also” to “as well” like so:
過去に囚われて未来も嘆く
Trapped in the past while also lamenting the future
↓
過去に囚われて未来を嘆くも
Trapped in the past while lamenting the future as well
Sort of feeling?
「過去に囚われて未来を嘆くも」has more of a "Trapped in the past while lamenting the future. " kind of nuance. I’m not sure if this makes sense, but maybe the easiest way to explain this is, も is used like verbal italicization to emphasize the word that comes before も. The example sentence I wrote earlier ,「店に入るのに2時間もかかった。」, would translate as “It took us TWO HOURS to get into the store.” However, saying 「店に入るのに2時間かかった。」 without も would translate as “It took us two hours to get into the store” and does not emphasize the time it took, and has a nuance of just stating facts.
I apologize if this confuses you even further
Yeah I recognize that property of も from Bunpro. I never realized it could be used with verbs though. Do you have any other examples (involving verbs)?
I don’t know if it’s related, but it seems like classical Japanese had a も sentence ending particle (終助詞) at least according to these two different pages I found. Page One and Page Two
The first page even says it attaches to the plain form (終止形) of verbs like you see happening in the song in the OP.
Not really no, it’s more like emphasis. I think @Fuga explained it really well down bellow!
Some other examples of this use:
ここからあそこまで１０mもないだろう。
I don’t think there’s even 10 meters from here to there.
あいつは本当に失礼な奴だな。道であっても、挨拶もしない。
That guy is really rude. He won’t even greet me if we meet on the street.
Interestingly my Japanese friends agree with your conclusion. Saying Verb+も is an archaic way of saying Verb+ても “even if, but, however”.
This explanation makes sense to me, especially considering these are song lyrics and not a grammatically precise essay. As far as I know the dictionary form of a verb+も is not used in modern Japanese. Unless it’s a noun phrase like 嘆くことも However, we do see the form 嘆いても (even if grieving) and as pointed in that text:
「未来を嘆くも」は「未来を嘆いても」に言いかえられます。
After reading the links provided by @gyroninja, it seems like 終助詞 is better fitting than what I initially stated. Thank you for the useful link @gyroninja!