방윤형 (고려대학교 언어정보연구소). 2009. 현대일본어의「まえ」의 의미와 기능 (The Meanings and Functions of 'mae' in Modern Japanese). Language Information. Volume 10. 5-19.
In this paper, the meanings and functions of “mae” in modern Japanese are examined. The results are summarized as below.
Firstly, “mae” in modern Japanese has the usages of space, time, and reason.
Secondly, although space is the primary usage of “mae” conjuct to noun, “mae” also has the usages of time and reason.
Thirdly, time is the primary usage of “mae” conjuct to verb, but space is also the usage of “mae”. For the usage of space, the case of “mae” is limited to “de” case and “ni” case. For the usage of time, “mae” has the meaning of temporal relations of two events.
Keywords: "mae", space, time, reason