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そう form

Zizka

Sempai
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14 Apr 2016
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This is a follow-up to this thread.
The original message is this one:
TxVNHzJ.png

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「やみのきゅうでんの中よ
一見 なにも なさそうだけど
この部屋には ヒミツが ありそうね」
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That's from the meaning of the suffix ~そう, not just ありそう, i.e., "the -masu stem of ある + そう". All this そう works as a na-adjective.

"for all negatives, the 「い」must be replaced with 「さ」

Look up explanations for how the existence verb works. ある・(では)ない
And then look up conjugation of adjectives. おいしい・おいしくない etc.
And then look up how the adjective+そう pattern works.
おいしい・おいしそう・おいしくない・おいしくなさそう

Oh right, I made a mistake. I'll try again.
1. おいしい is a い-adjective.
2. If it were the affirmative, I'd just remove the 「い」and add 「そう」as in:
この漬物はおいしそう!

3. Since it's the negative, however, I'd remove the 「い」and replace it with 「くない」:
おいしくない

4. Going to back to the 「そう」construction, I can now make the necessary modifications that I was supposed to do namely:
おいしくな to おいしくなさそう.
And then look up how the adjective+そう pattern works.
この漬物はおいしそう!
This pickled vegetable looks good!
これも
結構よさそうだけど[...]
This one seems to be good...
From what I gather, the adjective+そう pattern means "adj. looks something".

Those are two different meanings of そう. Check again what forms are attached to そう.
If you mean in general, "we can use this grammar by simply attaching 「そう」to the end of verbs, and adjectives." GJG, p.224.
In the case of 「なさそう」, the そう suffix is attached to ある:
ある:affirmative
ない: negative
なそう:negative+そう

Maybe go back to the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar and look up そう. There should be two entries, one for plain form + そう, and one for stem + そう.
In the DBJG, there are two entries for そう but no entries for just そう by itself.
There are two different meanings for そうだ:
a. hearsay p.407
b. "an auxiliary adjective which indicates what is expressed by the preceding sentence is the speaker's conjecture concerning an event in the future or the present state of someone or something, based on what the speaker sees or feels" p.410
That's from the meaning of the suffix ~そう, not just ありそう, i.e., "the -masu stem of ある + そう".
The masu stem of 「ある」 is 「あり」. 「ありそう」would therefore fit in the "conjecture" meaning of そうだ.
There is no 「だ」in that sentence however:
「ありそうね」
so I'm unsure whether or not it would apply.
Regarding the examples given:
"Seems like"
高そうだ: it looks expensive
静かそうだ: it looks quiet
vs
"Hearsay"
高いそうだ: I heard that it's expensive
静かだそうだ: I heard that it's calm
Those are the two different meanings of そう that I can pick up.
Therefore in the case of ありそう, it'd be similar to:
話しそうだ
It looks like s.o. will talk
ありそうだ
It appears to exist
 
I don't know what you want to say or trying to understand after reading this. But judging from the image, it is not hearsay.
 
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