Grammatical role of なん

[eeky]

Hi.

今日も、また残業なんですよ。 ("More overtime again today!")

I get the gist of this OK, but I'd like to understand the exact grammatical role of なん a little better. Can anyone help explain this?

 

[Toritoribe]

なんです is a colloquial form of なのです.

な: the adjectival form of the copula だ
ん: The following thread might be helpful.

The "redundant" "n" before "da" and "desu" | Japan Forum

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe. I am happy with ん now. Can you explain why we use な here and not だ? Would だんです or だのです be grammatical in this sentence? Grammatical ever?

 

[Glenn]

Grammatical never. It's the same reason it's なのに and not だのに: basically だ becomes な before の. I can't think of a good example with なのは or なのを etc. right now, though.

 

[masaegu]

今日も、また残業なんですよ。 ("More overtime again today!")
I get the gist of this OK, but I'd like to understand the exact grammatical role of なん a little better. Can anyone help explain this?

Not sure why no one has explained what's specifically been asked. This person isn't asking for the parsing.

なの（colloquially なん） serves to indicate that the speaker is bringing "news" to the listener.

 

[Toritoribe]

As explained in the thread I quoted in my previous post, のです/んです shows a kind of "explanation."
(the usage #1 in the following link)

「の」の検索結果 - Yahoo!辞書

今日飲みに行きませんか？
今日もまた残業なんですよ。(So I can't.)

This is just from の（だ/です） and not from なの.

今日飲みに行きませんか？
今日もまた残業させられるんですよ。

 

[Glenn]

The OP did also say "I am happy with ん now."...