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I keep on coming across the particle か at the end of sentences without it
having a clear or necessary interrogative nuance.

An example. The 1st Angel in Neon Genesis Evangelion is regenerating itself
after the first raid: 予想通り、自己修復中か. Why would they introduce an interrogative
nuance into what was already a predicted outcome?

I get the impression that Japanese speech encourages the use of か without any
specific interrogative or grammatical purpose other than providing a strong
phonetic closure to a sentence? Can anyone confirm or dispel this impression?
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2020-05-28T18:03:44.683
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2020-05-29T09:24:11.157
2020-05-28T19:00:28.503
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question
grammar particles anime particle-か interrogatives
Seemingly non-interrogative use of sentence-ending か
This function of this か is not purely phonetic, but rather serves to make the
sentence less of a outward statement and more of a self-directed or self-
reflecting one.

It makes the information value of sentence primarily be “I had considered ~
previously but wasn’t sure, but in the end it indeed it is 〜, huh...”

It’s often is accompanied by やっぱり (or 予想通り playing a similar role in this
sentence). Even when such an adverb isn’t present, you can imagine it being
there. E.g. そっか{HHL} can basically be expanded to やっぱりそうだったのか.
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2020-05-28T20:13:35.557
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2020-05-28T20:13:35.557
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answer
To take a more common example, you will often hear people responding to new
information with そうですか。 This is not a question. It is more like "Oh, I see."
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2020-05-29T09:24:11.157
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2020-05-29T09:24:11.157
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answer