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> この本は日本語の文法の本です。 日本語というと、万葉集や源氏物語などの古代の言葉も、日本の各地で話されている方言も、みなすべて日本語ですが、この本で
> **扱える** のは現代日本の東京の言葉だけです。

I'm reading the preface of an online
[book](http://niwanoda.web.fc2.com/bunpou/000maegaki.html). Why is the word in
bold in the potential? I assume it means that the Japanese treated in the book
is only that of modern Tokyo, but is it not possible to just use 扱う?
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2022-05-08T14:33:58.350
94411
2022-05-08T15:26:37.797
2022-05-08T15:26:37.797
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question
grammar potential-form
Why is 扱う in the potential form?
> この本で扱えるのは現代日本の東京の言葉だけです

I think the potential form pairs up nicely with だけ. Literally, "In this book,
what we **are able** to handle is only the language of modern day Tokyo
Japanese", or more naturally "We can only handle the Japanese of modern day
Tokyo in this book". Presumably suggesting that they **couldn't** handle
anything else without a much bigger book.
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2022-05-08T14:55:56.653
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2022-05-08T14:55:56.653
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answer