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While studying yesterday, I came across two words with the suffix さ:

無邪気さ(translated as innocence) and 寛大さ (translated as generosity).

1) What's the difference between these words and the words without the さ? I
thought that な-adjectives without the な are already nouns.

2) Can I add さ to other 形容動詞 too, for example 人気さ or 便利さ?
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2015-06-04T01:05:30.670
24768
2015-06-04T01:50:12.520
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question
suffixes na-adjectives
A Question About the Suffix さ
1) I know that some people like to categorize な-adjectives in this way, but
IMHO it's silly. There are many な-adjectives that don't work as nouns without
the な, and there are many nouns that don't work as な-adjectives by adding な.

2) さ is quite productive, so in general, I _want_ to say yes. However:

  * Although everybody will understand 人気さ (and I can find many examples of it on Google), it sounds (to me) a bit clumsy or childish, since 人気 is already also a noun meaning the same thing. 
  * 便利さ is completely grammatical, and is in fact probably the most common way to express the concept. However, there is often another more technical word expressing the same thing, in this case for example 便益.
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2015-06-04T01:50:12.520
24772
2015-06-04T01:50:12.520
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