Decomposition of Nouns: Atoms and Classifiers

• Project/Area Number: 16K02645
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Meiji Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Hiraiwa Ken 明治学院大学, 文学部, 教授 (10572737)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
• Keywords: 名詞 / 代名詞 / 名詞分解 / 不定語 / 文法数 / 数詞 / 類別詞 / 琉球語 / 分解｀ / 疑問文 / 局所性 / 裸不定語 / 日本語と琉球語 / 否定極性表現 / 統語論 / プロソディー / 日本語 / Kabiye語 / 名詞構造 / 不定代名詞 / ラベル / 言語理論 / 名詞クラス / 数 / 言語学 / 認知科学 / 心理学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project elucidated atomic functional categories and features that compose nouns and their syntactic mechanism, based on a decompositional analysis of nouns. In particular, I clarified the syntax of the three subsystems―noun class system, gender system, and classifier system― and the way in which they co-exist. Furthermore, I uncovered how they are unified in UG, building on my own fieldwork studies on Gur languages and Naha Okinawan.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究課題は、名詞の内部構造を分解解析することにより、日本語と沖縄語那覇方言とGur諸語・Bantu諸語の（代）名詞が共通の統語構造を有していることを初めて明らかにした点で、理論研究に対する学術的意義が高い。また、一方で、これらの言語における不定代名詞表現の研究を通して、自然言語が不定語から不定代名詞を形成する方法は限られた種類しか存在しないことや、否定極性表現に関する従来の記述的一般化に修正が必要であることが明らかになるなど、記述的観点からも学術的意義が認められる。

Research Products

• [Int'l Joint Research] Lund University(スウェーデン)
• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Togo(トーゴ)
• [Int'l Joint Research] Lund University(スウェーデン)
• [Int'l Joint Research] Lund University(Sweden)
• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Vienna(Austria)
• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Ghana/University of Education, Winneba(Ghana)
• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Togo(Togo)
• [Int'l Joint Research] MIT(米国)
• [Int'l Joint Research] Lund University(Sweden)
• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Vienna(Austria)
• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Ghana/University of Education, Winneba(Ghana)
• [Int'l Joint Research] University of Togo(Togo)
• [Int'l Joint Research] CNRS(France)
• [Journal Article] The Origin and Architecture of Existential Indeterminates in Okinawan (2020)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of LSA Volume: 5(1) Issue: 1 Pages: 384-384
  • DOI: 10.3765/plsa.v5i1.4705
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Bare Indeterminates in Unconditionals (2020)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa (with Kimiko Nakanishi)
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of LSA Volume: 5(1) Issue: 1 Pages: 395-395
  • DOI: 10.3765/plsa.v5i1.4706
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] 日本語の裸不定語－譲歩条件節における認可メカニズムを通して－ (2019)
  • Author(s): 平岩健（中西公子氏との共著）
  • Journal Title: 極性表現の構造・意味・機能（澤田治・岸本秀樹・今仁生美（編）） Volume: Chapter 6 Pages: 154-179
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Countersluicing (2019)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa (with Yoshiaki Kobayashi)
  • Journal Title: Syntax Volume: 未定 Issue: 3 Pages: 295-312
  • DOI: 10.1111/synt.12190
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Singularity of Indeterminates: Number Distinction without Classifiers (2019)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of 93rd Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America Volume: 4.23 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-10
  • DOI: 10.3765/plsa.v4i1.4526
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Something Visible in Japanese (2018)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Journal Title: Glossa Volume: 3(1)(132) Issue: 1 Pages: 1-23
  • DOI: 10.5334/gjgl.361
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Anatomy of what and NUMBER in Japanese (2018)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Journal Title: Snippets Volume: 32 Issue: 32 Pages: 3-5
  • DOI: 10.7358/snip-2017-032-hira
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] A Comparative Syntax of Internally-Headed Relative Clauses in Gur (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa, George Akanlig-Pare, Samuel Atintono, Adams Bodomo, Komlan Essizewa, and Fusheini Hudu
  • Journal Title: Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics Volume: 2910(27) Issue: 1 Pages: 1-30
  • DOI: 10.5334/gjgl.40
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] Labeling Roots and Pronouns (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Journal Title: Proceedings of NELS47 Volume: 47(2) Pages: 79-88
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Internally-Headed Relative Clauses (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Journal Title: The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, 2nd Edition Volume: 4 Pages: 2038-2069
• [Journal Article] On So-Called "So-Called "So-Called Pronouns"" (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hraiwa
  • Journal Title: A Pesky Set Volume: - Pages: 233-242
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] The Faculty of Language Integrates the Two Core Systems of Number (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Journal Title: Frontiers in Psychology Volume: -
  • DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00351
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Presentation] The Origin and Architecture of Existential Quantifiers in Okinawan (2020)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: The 94th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Bare Indeterminates in Unconditionals (2020)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa (with Kimiko Nakanishi)
  • Organizer: The 94th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Bare Indeterminates in Japanese (2019)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa (with Kimiko Nakanishi)
  • Organizer: Workshop on Altaic Formal Linguistics 15
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Bare Indeterminates and Intervention (2019)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa (with Kimiko Nakanishi)
  • Organizer: Japanese/Korean Linguistics 27
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] On the Singularity of Indeterminates in Japanese: A Case of Number Distinction without Classifiers (2019)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: The 93rd Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America
• [Presentation] Negative . . . Concord or Polarity?: Rethinking the NCI/NPI Partition from Okinawan (2018)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: Workshop on Altaic Formal Linguistics 14
• [Presentation] Pre-Negative NPLs in Buli (2018)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa and George Akanlig-Pare
  • Organizer: The 49th Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL 49)
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Some Consequences of the Labeling Algorithm (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: 第89回日本英文学会シンポジウム
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Decompising Indeterminate Pronouns and Composing Indefinite Pronouns (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: TEAL11
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] Syntax of Ellipsis, Pro-Form, and Haplology: Evidence from Japanese and Okinawan (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: East Asian Linguistics Seminar, Lund University
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Indeterminate Syntax in Japanese (2017)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: Grammar Seminar, Lund University
  • Invited
• [Presentation] Labeling Roots and Pronouns (2016)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: NELS 47
  • Place of Presentation: University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Amherst, MA)
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Decomposing Indeterminates and Composing Indefinite Pronouns (2016)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Organizer: NYU Syntax Brown Bag Talk
  • Place of Presentation: New York University (New York, NY)
  • Invited
• [Book] A Special Collection of Glossa: Internally-Headed Relative Clauses (2016)
  • Author(s): Ken Hiraiwa
  • Publisher: Ubiquity Press