A contrastive study of the relationship connecting the main and relative/participial clauses and the determining factors in English and Japanese

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24520560
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	English linguistics
Research Institution	Setsunan University
Principal Investigator	TANAKA Hideki 摂南大学, 外国語学部, 准教授 (50341186)
Project Period (FY)	2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
Budget Amount *help	¥4,550,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,050,000) Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000) Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000) Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
Keywords	日英対照研究 / 関係詞節 / 連体修飾節 / 分詞構文 / 論理関係 / 理由・条件 / 指示性 / タイプ・トークン / 連体修飾 / 関係節 / 制限・非制限 / 数量詞遊離文 / 主節 / 従属節 / 条件解釈 / 理由解釈 / 個体述語 / 場面述語 / 英語 / 日本語
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This study investigated the logical relationship between the main and the subordinate clauses, and the determining factors in English and Japanese. In English, the relationship between the main and the relative clauses has more factors than the participial clause, because relative clauses, unlike participial clauses, have their own overt subject (i.e. relative pronouns). In other words, in the case of relative clauses, the semantic and pragmatic relationships between two full clauses are taken into account. This study also examined the clausal connections in the Japanese language, which does not have any relative pronouns. It was argued that the logical relationship between the main and relative clauses is sensitive to the referentiality of the antecedent. This logical relationship then affects the acceptability of floating quantifiers.