| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SHIBATANI Masayoshi Kobe Univ., Bungaku, Prof., 文学部, 教授 (60127371)
OKUTSU Keiichiro Nihon Joshi Univ., Bungaku, Prof., 文学部, 教授 (40086947)
NOMOTO Kikuo Shoin Joshi Gakuin Univ., Bungaku, Prof., 文学部, 教授 (40000400)
MURAKI Masatake Dokkyo Univ., Foreign Languages, Prof., 外国語学部, 教授 (20052201)
MIZUTANI Osamu The National Language Institute, Director, 所長 (60088789)
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| Research Abstract |
The research aim : To set up "Integrated Functional Grammar", a system with organically interdependent modules of grammatical components that interact with functional modules, and to activate linguistic theory and the Japanese language teaching.
1. Theoretical research :
(1) The Voice phenomena covering causative, passive, potential, ergative, and middle constructions, were traditionally analyzed either as syntactic or lexical derivations. This research revealed that a very small number of basic principles decide derivations based on the lexical information concerning argument structures and theta grids. As the result, the Projection Principle, according to which the theta structure of each lexical item is mapped to the D-structure, the distinction between lexical and syntactic derivations, independence of each construction were reexamined, followed by the proposal of their modifications.
(2) Based on the syntactic and lexical studies of Voice, the process of grammaticalization of concept
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ual structures was studied to open up the research into the contribution of grammar to the understanding of the complex external world.
(3) The interdependence of syntax and semantics was studied with the focus on the tense system, which plays the decisive role in the semantic interpretations of the middle and conditional constructions and in the distribution of the phonologically null pronouns with the arbitrary reference.
2. Applications :
(1) Discourse analysis : (i) sentence connections : especially conditional sentences, (ii) the information flow with "Yes-No questions" and the responses with "soo-desu". These researches revealed the significant roles of questions as information conveying means by showing an entirely new classification of "Yes-No questions". (iii) the sentence final "desu" and "masu". (iv) The meanings of the basic lexical items for the Japanese language teaching were investigated with reference to their distributions in the "KWIC" data.
3. To serve the purpose of the reciprocal contribution of linguistic theory and Japanese teaching, two symposia were organized (1990)(1991) to publicize these research findings. Less
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