2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Basic Research for a Japanese-German Contrastive Syntax -Case, Sentence Structure, Valency
| Project/Area Number |
13610621
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
独語・独文学
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| Research Institution | TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES |
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Principal Investigator |
NARITA Takashi Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Professor, 外国語学部, 教授 (50180542)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2003
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| Keywords | German / perspective / sentence structure / verbs / verbal prefix / case / preposition |
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| Research Abstract |
I researched Japanese and German in contrast mainly based on the concept of "perspective". The main concern of the research was the interaction between the sentence structures and the verbs. In German, the sentence structures are usually indicated clearly, but in Japanese, they aren't always indicated clearly. Furthermore, it is often observed in German that a verb is used in a sentence structure for which it isn't suitable (e.g. Die Mutter singt das Baby in den Schiaf). Therefore, compared,with Japanese, German can be said as "a structure-oriented language". In other words, the subject and the accusative object are in the foreground, as the two most prominent constituents in German sentences. In terms of "perspective", it can be said that the sentence structure in German is oriented to the "point of regard", whereas in Japanese the verbal expressions are used corresponding to the difference in the "point of view" from which a sender looks at the situation. Through this research, I reached the recognition, that it is never a mistake as a method of the contrastive linguistics, but it is rather important to see a foreign language through the glass of one's native language.
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