A Basic Research on the Historical Development of the Rareru-Sentences

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02720
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese linguistics
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: KAWAMURA Futoshi 東京外国語大学, 大学院国際日本学研究院, 教授 (50234133)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 受身 / 自発 / 可能 / 尊敬 / 受動 / ラレル / 出来文 / ヴォイス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to clarify the historical development of various usages of sentences with the verb rareru-form (the form of "verb + reru/ rareru, ru/ raru, yu/ rayu") as the predicate (hereafter "rareru sentences") based on a literature survey focusing on syntactic features. The main activities of this project are as follows: 1) to investigate the usage of rareru sentences based on medieval documents; 2) to collect annotations to the classics and research documents related to classical Japanese language, Japanese grammar, and linguistic typology, and to acquire the latest knowledge through participation in academic conferences.
Unfortunately, Activity 1 was not accomplished because I was unable to secure suitable assistants during the research period, and it became extremely difficult to devote time to the research due to the fact that I took a position within the university during the research period. Activity 2 almost achieved its intended purpose.

Free Research Field

日本語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

１ 古代語動詞研究・言語学への貢献：動詞の格、他動性、ヴォイスなどをめぐる従来の研究に資する堅実なデータを提供すると共に、当該分野に関する新たな知見を得ることが予想される。また、古代日本語と現代日本語、あるいは諸外国語との間の対照言語学的な見地からも利用可能である。
２ 社会的貢献：本研究の副次的な効用として、古文教育や、古語辞典記述に応用できる知見・資料を提供できるようになることが期待される。