Integrated studies on compound predicates in Japanese

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00542
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Ibaraki University
• Principal Investigator: Nishiyama Kunio 茨城大学, 人文社会科学部, 教授 (70302320)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 複合語 / 述語 / 目的語 / 付加詞 / 形態論 / 統語論 / 動詞連続構文 / 丁寧形

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study conducted integrated cross-categorial (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) research on the structure and derivation of compounds containing a predicate in Japanese. Regarding deverbal nominal compounds, their structures differ depending on whether the left-hand element is an object or an adjunct, and with the former, the right-hand element is verbalized at first. Regarding adjectival compounds, the study focused on the parallelism between Japanese yoku-bukai 'greed-deep' and English oil-rich, and analyzed them in a parallel fashion syntactically. For adjectival compounds containing nai 'not', the study made fine-grained distinction between grammaticalization and lexicalization, and captured various stages of their historical changes and syntactic behaviors. With analyses of polite forms as well, due to the morphemeic and linear order difference depending on the category, it contributed to the understanding of the differences between verbs and adjectives.

Free Research Field

言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで述語を含む複合語の研究は語彙的な分析が中心だったが、統語的分析を推進することにより、複合語と統語原理の関係に新たな光を当てられた。述語が統語構造の中でどのような位置を占め、項をどう認可するかという統語理論と、語根がどのように範疇化されるかという形態理論を用いて、語彙範疇の共時的出現に加えて、通時的にも範疇がいかに出現して（「ない」を含む複雑形容詞の場合）、そして消滅するか（複合動詞と動詞連続構文の）について、広い視点で捉えることができた。