Optionality at the interface between syntax and phonology

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22720165
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Tokyo Woman's Christian University (2013-2014); Bunkyo Gakuin University (2010-2012)
• Principal Investigator: SHIOBARA Kayono 東京女子大学, 現代教養学部, 准教授 (30406558)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 言語学 / 統語論 / 音韻論 / インターフェイス / 随意性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research dealt with the alleged "optionality" in various linguistic phenomena and approached the issue of optionality from the perspective of prosodic weight (such as prosodic prominence and the number of intonational phrases or prosodic words). The research has tested the adequacy of the hypothesis that no optionality exists in the choice of word order, based on the close examination of swiping in English, VP-internal idiom in English and Japanese, and Interwoven Dependency Constructions in English and Japanese. The conclusion reached is that the alleged optionality in the choice of word order is only apparent and one order is preferred over the other(s) for the ease of sentence processing, namely in terms of the edge-weight, at the right edge in English and at the left edge in Japanese.(The research was suspended for one year in 2011-2012.)

Free Research Field

言語学