Type Shift from Event Predication to Property Predication through Word Formations: An Approach from Lexical Semantics

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520427
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Yumoto Yoko 大阪大学, 言語文化研究科(言語文化専攻), 教授 (90183988)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 語形成 / 属性描写 / 動詞由来複合語

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I have investigated the reasons why Japanese [N+V] compounds, which are, being headed by verbs, supposed to express events, can designate concrete objects or describe property. According to Sugioka (2001) those which describe property of things are limited to the compounds formed by incorporating the adjunct of the head, but I showed that incorporation of the argument can also form a compound which describe property and state of things and claimed that if there is an argument which remains unsatisfied within a compound, it can be used as a predicate, namely predicative nominal or a verbal noun. In addition, I pointed out that contrary to Sugioka's claim that the predicative nominal compound is formed through focus shift from action to result in the LCS of a verb, some examples such as tsutome-gaeri (lit. work-go home "on one's way home from work") are stage-level. I analyzed the shift of event description by a verb to property description in the framework of Generative Lexicon.

Free Research Field

語彙意味論、語形成論