Usage-based constructional approach to the use and acquisition of conditional constructions

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26370441
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: FUJII Seiko 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 教授 (70165330)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 条件構文 / 構文理論Construction Grammar / 接続構文 / 談話と文法 / 話し言葉、書き言葉 / 語用標識・語用標識化 / 談話標識・談話標識化 / 用法基盤アプローチ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Taking a usage-based constructional approach, the present research investigates conditional constructions and their neighbors, based on analyses of spoken and written corpora. It shows the multi-faceted families of conditional constructions which bear significant variations in both form and function. Parameters dealt with include: predictive vs. non-predictive conditionals, content vs. non-content conditionals, the speaker’s epistemic stance, subjectivity and inter-subjectivity, modal conditionals, insubordination of antecedent-only construction, variations in conditional markers (clause-linkers) and tense-aspect-modality. By exploring Japanese conditionals in cross-linguistic perspective, this research clarifies the rich spread of multi-faceted constructions, for those types that reflect cross-linguistic tendencies and for those that do not.
The research has been reported on, in part, in a chapter of the Cambridge Handbook of Japanese Linguistics (2018, Hasegawa ed.).

Free Research Field

言語学, 意味論, 語用論, 認知言語学, 構文理論, 談話と文法

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

予測条件文・内容的条件文に加え非内容的条件構文等も分析し、意味においても形式においても、構文の広がりと多様性の諸相を明らかにした。様々な言語使用のコーパスを用いて、談話における相互行為や動的文法・動的語用論の視点から、構文の意味や語用論的機能を明らかにした。意味的隣接領域も射程に含めて条件構文を分析し、さらに脱従属化(insubordination)やモダリティ構文も分析することで、構文の体系化に加え、間言語対照分析に寄与しうる研究とした。
研究成果を英語で国際的議論へ発信し、国際的学術共同研究に寄与した。また、研究成果を言語教育や言語処理・AIの基礎研究としても資すため、教育にも還元してきた。