A study of reflexive morphemes within anew theory of anaphora
| Project/Area Number |
15520308
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
English linguistics
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| Research Institution | Ochanomizu University |
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Principal Investigator |
NOGCHI Tohru Ochanomizu University, Faculty of Letters and Education, Associate Professor, 文教育学部, 助教授 (20272685)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2006
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2006)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
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| Keywords | anaphora / reflexive pronouns / binding theory / semantic composition / complex predicate / pronoun interpretation / 制御 / 編入 |
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| Research Abstract |
The primary purpose of this study is to derive the semantic properties of reflexive pronouns from their morphosyntactic properties and to reconstruct the 'theory of anaphora. I took a descriptive and theoretical approach to the phenomena in modern English and Japanese and have reached the following conclusions:
(1)There are two ways in which reflexive pronouns are semantically interpreted: (i) the reflexive morpheme attaches to another predicate to create a complex predicate, or (ii) the entire reflexive pronoun behaves as a syntactic argument.
(2)The case in (iii) can be further divided into two types, depending on whether the reflexive pronoun becomes a member of a syntactic chain or is interpreted as a logophoric pronoun via the application of choice function.
(3)The Binding Condition A is not an independent principle of grammar.
This set of ideas has made it possible to capture the fundamental facts about syntactic and semantic properties of reflexive pronouns.
However, this raises different questions: why there are cases as described in (1) and (2), and how those cases are related to each other. Further, I originally planned to discuss the behavior of English reflexive pronouns from a diachronic point of view and to explore the relationship between reflexive anaphora and control relations, but these issues have not been fully explored. But at the same time, I have spent a substantial amount of time understanding the fundamental notion of semantic composition, whose importance I only started to realize after I started this project. To integrate the results from this study into a comprehensive theory of anaphora will be crucial next step in my future project.
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Report
(5 results)
Research Products
(9 results)
