2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Cognitive Neuroscientific Study of Argument Structure, Syntactic Structure and Canonical Word Order
| Project/Area Number |
16520226
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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 |
Linguistics
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
KOIZUMI Masatoshi Tohoku University, Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Associate Professor, 大学院・文学研究科, 助教授 (10275597)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SAKAI Hiromu Hiroshima University, Graduate School of Education, Associate Professor, 大学院・教育学研究科, 助教授 (50274030)
TAMAOKA Katsuo Hiroshima University, International Student Center, Professor, 留学生センター, 教授 (70227263)
YUSA Noriaki Miyagi Gakuin Women's University, Department of English, Professor, 学芸学部, 教授 (40182670)
SUSAKI Koji Mie University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Associate Professor, 人文学部, 助教授 (60362331)
SAKAI Kuniyoshi University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Associate Professor, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 助教授 (10251216)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2006
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| Keywords | ditransitive verb / argument structure / syntactic structure / word order / fMRI / ERP / Cognitive Neuroscience / International exchange of scholars |
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| Research Abstract |
There are three major hypotheses regarding basic word order and syntactic structure of ditransitive constructions in Japanese. Hoji (1985) argues that the dative argument of a ditransitive verb is projected in a position higher than the accusative argument, yielding the basic order of NOM-DAT-ACC-V. The NOM-ACC-DAT-V order is derived from the NOM-DAT-ACC-V order by scrambling the accusative object to a position structurally higher than the dative object. Miyagawa (1997) advances an alternative hypothesis, according to which both the DAT-ACC and ACC-DAT orders can be base-generated without syntactic movement. Matsuoka (2003) provides a more elaborate analysis. He argues that Japanese has (at least) two types of ditransitive verbs. One type of verb, represented by miseru 'show', generates the dative object in a position higher than the accusative object, yielding the canonical DAT-ACC order, and the ACC-DAT order is derived by scrambling the accusative object. The other type of verb, represented by watasu 'pass', projects the accusative object higher than the dative object, with the ACC-DAT order being the canonical order and the DAT-ACC order derived by scrambling. In the present research project, we investigatged the basic word order and syntactic structure of constructions in Japanese from a perspective of cognitive neuroscience. Our behavioral and functional brain imaging studies provided convergent evidence for the linguistics hypothesis that Nominative-Dative-Accusative (or Agent-Goal-Theme) is the canonical order associated with a syntactic structure without scrambling.
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Research Products
(20 results)
