Historical Changes in the Japanese Subject Marking System from the Perspective of Historical Syntax Changes and General Linguistics

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00629
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02070:Japanese linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Nagoya Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: KIM Eunju 名古屋工業大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (60547496)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 主語表示 / 無助詞 / 構造変化 / 準体法 / 連体形述語 / 終止形述語

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study elucidates the historical development of the Japanese subject marking system, focusing on the structural aspects from a syntactic perspective, particularly the use of zero particles, 'no', and 'ga'. Data analysis reveals that the historical evolution of Japanese subject marking forms is characterized by the competition between zero particles and 'ga', rather than 'no' and 'ga'. It was also revealed that 'ga' was able to expand its influence as a subject marking form (as in "ame ga furu" ; "it rains") beyond zero particles primarily because its structure is smaller and it creates a clearer demarcation of the subject within the sentence.Additionally, this process sheds new light on the generalization of the rentaikei-shuushi (attributive form ending) and the decline of the jun-taiho (quasi-substantive form).

Free Research Field

日本語学，日本語文法変化，歴史統語論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本語主語表示体系の史的変遷について，従来の研究では「の」と「が」の比較が主に行われており，また古代語から現代語までの変化を通観した論はなかった。本研究により三
形態の構造面の歴史的変化の様相およびその関わり合いが明らかになった点は，大きな成果と言える。この過程で，日本語の主要な史的変化の一つである連体形終止を形態ではなく，「構造変化」の観点から「連体形述語」の構造の一般化として捉えたことは，今後の史的変遷の研究おいて新たな視点と展望を提示したものと言える。