Abstract
Although various studies have investigated semi-lexical categories, these categories seem to remain poorly understood (Corver and van Riemsdijk (2001a)). This is partly because data in the literature is mostly limited to the phrasal level and to European languages. To deepen our understanding of semi-lexical categories, this paper addresses Japanese compounds which include mimetics as their right-hand constituent (e.g. kabe-don ‘wall-Mim’). These mimetic compounds show peculiar characteristics in light of the right-hand head rule. To account for these peculiarities, we propose that a silent semi-lexical verbal noun occupies the head position of the mimetic compounds. Thus, our proposal will shed new light on semi-lexical categories.
