Describing Simple States with Natteiru (Having Become)

Abstract

Japanese has been described as a“naru-language”which emphasizes intransitive over transitive expressions. But many areas of the semantic range of naru(become)have not been fully investigated. This paper analyzes and provides a full description of one of these.
Although natteiru(having become)literally means a state which has come to exist as a result of change, there are some sentences in Japanese in which it actually describes a simple state. This paper classifies this phenomenon from the viewpoint of the recognition of a perceived state and concludes that the sentences in question explain cause/reason, function, or composition of the perceived state.
The basic meaninig of naru denotes the attainment of some sort of state in the real world. This paper regards the meaning of the sentenses concerned as a metaphorical extention from the real world to mentally constructed world predication.