Abstract
Some of the most frequently occurring Japanese compound verbs, "-komu", "-ageru/agaru" and "-dasu", are characterized by semantic expansion from motion to change of state and aspectual meanings. While compound verbs exist in Vietnamese, their structure differs from Japanese compound verbs and thus acquisition of the latter is difficult for native speakers of Vietnamese. Learners are unable to understand the meaning of compound verbs in reading tasks and avoid their use in productive tasks. This presentation compares compound verbs in Japanese and Vietnamese expressing motion and change of state, and makes pedagogical suggestions concerning Japanese compound verbs.
