What Are the Basic Meanings of Certain Polysemous Verbs, to Japanese-Language Learners and to Native Japanese Speakers?

Abstract

This research conducted a survey of which meanings of the polysemous verbs “aru,” “kiru,” “deru,” “tsukeru,” and “suru” are the basic meanings to Japanese-language learners whose native language is Chinese and to native Japanese speakers. Both the learners and the native speakers most often selected the same meanings as the basic meanings, but the learners’ answers tended to vary more than those of the native speakers, depending on the verb. It is considered that for the learners, a meaning to which they are often exposed is likely to come to mind as a verb’s basic meaning.