The Usage of Modifying Noun VN no N and the Conditions for Its Validity

From the Perspective of Its Usage by Chinese Learners of Japanese Language

Abstract

　The type of noun that can function as a verb after being combined with suru ‘do’ is defined as Verbal Noun （VN for short）. When using VN for modifying, there are usually two types of constructions, namely VN no N and VN suru/shita N. However, the case of kōtai （*no/suru） keizai ‘slumping economy’ shows that these two constructions are not always valid. In Chinese, to use a noun or a verb as modifier, you just need to add the structural particle de behind it. For this reason, Japanese learners from China are prone to such errors as *kōtai no keizai. This paper applies an approach to categorize adnominal modification relations to the study of VN no N, thereby dividing the relations between the VN and N into two types, namely “inner relation” （a semantic case relationship can be assumed: *kōtai no keizai） and “outer relation” （a semantic case relationship cannot be assumed: rikon no hanashi ‘the matter of divorce’ ）. This paper draws the conclusion that the construction VN no N featuring an outer relation is generally valid, but the construction VN no N featuring an inner relation is not valid except for extremely special cases. Finally, the author proceeds to establish the indicative criteria for the validity of the construction VN no N.