History of the Noun Clause in a Complex Sentence(<Special Issue>Grammaticalization in Japanese)

Abstract

In Old Japanese, there are two types of noun clauses for the complement sentences: juntai-type noun clause, in which the complement sentences are formed with rentai (attributive) verbal forms as in [Tomo no enpou yori otozuretaru] wo yorokobu 'someone rejoices at the visiting of a friend from a distant place', and koto-type as in [kaze no fuku koto] yamaneba 'since wind blowing does not end'. When a juntai-type noun clause is used as a subject, its predicate is restricted to a stative one. Examining cases of juntai-type clauses in Old Japanese, the paper clarifies that a juntai-type noun clause is used only for the object of one's feeling, emotion, or judgement. On the other hand, there is no such restriction in the use of koto-type noun clauses. The paper demonstrates that although the function of koto-type noun clause has hardly changed from Old Japanese to Modern Japanese, the no-type noun clause in Modern Japanese has inherited the function of the old juntai-type noun clause. The form no originally was a pronoun indicating 'substance', but it has gone through the process of grammaticalization and extended to a form for expressing a 'matter.' The paper argues that it is this development of no that consequently led it to displace juntai-type noun clauses, resulting in their disappearance.