Changes in Syntactic Constraints of Clauses Expressing Attendant Circumstances: For -te, -tutu, and -zu Clauses

Abstract

This study examined the changes in the syntactic constraints of clauses in Japanese that express attendant circumstances based on a survey of -te, -tutu, and -zu clauses. In ancient Japanese, [subject, unaccusative verb] and [object, transitive verb] clauses are found to express attendant circumstances. In modern Japanese however, only the [object, transitive verb] clauses are considered to be a natural expression. Based on the result of the survey, this study demonstrates that [subject, unaccusative verb] -te clauses were continued to be used in Late Middle Japanese, whereas -tutu and -zu clauses were observed only in Early Middle Japanese. These changes in syntactic constraints may reflect the loss of the characteristics of an active language in Japanese.