In Japanese, the occurrences of si, su, and s, i. e./s/, are predictable in certain contexts, and it is arguable that they are semantically empty. This paper presents the discussion of where, how, and under what conditions /s/ is introduced in a grammar and it is claimed that /s/ is handled by a single insertion rule. Within the framework including the rule system of Predicate Raising, Conjunction Reduction, Gapping, etc., it is argued that a rule for inserting /s/ should not be a morphological rule, but a last cyclic syntactic rule. This is because the insertion rule in question accords with some principles of deletion only when it is applied after the completion of the above syntactic rules involving raising or deletion.

View full abstract

This paper explores the interplay among the three seemingly heterogeneous notions of temporality (i. e., tense and aspect), evidentiality (i. e., acquisitional sources of information), and epistemicity (degree of integration of acquired information into one's consciousness). Specifically, this paper points out that the following correlation is found cross-linguistically both in Turkish and Old Japanese.

View full abstract

This paper studies the functions of reversed word order phrases in Japanese. Six transcribed TV talk shows are used for the data base.
Based on the assumption that reversed word order in Japanese could be viewed as a speaker's rectification of mistaken ellipsis, I first test the eligibility for ellipsis of every reversed referent by examining the speaker/hearer's cognitive status in the discourse. The study suggests that 75.16% of reversed referents are ineligible for ellipsis in the discourse while 24.84% are eligible.
Then the speaker's purpose of using reversed word order is examined for both eligible and ineligible referents for ellipsis from the pragmatic point of view. The study indicates that: 1) 38.51% of reversed constructions could be viewed as cases where the speaker mistakenly/carelessly drops some element and the element in postverbal position rectifies the ambiguity caused by his/her mistaken ellipsis, 2) 36.64% of reversed word order could be viewed as cases where the speaker asserts first a pragmatically marked part, 3) 24.85% are instances where the speaker adds the referent in postverbal position in order to confirm the referent or get the hearer's attention to the referent.
By adopting reversed word order, the speaker helps the hearer understand the discourse, relate the information to the hearer's knowledge network, and confirm the important points in the discourse. This study also shows that the speaker participates in conversations by assessing the hearer's cognitive situation.

View full abstract

The semantic structures and system of Japanese numeral classifiers are examined, using the framework of prototype semantics (Coleman & Kay 1981, Fillmore 1982). The analysis is based in part on the results of experimental studies of the acceptability of classifier use for various objects. It is observed that many classifiers, including-wa, -hon, -dai and-ken, form a complex prototype structure, defined not only by necessary conditions for appropriate use, but also by “prototype conditions”, which do not have to be satisfied but, if satisfied, makes its referent a representative or prototypical member of the category.
It is also claimed that there is a priority order in the choice of classifiers when more than one classifier is potentially usable. It is pointed out that a more informative classifier in general restricts the use of a less informative classifier and that this is due to a pragmatic principle of informativeness (Grice 1975).
The findings also suggest that classifiers as a whole do not form a neatly structured taxonomy as formerly suggested (e. g. Sanches 1977). Rather, they constitute a loose system, each classifier having its own peculiarities that reflect the nature of its referents, suggesting the inadequacy of a strong form of structural semantics (Fillmore 1983).

View full abstract

This paper is an attempt to discover cognates for the Ryukyu locative-directive case suffixes gari/*ri/*ra and gati/*ti in Old Japanese, Old Korean, Manchu-Tungus, Mongolian, and Old Turkic.
The Ryukyu locative-directive case suffixes gari/*ri/ra are compared to the fossilized Old Japanese directive case suffixes gari, dative-locative *ri/*ra; Old Korean lative case suffix *ryu, directive case suffix *ri; Ma-Tg directive case suffix ri; Mongolian directive case suffix ru;and Old Turkic locative-directive case suffixes ru/ra/ry, directive case suffix gärü.
The other Ryukyu directive case suffixes gati/ti are compared with the fossilized Old Japanese directive case suffix *ti, the Manchu-Tungus directive *ti, the fossilized Mongolian directive *ti, and the Old Turkic dative-locative *ti.
All these pieces of evidence lead us to the conclusion that the Ryukyu locative-directive case suffixes and directive case suffixes are of Altaic origin.

View full abstract

As Japanese or Korean, Mongolian has a very rich system of symbolic words. Among these words, especially the ones describing various kinds of shapes and states of things are notably developed and used widely in order to express delicate nuances.
These expressions are also characteristic of the language from the morphological point of view. They can not appear withoutderivational suffixes, however they may be used..as verbs, adverbs, or adjectives. This is the character that the other types of symbolic words do not share.
The roots of these words can be further analyzed into three “submorphemes”, the term used by D. Bolinger, by which he means the configurations of phonemes common to some words which have same symbolic meanings. The first of these three submorphemes is aprefixal consonant, which seems uncommon for this dominantly suffixing language. The existence of these submorphemes suggests that in this suffixing language, symbolic words are freer in word-formation than nonsymbolic words. And they may also perhaps have a classificatory character in a wider sense of the word.
The author also suggests that there might be some relationship in meanings or in word-formation between the vocalic changes in symbolic words and those in others.

View full abstract