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UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics Title Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics of TE-Linkage in Japanese Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1sb52901 Author Hasegawa, Yoko Publication Date 1992 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics of TE-Linkage in Japanese by Yoko Hasegawa B. A. (University of California at Berkeley) 1984 M.A. (University of California at Berkeley) 1986 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in LINGUISTICS in the GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA at BERKELEY Approved: Chair: Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics of TE-Linkage in Japanese Copyright © 1992 Yoko Hasegawa Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics of TE-Linkage in Japanese by Yoko Hasegawa Abstract This thesis attempts to describe, and to some extent account for, the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic properties of a diverse set of constructions in Japanese in which the verbal suffix TE appears as a linking device. TE is the most frequent and the most versatile connective in Japanese, for it can link constituents at three different juncture levels. Because the semantic relations which can obtain between the conjuncts are heterogene­ ous, the prevailing view is that TE-linkage is a purely syntactic device without any semantic content, and that the interpreter must infer the intended semantic relation on the basis of extraiinguistic knowledge. However, close examination of TE-linkage reveals clear correlations between its syntax and semantics, with the semantics in large part determined by the syntactic type of the conjuncts and the nexus type of the linkage. Such correlations have been obscured in previous studies because they did not investigate TE- constructions as pairings of form and meaning. Although TE-constructions can theoreti­ cally be ambiguous as to which units are conjoined, actual ambiguities rarely emerge because native listeners, when encountering a TE-construction, can detect subtle cues for identifying which type of juncture is intended by the speaker. In this thesis such cues are discussed, among them phonological phrasing, argument structure, scope of potential operators, and agentivity of the predicates. It is demonstrated that although the possible semantic relations between the conjuncts are inferrable from the meaning of the con­ juncts themselves, the grammar must state all such TE-compatible relations as part of the meaning of TE-linkage, for two reasons. First, conjuncts typically hold multiple possi­ bilities of semantic relation. These possibilities are narrowed down, and possibly reduced to a single option, when they appear in a TE-construction. Even analysts who Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 consider such semantic relations to be implicatures find it necessary to state which partic­ ular implicature is borne out in the TE-linkage. Second, while one may accurately inter­ pret sentences without knowing the semantics of TE-linkage, one still could not use TE correctly without such knowledge because of its idiosyncratic constraints. Charles J. Fillmore, Chair Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ii Table of Contents Notes on Transcriptions .................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Objectives and Gudine of the Thesis ............................................................... 1 1.2. Morpho-Syntactic Characteristics of TE-Linkage 1.2.1. Verbal Suffix T E ......................................................................................... 2 1.2.2. Conventional Categorization of TE-Constructions ................................. 4 1.2.3. Coordination-Subordination Dichotomy 1.2.3.1. Definitions ............................................................................................ 7 1.2.3.2. Problems .............................................................................................. 8 1.2.3.3. Coordination-Subordination Continuum .......................................... 10 1.2.3.4. Seven Parameters ................................................................................ 12 1.2.3.5. Coordination-Subordination-Cosubordination ................................. 15 1.3. Meaning of Connectives ................................................................................... 17 1.3.1. Independent and Dependent Semantic Aspects ....................................... 18 1.3.2. Implicature .................................................................................................. 19 1.3.3. Constraints on TE-Linkage 1.3.3.1. SEQUENCE Relation and TE-Linkage ............................................ 23 1.3.3.2. ADDITIVE Relation and TE-Linkage ................................................ 23 1.3.3.3. CAUSE Relation and TE-Linkage ...................................................... 24 1.3.4. Imai and Suto’s Experiment ................................................. 27 1.3.5. Decoding and Encoding Idioms ................................................................ 30 1.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 2: Basic Concepts in Role and Reference Grammar of Japanese 2.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 35 2.2. The Layered Structure of the Clause ............................................................... 36 2.3. Focus Structures ................................................................................................. 37 2.4. Operators ............................................................................................................ 42 2.5. Juncture and N exus............................................................................................ 46 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iii 2.6. Linkage Types 2.6.1. Clausal Subordination ................................................................................ 47 2.6.2. Clausal Coordination ................................................................................. 50 2.6.3. Clausal Cosubordination ............................................................................ 52 2.6.4. Core Subordination .................................................................................... 54 2.6.5. Core Coordination....................................................................................... 55 2.6.6. Core Cosubordination ................................................................................ 57 2.6.7. Nuclear Juncture ......................................................................................... 59 2.7. Lexical Representation of Verbals 2.7.1. Vendler-Dowty Verb Classes ................................................................... 61 2.7.2. Thematic Relations .................................................................................... 66 Chapter 3: TE-Linkage with Nuclear Juncture: Part I 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 68 3.2. Nuclear vs. Core/Clausal Juncture 3.2.1. Diagnostic Tests ......................................................................................... 69 3.2.2. Propositionality .......................................................................................... 72 3.3. The TE SIMAW- Construction 3.3.1. Nuclear Subordination............................................................................... 72 3.3.2. Nuclear-Layer Modification: Operator Construction ....................... 74 3.3.3. Makiuchi’s Analysis .................................................................................. 77 3.3.4. Contextual Effects ...................................................................................... 79 3.3.5. Modality of Regret/Surprise ..................................................................... 81 3.3.6. Obligatory Modality Interpretation 3.3.6.1. Punctual Achievements .................................. 83 3.3.6.2. Statives 3.3.7. Obligatory Absence of Modality Interpretation ..................................... 84 3.3.8. Interpretation of Accomplishments ......................................................... 85 3.3.9. TE-Predicates Which Permit [iPerfective] ............................................ 85 3.3.10. How Many TE SIMAW-Constructions? ............................................. 86 3.4. TE AR- Constructions 3.4.1. Verbs of Existence .................................................................................... 88 3.4.2. Valence-Maintaining vs. Valence-Changing Construction ................... 89 3.4.3. Nuclear Subordination vs. Nuclear Coordination ................................... 90 3.4.4. Argument Selection in Nuclear Coordination: Macroroles ................... 92 3.4.5. Perfect vs. Resultative ..............................................................................
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