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Degree Constructions in Japanese.Pdf Degree Constructions in Japanese Toshiko Oda, Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2008 Abstract This dissertation provides a study of a language that adds another dimension to the semantics of degree constructions in natural languages that has long been monopolized by analyses that are based on English and related languages. In doing so, I will be particularly concerned with the Japanese language to provide empirical data. I will first adopt an unconventional approach that comparisons in Japanese are contextually made rather than compositionally. Among several possibilities of how such contextual comparisons are made, I will pursue an analysis, under which Japanese gradable adjectives emerge out of the lexicon as comparatives. Thus tall in Japanese denotes "x is d much taller than a contextually given degree c" instead of "x is <i-tall." This assumption will be called the lexical analysis. A set of predictions are made based on the lexical analysis. First, the direct degrees Toshiko Oda-University of Connecticut, 2008 of gradable adjectives are bound inside the adjectives; thus, they are never overtly filled. Second, the lexical analysis implies that including a comparative morpheme in the syntax is redundant since the comparative semantics is already introduced in the lexical entries of adjectives. This explains the absence of comparative morphemes in Japanese. The lack of degree operator movement in Japanese comparatives directly follows from the lexical analysis. Third, each gradable adjective introduces a comparison under the lexical analysis. This implies that there are as many comparisons as the number of gradable adjectives in one sentence. This is in fact confirmed in multihead comparatives in Japanese. The lexical analysis affects degree constructions other than comparatives, since the semantics of gradable adjectives is a building block of degree constructions. Thus, the analysis must be tested with various degree constructions in Japanese. I will discuss comparative conditionals and exclamatives. The lexical analysis is assumed to be one of the many parameters that govern large cross-linguistic variations of comparatives. It will be shown that the lexical analysis, coupled with other parameters, accounts for a certain range of Korean and Chinese data. Degree Constructions in Japanese Toshiko Oda B.A., Aichi University of Education, 1992 M.A., Nanzan University, 1999 M.A., Columbia University, 2001 M.A., University of Connecticut, 2004 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut 2008 UMI Number: 3345201 Copyright 2008 by Oda, Toshiko All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3345201 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Toshiko Oda 2008 Approval Page Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Degree Constructions in Japanese Presented by Toshiko Oda, B.A., M.A. Major Advisor Sigrid Beck Associate Advisor _Mj^ Yael Sharvit Associate Advisor V m Gajewski University of Connecticut 2008 11 Acknowledgments I am grateful to the members of my advisory committee, Sigrid Beck, Yael Sharvit and Jon Gajewski. This dissertation was not made possible without Sigrid who was my major advisor. She has been an inspiring teacher as well as a great role model for me. I thank Yael who acted as my local advisor in Storrs after Sigrid left to the University of Tiiebingen. My oral defense would not have taken place without her help. I also thank Jon who joined in my advisory committee when he came to UConn. He was always a patient listener and gave me important feedback. I would like to thank my friends in the department. It was a great experience to take courses with my classmates, Lara Reglero, Inkie Chung, Bosook Kang, Sarah Felber, Keiko Ishii, and Masashi Nomura. I appreciate comments on my semantics work from Tsuyoshi Sawada, Masahiko Aihara, and Takuro Tanaka. I benefitted much from the joint work with Koji Sugisaki. Special thanks to my syntax tutors, Fumikazu Niinuma and Duk-Ho An. I also would like to thank other members of the faculty, the students, and Catalina Ritton and Judy Marcus, the current and the department secretary. I thank my informants: Chris I-Ta Hsieh, Pei-Jung Kuo, Jonney Hsu-Te Cheng, Ning Pang, and Liang Chen in Chinese, Simona Herdan in Romanian, Sei-Rang Oh in Korean, and many others. I was very lucky to be introduced to a group of graduate students at the University of Tiiebingen who work on cross-linguistic research of comparatives. I had fruitful discussions with them, especially with Sveta Krasikova. I appreciate the generous support from Tokyo Keizai University, my employer since April 2004. I would like to thank my colleagues, Taira Uchida and Tsuguro Nakamura, who always encouraged me to complete my Ph.D. study. The introduction to the world of theoretical linguistics was rather accidental for me. I registered for a course by Mamoru Saito at Nanzan University in 1997 by mistake. Though I didn't understand a word of what he was saying, his lecture gave me a strong impression that there was something very special about the field, and I decided to study linguistics. I would like to thank Yasuaki Abe, my academic advisor at Nanzan University and other professors at the University, Masatake Arimoto, Keiko Murasugi, and Hiroshi Aoyagi. I was encouraged to study abroad by Joseph E. Emonds who was a visiting scholar when I was a MA student at Nanzan University. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Tomohiro Oda. This dissertation is dedicated to him. m List of Abbreviations abl absolute case marker ace accusative case marker nom nominative case marker dat dative case marker gen genitive case marker top topic marker past past tense pres present tense neg negation end end form adn adnominal form passive passive morpheme cond conditional marker deel declarative marker Asp aspectual marker Q question marker EXC exclamative marker CL classifier CC comparative conditional marker REL relative pronoun PN prenominal marker iv Table of Contents Chapter 1 Variations of Comparatives 1 1.1 Issues 1 1.2 Overview of the Dissertation 10 1.3 Beck et al.'s (2004) Observations 14 1.3.1 Basic Data 14 1.3.2 Variations in Acceptability 16 1.3.3 Lack of Subcomparatives of Degree 17 1.3.4 Lack of the Negative Island Effect 19 1.4 Standard Analysis 20 1.4.1 von Stechow (1984) —20 1.4.2 Standard Analysis and Variation in Acceptability 25 1.4.3 Standard Analysis and Lack of Subcomparatives of Degree 27 1.4.4 Standard Analysis and Lack of the Negative Island Effect 28 1.5 Alternative Analysis: Beck et al. (2004) 31 1.5.1 Yori(mo) clause as "Compared to" 31 1.5.2 Degree Movement in Matrix Clauses 34 1.5.3 Explaining Variation in Acceptability 38 1.5.4 Explaining Lack of Subcomparatives 42 1.5.5 Explaining Lack of the Negative Island Effect 45 1.6 Alternative Analysis: Kennedy (2005) 48 1.6.1 Individual vs. Degree Comparison 48 1.6.2 Explicit vs. Implicit Comparison 55 1.7 Summary of Chapter 1 r 60 Chapter 2 Semantics of Japanese Adjectives and Comparatives 62 2.1 Japanese Adjectives —62 2.1.1 Three Possibilities 64 2.1.2 Lack of Non-Gradable Adjectives in Japanese 72 2.1.3 Lexical analysis vs. Degree Abstraction Parameter 76 2.2 More on Japanese Comparatives 85 2.2.1 Returning to Beck et al.'s data 85 2.2.2 Overt Degree Arguments 89 2.2.3 NPI Licensing 97 2.2.4 Negated Adjectives in Japanese 108 v 2.2.5 Comparatives with Bare Nouns 113 2.3 Multihead Comparatives 116 2.3.1 von Stechow (1984) 119 2.3.2 Multihead Comparatives with Sentence-internal Comparisons—121 2.3.3 Multihead Comparatives with Discourse Comparisons 125 2.3.4 Multihead Comparatives with Split Antecedents 128 2.3.5 Multihead Comparatives in Japanese 132 2.4 Multiple context setters 145 2.4.1 Multipleyori(mo) Clauses 146 2.4.2 von Stechow's (2006) Standard Interval 148 2.4.3 Standard Interval and Multiple Context Setters 152 2.5 Summary of Chapter 2 155 Chapter 3 Comparative Conditionals 157 3.1 Comparative Conditionals in English and German 158 3.2 Comparative Conditionals in Chinese 164 3.2.1 Basic Data 164 3.2.2 Characteristics of Comparative Conditionals in Chinese 167 3.3 Behaviors of Comparative Conditionals in Japanese 172 3.3.1 Japanese CCs 172 3.3.2 Overt Yoriimo) Phrases 181 3.3.3 CCs with Overt Differential Degrees 185 3.3.4 CCs with Nouns 187 3.4 Explaining the Behaviors of Japanese Comparative Conditionals 192 3.4.1 Japanese CCs with Inherent Comparisons 193 3.4.2 Overt Differential Degrees in CCs 198 3.4.3 Overt Yori(mo) Phrases 202 3.4.4 Predictions 207 3.4.5 CCs with Relative Clauses and "Gradable Nouns" 210 3.5 Summary of Chapter 3 214 Chapter 4 Exclamatives 216 4.1 Syntax of Exclamatives 219 4.2 Negative Island Effect in Exclamatives and Comparatives 225 4.3 Semantics of English Exclamatives 227 4.4 Semantics of Japanese Exclamatives 233 vi 4.4.1 Basic data 234
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