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The syntax of mood constructions in Old Japanese

A corpus-based study

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This paper investigates several mood constructions in Old Japanese, the language of eight-century Japan. We focus on imperative, prohibitive, and optative constructions, expressing the desire of the speaker for either the speaker or another entity to perform (or not) in an event or situation (cf. Bybee et al. 1994, Aikhenvald 2010). These forms have been discussed only briefly in previous literature (e.g., Vovin 2009, Frellesvig 2010), and their grammatical properties have not been investigated up to now. The present study uses the Oxford Corpus of Old Japanese, a syntactically annotated corpus, to investigate the expression of the logical subject of mood constructions, i.e., the entity which the speaker desires to perform (or not) the event of the verb. This logical subject is never marked for case in any of the mood constructions, even though case-marking is found on subjects in all other Old Japanese clause-types.

  • Affiliations: 1: University of Oxford; 2: University of York

References

  1. Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y
    2010 Imperatives and Commands. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bybee, Joan L. , Revere Perkins & William Pagliuca
    1994 The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Frellesvig, Bjarke
    2010 A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511778322
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511778322 [Google Scholar]
  4. Frellesvig, Bjarke , Stephen Wright Horn , Kerri L. Russell & Peter Sells
    . n.d. The Oxford Corpus of Old Japanese. vsarpj.orinst.ox.ac.uk/corpus/corpus.html
  5. Ginzburg, Jonathan & Ivan Sag
    2000 Interrogative Investigations. Stanford, Cal.: CSLI.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Grosz, Patrick
    2011 On the Grammar of Optative Constructions. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Koyonagi, Tomokazu
    1996 “On the Expressions of Prohibition and Restraint in Ancient Japanese”. Kokugogaku, 184.1–13.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Omodaka Hisataka
    ed. 1967 Jidai Betsu Kokugo Daijiten: Jōdai Hen [A dictionary of the Japanese language by periods: Old Japanese Volume]. Tokyo: Sanseidō.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. 1984 [1957–1977] Man’yōshū Chūshaku [Commentary on the Man’yōshū]. Volumes 1–22. Revised edition. Tokyo: Chuō Kōronsha.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Portner, Paul
    . Forthcoming. “Imperatives”. To appear inThe Cambridge Handbook of Formal Semantics ed. Maria Aloni & Paul Dekker . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Russell, Kerri L. & Stephen Wright Horn
    2012 “Verb Semantics and Argument Realization in Pre-modern Japanese: A Corpus Based Study”. Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal25.129–148.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Sadock, Jerrold M. & Arnold M. Zwicky
    1985 “Speech Acts Distinctions in Syntax”. Language Typology and Syntactic Descriptioned. by Timothy Shopen , 155–196. Cambridge: ­Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Searle, John
    1975 “Indirect Speech Acts”. Syntax and Semantics, 3: Speech Actsed. by Peter Cole & J.L. Morgan , 59–82. New York: Academic Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Takagi, Ichinosuke , Gomi Tomohide & Ōno Susumu
    eds. 1958–1962 Man’yōshū. Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei [A survey of Japanese classical literature]Vols. 4–7. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Tsuchihashi Yutaka & Konishi Jin’ichi
    1957 Kodai Kayōshū [A Collection of Songs of the Ancient Period]. Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei [A Survey of Japanese Classical Literature]. Vol. 3. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Vovin, Alexander
    2009 A Descriptive and Comparative Grammar of Western Old Japanese, Volume 2: Adjectives and Verbs. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Zanuttini, Raffaella
    2008 “Encoding the Addressee in the Syntax: Evidence from English Imperative Subjects”. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory26.185–218. doi: 10.1007/s11049‑007‑9029‑6
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-007-9029-6 [Google Scholar]
  18. Zanuttini, Raffaella , Miok Pak & Paul Portner
    2012 “A Syntactic Analysis of Interpretive Restrictions on Imperative, Promissive, and Exhortative Subjects”. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory30.1231–1274. doi: 10.1007/s11049‑012‑9176‑2
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-012-9176-2 [Google Scholar]

References

  1. Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y
    2010 Imperatives and Commands. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bybee, Joan L. , Revere Perkins & William Pagliuca
    1994 The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Frellesvig, Bjarke
    2010 A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511778322
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511778322 [Google Scholar]
  4. Frellesvig, Bjarke , Stephen Wright Horn , Kerri L. Russell & Peter Sells
    . n.d. The Oxford Corpus of Old Japanese. vsarpj.orinst.ox.ac.uk/corpus/corpus.html
  5. Ginzburg, Jonathan & Ivan Sag
    2000 Interrogative Investigations. Stanford, Cal.: CSLI.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Grosz, Patrick
    2011 On the Grammar of Optative Constructions. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Koyonagi, Tomokazu
    1996 “On the Expressions of Prohibition and Restraint in Ancient Japanese”. Kokugogaku, 184.1–13.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Omodaka Hisataka
    ed. 1967 Jidai Betsu Kokugo Daijiten: Jōdai Hen [A dictionary of the Japanese language by periods: Old Japanese Volume]. Tokyo: Sanseidō.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. 1984 [1957–1977] Man’yōshū Chūshaku [Commentary on the Man’yōshū]. Volumes 1–22. Revised edition. Tokyo: Chuō Kōronsha.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Portner, Paul
    . Forthcoming. “Imperatives”. To appear inThe Cambridge Handbook of Formal Semantics ed. Maria Aloni & Paul Dekker . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Russell, Kerri L. & Stephen Wright Horn
    2012 “Verb Semantics and Argument Realization in Pre-modern Japanese: A Corpus Based Study”. Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal25.129–148.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Sadock, Jerrold M. & Arnold M. Zwicky
    1985 “Speech Acts Distinctions in Syntax”. Language Typology and Syntactic Descriptioned. by Timothy Shopen , 155–196. Cambridge: ­Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Searle, John
    1975 “Indirect Speech Acts”. Syntax and Semantics, 3: Speech Actsed. by Peter Cole & J.L. Morgan , 59–82. New York: Academic Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Takagi, Ichinosuke , Gomi Tomohide & Ōno Susumu
    eds. 1958–1962 Man’yōshū. Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei [A survey of Japanese classical literature]Vols. 4–7. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Tsuchihashi Yutaka & Konishi Jin’ichi
    1957 Kodai Kayōshū [A Collection of Songs of the Ancient Period]. Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei [A Survey of Japanese Classical Literature]. Vol. 3. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Vovin, Alexander
    2009 A Descriptive and Comparative Grammar of Western Old Japanese, Volume 2: Adjectives and Verbs. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Zanuttini, Raffaella
    2008 “Encoding the Addressee in the Syntax: Evidence from English Imperative Subjects”. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory26.185–218. doi: 10.1007/s11049‑007‑9029‑6
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-007-9029-6 [Google Scholar]
  18. Zanuttini, Raffaella , Miok Pak & Paul Portner
    2012 “A Syntactic Analysis of Interpretive Restrictions on Imperative, Promissive, and Exhortative Subjects”. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory30.1231–1274. doi: 10.1007/s11049‑012‑9176‑2
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-012-9176-2 [Google Scholar]

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