Syntax and Semantics: Structure and Case Marking in Japanese 0126135223, 9780126135220

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SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS VOLUME 22

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EDITORIAL BOARD General Editor STEPHEN R. ANDERSON Cognitive Science Center The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland

Advisory Editors JUDITH AISSEN

SUSUMU KUNO

University of California, Santa Cruz

Harvard University

JOAN BRESNAN

Stanford University SANDRA CHUNG

University of California, Santa Cruz PETER CULICOVER

The Ohio State University JANET DEAN FODOR

BARBARA HALL PARTEE

University of Massachusetts JERROLD SADOCK

University of Chicago IVAN

A.

SAG

Stanford University PAUL SCHACHTER

University of California, Los Angeles

University of Connecticut

A 11st of titles in this series appears at the end of this book.

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SYNTAX and SEMANTICS VOLUME 22 Structure and Case Marking in Japanese

Shigeru Miyagawa Department of East Asian languages and Literatures The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio

ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers

San Diego New York Berkeley Boston London Sydney Tokyo Toronto

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Copyright © 1989 by Academic Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No pan of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Academic Press, Inc. San Diego, California 92101 United Kingdom Edition published by

Academic Press Limited 24-28 Oval Road, London NW I 7DX

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Miyagawa, Shigeru. Structure and case marking in Japanese / Shigeru Miyagawa. p. cm. -- (Syntax and semantics ; v. 22) Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-12-613522-3 (alk. paper). -- ISBN 0-12-606103-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) I. Japanese language--Syntax. 2. Japanese language--Morphology. 3. Government-binding theory (Linguistics) I. Title. IL Series. Pl.S9 vol. 22 [PL617) 495.6'5--dc 19 88-38570 CIP Printed in the United States of America 89 90 91 92 9 8 7 6 5 4

3

2

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To the memory of my Suka grandfather

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CONTENTS

Preface Acknowledgments

xi xv

1

1. Arguments and Adjuncts

I. I. 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. 1.5. 1.6.

Introduction Arguments, Adjuncts, and Case Marking Arguments and Modular Theory of Grammar Arguments and Phrase Structure Phrase Structure in Japanese A Note on the Lexical Analysis of Complex Predicates

1 2 6 8 9 14

2. Numeral Quantifiers and Thematic Relations

19

2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. 2.6. 2.7. 2.8.

19 23 27 41 50 53

Introduction Past Studies of the Numeral Quantifier Mutual C-Command Requirement on Predication Ergative Verbs Further Evidence: NQ-Scrambling A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling LF-Extraction of WH-NQ Summary

78

79

vii

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viii

CONTENTS

3. Ergatlve Construction

85

3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. 3.5. 3.6. 3. 7.

Evidence Based on the Numeral Quantifier Remarks on the Nominative Case Marker ga Ergative Constructions in Other Languages Verbal Compounding Ergative Hypothesis and ga/no Conversion Ergative Nominals Summary

86 88 91 93 102 106 108

4. Paradigmatic Structures and the Causatives

111

4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5.

112 116 121 132 144

1\vo Approaches to Causative Verbs Paradigmatic Structures and Blocking PDS and Japanese Causatives Nonoccurring Causative Verbs and Blocking Summary

5. A Uniform Approach to the Passive

147

5.1. 5.2.

Introduction The Status of the Object NP in the Causative-Passive Construction 5.3. A Uniform Lexical Approach to the Passive 5.4. Dative Case and Case Absorption 5.5. Summary of the Possible Passive Structures 5.6. The Passive in Japanese and Other Languages: A l..earnability Issue 5.7. Aspectual Markers and the Passive 5.8. Case Absorption, Nominative ga, and Object NPs 5.9. Summary

147

6. Historical Development of the Accusative Case Marker

199

6.1. 6.2. 6.3. 6.4. 6.5. 6.6. 6. 7.

199 202 203 207 210 211 213

Introduction Case Theory Distribution of OJ Particle o Further Evidence Other Verbal Forms Word Order Language Change

150 159 171 177 178 180 191 194

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CONTENTS

IX

6.8. Further Evidence: The Tale of the Heike 6.9. Modern Japanese o 6.10. Summary

217

References

247

Index

255

233 236

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PREFACE

Recent developments in government-binding theory have revealed a number of fundamental properties of human language. In this theory, the core notions are expressed in terms of principles. The fact that many of these principles already have cross-linguistic validation verifies a basic theoretical viewpoint that a given human language is an instantiation of universal grammar and thus subject to the principles theorized for universal grammar. To be sure, it is not a simple task to get at those properties that emanate from universal grammar. Idiosyncratic features of a particular language often mask the more fundamental and pervasive properties common to all languages. By working with the principles of the theory, one hopes to cut through the peripheral and idiosyncratic features present in any language and get to the heart of the language. The true nature of this heart, which instantiates universal grammar, is only beginning to be understood. To advance our theoretical knowledge, we must delve ever more deeply into individual languages and compare the results cross-linguistically. This twofold enterprise of looking deeply at one language and at the same time seeking commonalities with other languages will allow us to confirm and, if necessary, revise, the proposed principles, until a complete description of universal grammar is achieved. The reward for successfully reaching this goal is substantial. It is nothing less than an explanatory account of the knowledge that gives rise to any language. Many of the major concerns of recent theoretical work arise from a fundamental distinction drawn between so-called argument phrases and adjunct phrases. The present book has been motivated by the findings based on this distinction. Accordingly, a primary concern throughout the book is the nature of arguments and adjuncts in Japanese: how to distinguish arguments from adjuncts, the type of thematic (semantic) role that a particular argument has, xi

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xii

PREFACE

the correlation between syntactic structures and argument phrases, and the way the argument/adjunct distinction is reflected in the case-marking system. Although the main incentive to look at this distinction between arguments and adjuncts in Japanese comes from recent theoretical work, it is important to note that Yuki Kuroda recognized the significance of this distinction for Japanese some time ago in his seminal Generative Grammatical Studies in the Japanese Language (1965), which marked the inception of the modern analysis of Japanese. In particular, in his discussion of reflexivization and case marking (Chapters V and VI), Kuroda explicitly or implicitly drew the distinction I address in this book. In this sense, the issues he raised then foreshadowed what has become a major concern in recent theoretical studies. This book is materially motivated by recent works, but it also finds a spiritual origin in Kuroda's analysis of Japanese. My hope is that the directions set here for the study of Japanese will assist, however modestly, in laying the foundation for further research in Japanese that will contribute to our understanding of all languages. The theoretical orientation of this book is that of government-binding theory. Much of the literature on this theory is highly technical and not readily accessible to those unfamiliar with the details of the theory. In writing this book, I have attempted to tone down the technical aspect, though it is impossible to avoid it completely. Whenever a technical notion must be incorporated, I include as self-contained an explanation as possible so that readers not familiar with the theory can follow the argument and, I hope, appreciate the results. I have organized the book as follows. Chapter 1 is, in a sense, a primer for the entire book, presenting a brief introduction to the issue of arguments and adjuncts. Also, a simple sketch of government-binding theory as it relates to this book is given, as well as some historical background on the development of the modern analysis of Japanese. In Chapter 2, I present an analysis of numeral quantifiers. This analysis has a number of consequences for the issue of arguments and adjuncts as it relates to the study of structure and case marking in Japanese. I investigate some of these consequences in subsequent chapters. One consequence is that the ergative hypothesis (or unaccusative hypothesis) is clearly detected in Japanese. This hypothesis concerns the correlation between syntactic structures and argument phrases. I pursue this in Chapter 3, which gives independent evidence for the ergative hypothesis in Japanese. In Chapter 4, I present perhaps the most interesting finding of the so-called lexical approach to the Japanese causative construction. The primary concern of this lexical system is the way verbs are organized in the lexicon according to the number of arguments present in the argument structure of a verb (the "paradigmatic structure"). In Chapter 5, I combine the lexical perspective and recent developments in government-binding theory in proposing a uniform analysis of the passive construction. Finally,

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PREFACE

Xlll

in Chapter 6, I turn my attention to a diachronic issue: the development of the accusative case marker o from Old Japanese to modern Japanese. I demonstrate that a universal principle can be applied to diachronic analysis as well as to synchronic analysis by showing that the historical variation in the way the object NP is case marked is compatible with a principle of universal grammar, namely, case theory.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A number of people have contributed directly to the ideas and the writing of this book through discussion or comments on parts of earlier drafts. They include Noam Chomsky, Peter Culicover, Ken Hale, Nobuko Hasegawa, Robbie Ishihara, Brian Joseph, and Hiroaki Toda. I have also benefited from discussions with the following people: Tom Ernst, Naoki Fukui, Hajime Hoji, Osvaldo Jaeggli, Susumu Kuno, Chisato Kitagawa, Yoshi Kitagawa, Yuki Kuroda, Beth Levin, Kiyoko Masunaga, J. J. Nakayama, and Mamoru Saito. My students were subjected to numerous inquiries about the validity of ideas hatched the night before, including judgments about the grammaticality of often hopeless sentences. I wish to thank especially Naoya Fujita, Setsuko Matsunaga, Mari Nakamura, Naoko Nemoto, Hideo Tomita, and Torno Yoshida. Also, Takashi Ogawa and Yasushi Zenno assisted generously with the Old Japanese data in Chapter 6. Akira Fukuda deserves mention for his assistance with the manuscript. Charlie Miracle did a splendid job of producing the index under very tight time constraints. Parts of this book were presented at numerous conferences and workshops, including the Linguistic Society of America meeting in Baltimore, December 1984; the Japanese Syntax Workshops at the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford, March 1986, and in Kobe, May 1987; the linguistics colloquium at the University of Southern California, February 1987; the Lexicon Project colloquium at the Center for Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, April 1987; the Japanese Syntax Workshop at Connecticut College, May 1987; the Eastern States Conference on Linguistics at The Ohio State University, October 1987; and the Workshop on Japanese and Logical Form at the University of California, San Diego, xv

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xvi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

March 1988. I have benefited enormously from the comments I received from the audiences at these meetings. This book project began in earnest in 1985. An earlier version of Chapter 2, "Numeral Quantifiers and Thematic Relations," was presented at the Second Japanese Syntax Workshop at the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford in March of 1986 under a slightly different title. This paper in revised form appeared in the proceedings of the workshop published in 1988 (Miyagawa, 1988c). A slightly different version that is closer in its theoretical assumptions to Chapter 2 appeared as Miyagawa (1987a), and a shorter version appeared as Miyagawa (1988b). A condensed version of Chapter 4, "Paradigmatic Structures and the Causatives," appeared in Japanese as "Shiekikei to Goi-bumon" (Causative Verbs and the Lexicon) (Miyagawa, 1989b). The writing of this book was supported in part by a postdoctoral grant from the Social Science Research Council, a grant-in-aid from the College of Humanities at The Ohio State University, and a Small Grant from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at The Ohio State University. I benefited greatly from being able to spend April, May, and June of 1987 at the Center for Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, made possible by a grant from the Nippon Electric Corporation to the Center. Finally, I wish to thank Pamela and Zona for giving me support throughout the writing of this book and beyond.

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1 ARGUMENTS AND ADJUNCTS

1. 1. INTRODUCTION

To account for the regularities exhibited by the Japanese language in particular and human language in general, we must isolate and study at least two kinds of properties, those manifested by syntax and those displayed by the lexical content of words. To arrive at an analysis of these regularities, it is not enough to know the workings of each of these properties in isolation. We also must examine how they interact with each other. A large portion-possibly all-of the regularities found in language are implemented not by a single property but by the convergence and interaction of two or more discreet properties. To give a simple example, the structure of a particular sentence is governed by at least two considerations, or properties, the first being the phrase structure of the language, and the second the number of arguments that the verb in the sentence requires. For the latter, an intransitive verb requires only an argument NP in the subject position whereas a transitive verb calls for an argument NP within the VP as well as an argument NP in the subject position. The two kinds of verbs therefore give rise to distinct structures: (l)

Intransitive

Transitive

s

~VP

NP

I

V

s

~VP

NP

~

NP

V

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I. Arguments and Adjuncts

The first consideration, phrase structure, is the property of syntax that constrains the possible phrasal structures of a language and is described by the X-bar theory (Chomsky, 1970, 1981, 1986b; Jackendoff, 1977; Stowell 1981). This theory imposes universal restrictions on the possible relationships between the phrasal node and the head of the phrase. In other words, this theory captures a universal property manifested by syntactic structures. The second consideration, the intransitive/transitive distinction, concerns the number of arguments that a predicate requires. Within the VP, a verb can require none (intransitive), one (transitive), or two (ditransitive) arguments. This number reflects a lexical property of the verb in that a certain number of arguments are required to form a complete proposition based on the semantics of the verb. An argument fills a necessary role in any given proposition, the role being specified by the kind of semantic relation that the argument has in relation to the verb. In recent terminology, this semantic relation is expressed as a "thematic relation" (Chomsky, 1981). These relations occur when a verb (or some other relevant lexical item) assigns a 0-role that it inherently possesses to its argument, for example, the agent role assigned to the subject of run (Chomsky, 1981). These 0-roles are a part of the lexical property of a verb because the number and the type of thematic roles ultimately derive from the meaning of the verb. Of course, it is not the case that every phrase of a sentence is an argument of the verb. One commonly finds phrases that do not represent a thematic relation required by the verb but instead contribute additional meaning to the sentence that is compatible with the semantics of the core sentence. Common among these so-called adjuncts are time and manner adverbs and prepositional/postpositional expressions, such as the benefactive for Mary in some constructions. If an adjunct contains an NP, this NP must receive its 0-role from a source other than the verb. In the case of the object of a postposition, the 0-role is assigned directly by the postposition. For example, the postposition kara 'from' assigns the ablative 0-role to the NP ie 'house' in ie kara 'from the house.'

1.2. ARGUMENTS, ADJUNCTS, AND CASE MARKING A primary concern throughout this book is the nature of arguments and adjuncts. One immediate consequence of successfully distinguishing arguments from adjuncts concerns the syntactic structure of these two types of phrases. An adjunct does not receive a 0-role from the verb, so the 0-role of the NP contained in it must come from another source. The only source present is the particle itself. In other words, the particle acts like a predicate in taking an object to which it assigns a 0-role. Thus, for example, the agentive phrase of the direct passive,

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1.2 Arguments, Adjuncts, and Case Marking

which I will identify as an adjunct phrase, has the following structure (PP stands for postpositional phrases, and P for postpositions).

(2)

pp

NP

I

sensei teacher

p

I

ni by

On the other hand, the particle that goes with an argument cliticizes onto the NP instead of projecting a PP node. (3)

NP-particle: This structure allows the NP to receive its 0-role from an external source such as a verb.

The identification of arguments in Japanese at first appears to be an easy task because every NP is accompanied by a particle, for example, the nominative ga, the accusative o, and the dative ni. It would seem that one can identify the arguments simply by ferreting out those particles that only go with arguments. To a certain superficial extent, this is true. Hence, the nominative ga can be viewed as marking the subject argument while the accusative o designates the (VP-internal) object argument. 1 (4)

Taroo ga kodomo o sikatta. NOM child ACC scolded 'Taro scolded the child.'

However, we quickly run into a problem when we notice that Japanese allows multiple nominative constructions, such as the well-known sentence given by Kuno ( 1973). (5)

Bunmeikoku ga dansei ga heikin-zyumyoo civilized countries NOM men NOM average life expectancy ga nagai. NOM long. 'It is in civilized countries that the average life expectancy is long.'

Because a sentence can potentially have a large number of nominative phrases, to identify the nominative ga with the subject argument is tantamount to saying that a predicate can have a large (possibly potentially infinite) number of subject arguments. This obviously is not an acceptable state of affairs. The same problem exists, although to a lesser degree, with the particle o. This particle is most commonly used for marking the accusative case. There are no multiple accusative clauses in Japanese, hence it appears safe to designate this

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I. Arguments and Adjuncts

particle as marking the direct object argument of a verb. The problem arises, however, when we consider another use of this particle, that of marking the traversal/ablative case. (6)

Taroo ga kawa no tikaku o aruita. NOM river GEN near TRAY walked 'Taro walked around near the river.'

Does this o designate an argument? By the semantic criterion that an argument represents a thematic relation required by the semantics of the verb, this omarked phrase is an adjunct. Certainly, its absence does not lead to an elliptical expression. Rather, the expression is a complete proposition without the phrase (Taroo ga aruita 'Taro walked'). Finally, the particle ni, which is sometimes identified as the dative case marker, likewise escapes a straightforward designation as a marker of arguments. Take, for example, a direct passive construction, in which the agentive phrase is marked with ni. Example (7) is the passive version of (4). (7)

Kodomo ga Taroo ni sikar-are-ta. child NOM by scold-PASS-past 'The child was scolded by Taro.'

From semantic considerations, this ni-phrase certainly appears to be an argument because it designates the agent of the verb sikar 'scold'. But this description is not always clearly applicable. The following sentence need not be characterized as elliptical despite the absence of the agentive phrase. (8)

Yuube, kuruma ga 2-dai nusum-are-ta. last night cars NOM 2-CL steal-PASS-past •Last night, 2 cars were stolen.'

Common sense tells us that there must an agent, the one who stole the cars, but this sentence does not require its presence to be a complete proposition. Certainly, one does not have to overtly use a phrase such as dareka ni 'by someone' to make the sentence complete. On the other hand, in the indirect passive, which also has a ni-marked phrase, the sentence is clearly elliptical without the ni phrase. Some sentences in fact sound virtually unacceptable if this phrase is left out. (9)

Taroo ga ame ni fur-are-ta. NOM rain DAT fall-PASS-past 'Taro was rained on.'

( I 0) ?*Taroo ga

hur-are-ta. NOM fall-PASS-past Lit. '*Taro was felled on.'

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1.2 Arguments, Adjuncts, and Case Marking

The upshot of the above discussion is that neither surface particles nor semantic considerations by themselves can identify the arguments of a sentence. Clearly, a more objective test is needed for distinguishing arguments from adjuncts. I propose in chapter 2 that the numeral quantifier is one such test. A numeral quantifier is used in counting people, animals, or objects, and it consists of a numeral and a classifier that agrees with the type of object being counted. A numeral quantifier that is syntactically separate from the NP whose referent is being counted can modify the NP if the NP is an argument. Under this hypothesis, the traversal/ablative o phrase is an argument, but the ni-marked Agent of a direct passive is an adjunct. (11)

Hanako ga kooen o 2-tu sanposita. NOM parks TRAY 2-CL took a walk 'Hanako walked around two parks.' sensei ni 2-ri sikar-are-ta. NOM teachers by 2-CL scold-PASS-past

(12) *Taroo ga

'Taro was scolded by two teachers.' In order to express (12), the numeral quantifier 2-ri must occur in the modifier position of the NP headed by the counted noun sensei 'teachers'. (13)

Taroo ga 2-ri no sensei ni sikar-are-ta. NOM 2-CL GEN teachers by scold-PASS-past 'Taro was scolded by two teachers.'

From the behavior of the ni-agentive phrase in the direct passive, it appears that the passive morphology has the effect of suppressing a 0-role of the transitive stem. We can see this because the passive verb requires only one argument (the surface subject) as opposed to the two arguments required by the transitive verb in the active sentence. Also, the sole 0-role that is assigned by the passive verb is the same 0-role assigned to the object NP by the transitive verb. In other words, the 0-role that is assigned to a VP-internal argument in the active transitive construction occurs as the surface subject in the passivized version. The question is whether the syntactic position that is identified for a particular 0-role simply changes from the object position in the active sentence to the subject position in the passivized sentence, or is it the same in both? To put the question another way, is there a direct correlation between a particular syntactic position and a particular thematic relation for two related verbs, one active, the other passive? The grammar of a language would be much more constrained, hence more predictive, if one can show that there is in fact a one-to-one correlation between a syntactic position and a particular thematic relation for two such related verbs. It is possible to maintain the correlation between a syntactic position and a particular thematic role if the direct passive is viewed as the result of movement:

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6

(14)

I. Arguments and Adjuncts

[,Taroo; ga [ vp • • • t, sikar-are-ta ]] NOM scold-PASS-past 'Taro was scolded.'

This hypothesis accords well with the earlier observation that the passive morphology suppresses a 8-role of the transitive stem. The particular 8-role that is suppressed is the external role of the transitive stem. Hence, the transitive stem in the passive sentence in (14), sikar 'scold', does not assign a 8-role to the subject position. This clears the way for the object NP to move to the subject position. In chapter 5, I argue that this movement is motivated by the need of the object NP to acquire case. In the same chapter, I will demonstrate that both the accusative and dative case markers, which mark the internal arguments of a verb ("internal" means inside the VP), are licensed by a case-assigning feature of the verb.

1.3. ARGUMENTS AND MODULAR THEORY OF GRAMMAR

The model of the grammar proposed in government-binding (GB) theory is modular in nature. It is modular because several modules or components work together to generate the sentences of a language. This modularity is, then, a fundamental universal assumption about human language: the grammar of human language is not some monolithic "box," but it is composed of a number of boxes or modules that interact to generate the sentences of a language. There are four primary modules hypothesized in the GB theory. They are Ostructure, S-structure, phonological form (PF), and logical form (LF) (Chomsky and Lasnik, 1977; Chomsky, 1981). These four components are related as follows. (15)

D-structure

I

S-structure

PF

LF

O-structure is what used to be called deep structure (Chomsky, 1957, 1965), with some changes. O-structure is related to S-structure (previously known as surface structure, again, with some changes) by the transformational component. In the recent theory, there is actually only one transformational rule, Move-a, which allows anything to move anywhere. Naturally, only some movements result in a grammatical string. The remainder are excluded by principles that impose con-

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7

1.3 Arguments and Modular Theory of Grammar

straints on syntactic structures. PF and LF are interpretive components that interface with the sounds of the language and its meaning, respectively. 2 Words are inserted from the lexicon into D-structure. At D-structure, the thematic relations required by a verb (or other 0-role bearing lexical items) must be fulfilled. In other words, the arguments of a verb must be represented at D-structure. To use a simple example, let us take the passive verb sikar-are-ta 'was scolded' in the earlier direct passive example in (7). As already noted, the passive morpheme in the direct passive suppresses the external 0-role of the transitive verb sikaru 'scold', so that this passive verb has just one 0-role, the one it assigns to the object NP. The agentive ni 'by' phrase is an adjunct. At Dstructure, the syntactic structure containing this passive verb is represented as follows: (16)

s

~

~

VP

pp

V'

~

NP

P

NP

Taroo

ni

kodomo child

I

I

by

V

I

I

sikar-are-ta scold-PASS-past

As already noted, D-structure is related to S-structure by the transformational component. Of course, this does not mean that a transformational rule must always apply to a D-structure string in order to derive the S-structure string. In (16), Move-a indeed applies, transforming (16) into (17).

s

(17)

~VP

NP,

I

kodomo

V'

PP

~P

NP

I

Taroo

I

ni

~

V

I

sikar-are-ta

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I. Arguments and Adjuncts

In chapters 2, 3, and 5, I present a number of constructions, including the passive, in which precisely this object-to-subject movement occurs from D-structure to S-structure. In chapter 5, I argue that what motivates this movement is the need of the D-structure object NP to acquire case.

1.4. ARGUMENTS AND PHRASE STRUCTURE A highly successful recent innovation in linguistic theory is the principle of X-bar theory. This principle addresses the fundamental syntactic structures of a language. Unlike the elaborate and complex set of phrase structure rules of the standard theory (Chomsky, 1965), X-bar theory deals with all phrase structures using only one principle (Chomsky, 198 l, 1982; Huang, 1982; Stowell, 1981 ), presented in (18). (18)

X" -

x•-

1

Y=* (order irrelevant)

X (as well as Y) is a variable that ranges over the major categories Verb, Noun, Adjective, and Preposition (or Postposition, in the case of Japanese) (cf. Chomsky, 1970). The superscript n represents the bar-level, with O being the lowest level. This is the level of the head of a phrase. Finally, ymax ("max" stands for maximal projection) is a phrasal node; the asterisk indicates that there may be none, one, or more Y ma, phrases. To give an example, a verb phrase is "projected" from its head, V, as shown below. The order is that of Japanese (OV), though it is a simple matter to convert it to English (VO).

(19)

V" (=VP)

V' N" (=NP)

V (=V")

The highest bar level is the maximal projection. In (19), this is the V", which corresponds to the VP node. It is projected from V', which in turn is projected from the head, V. At this point, one might wonder how many bars are allowed in this theory. Although the possibilities are, in theory, infinite, other principles usually restrict it to two bar-levels, though more bar-levels than two have been argued for (Jackendoff, 1977). Note that the N", which corresponds to the NP, hangs from the V'. This N" is the direct object of the verb. The particular location of the N" reflects a hypothesis that the argument of the head (X) occurs under the single bar-level projection of the head (X').

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1.5 Phrase Structure in Japanese

Recently, this X-bar schema has been extended to S and S' nodes as well (Chomsky, 1986b). The Snode projects from the l(nflection), and the S' node from C(omplementizer). (20)

CP (= S')

~C'

SPEC

~l"(=S)

C

~I'

N"

~V" (=VP) In this book, I will continue to use the traditional labels such as S and VP. I will also ignore the bar-level unless it bears on the argument at hand.'

1.5. PHRASE STRUCTURE IN JAPANESE An important point to clarify is the structural relationship that a particular argument NP has to the verb. During the 1970s, it was generally assumed that Japanese has a "flat" structure. The most salient feature of such a structure is the lack of a VP node.• This in essence makes the statement that the subject NP and the object NP (and other internal arguments) have an equal structural relationship to the verb. The following represents the structure under this hypothesis for the sentence John ga piza o tabeta •John ate pizza'.

s

(21)

NP

I

John (ga)

NP

I

piza (o)

V

I

tabeta

Interestingly, when one looks back at the early 1970s, when the existence of the VP node in Japanese was first debated, we see that the actual empirical evidence for or against this node is, at best, inconclusive. Nakau (1973) borrowed the "pro-form" argument in English used by Lakoff and Ross (1966) in an attempt to show that the pro-form soo su 'do so' is sensitive to the verb phrase (he calls it "predicate phrase"). He observes that the

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1. Arguments and Adjuncts

pro-form is ungrammatical if it replaces just the V, as shown in (22) (Nakau 1973, p. 45). (22)

a. Taroo wa terebi o mita; Ziroo mo soo si-ta. TOP TV ACC watched also so did-past 'Taro watched TV, and Jiro did so too.' b. *Taroo wa terebi o mita; Ziroo mo terebi o soo si-ta. TOP TV ACC watched also TV ACC so did-past '*Taro watched TV, and Jiro did so TV too.'

Hinds (1973) challenged the assumption that the pro-form soo su always substitutes the VP node. He notes that it is in fact possible for soo su to replace a sequence of sentences. (22)

Taroo wa

Kankoku e itta; sorekara Osaka e kaetta;

TOP Korea

sosite

to went then

to returned

hikooki de Amerika e itta; Hanako mo soo si-ta.

and plane by America to went also so did-past 'Taro went to Korea, then returned to Osaka, and then went by plane to America; Hanako did so too.'

It was this challenge by Hinds that led many in the field to adopt the "flat" structure for Japanese. This "flat" -structure hypothesis was given a theoretical foundation by Hale ( 1980), who proposed that there are two types of languages, configurational and nonconfigurational. The latter, of which Japanese is but one example, exhibits a cluster of properties not found in configurational languages. To give one example, in a nonconfigurational language, word order is not rigid. This is true of Japanese, which allows phrases to be scrambled fairly freely. In the 1980s, however, a series of studies propose that Japanese is just as configurational as English and any other so-called configurational language. These studies focus on the existence of the VP node. Just as in the case of the original argument by Nakau (l 973), current arguments for the VP node in Japanese find their origin in the same argument developed for English. I present three of these arguments here, from the simplest to the most intricate. 1.5.1. PRO The first argument, given by Kuroda ( 1983), concerns the distribution of PRO. PRO is an empty category that is assumed to occur in the subject position of infinitival clauses in English. (24)

John wants [ PRO to go ] .

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1.5 Phrase Structure in Japanese

II

The idea here is that the distribution of PRO is predictable: it can only occur in the subject position (Chomsky, 1981 ). It cannot occur, for example, in the object position in any type of clause. Kuroda ( 1983) observes that precisely the same distribution is seen for PRO in Japanese. Focusing on PRO with arbitrary (arb) interpretation, he notes that such a PRO can only occur in the subject position (1983, p. 154). (25)

Taima o kau koto wa kinzi-rare-te iru. marijuana ACC buy TOP forbidden 'For PRO,," to buy marijuana is forbidden.•

(26) *Kodomo ga kau koto wa kinzi-rare-te iru. children NOM buy TOP forbidden 'For children to buy PRO,," is forbidden.· (25) is fine with the PRO,,., interpretation in the subject position. (26) is ungrammatical on the interpretation that the missing object is PRO,,". The only grammatical interpretation available is that the empty object refers to a definite thing or person understood in the conversation. This subject/object asymmetry indicates that the distribution of PRO in Japanese is restricted to the subject position, just as in English. This in turn suggests that the subject position in Japanese is not of the same status as the object. This difference between subject and object positions can be captured if we recognize the VP.

1.5.2. Pronominal Coreference The second argument concerns pronominal coreference. Compare the following: (27)

John; thinks that he; will be chosen.

(28) *He; thinks that John; will be chosen. In (27), the intended coreference between John and he is possible, but it is not possible in (28). One possible problem with (28) is that the pronoun precedes its antecedent. Example (29) shows, however, that it is fine for the pronoun to precede its antecedent in other sentences. (29)

After he; came in, John, sat on the stool.

It is generally assumed that the reason for the impossibility of coreference in (28) stems from the fact that the pronoun c(onstituent)-commands its antecedent (Chomksy, I 981 ). C-command is a structural relationship between two nodes. As defined originally by Reinhart ( 1976), A c-commands B if neither dominates the other and the first branching node dominating A also dominates B. In the

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1. Arguments and Adjuncts

following structure, A c-commands B, because the node C, which is the first branching node dominating A, also dominates B. (30)

C

~

X

A

~y

~

B

A in this structure corresponds to the pronoun he in (28), and B corresponds to the antecedent John. Hence, he c-commands John in (28). We are now ready to look at the evidence for the VP node in Japanese based on pronominal coreference. The two possible phrase structures for a sentence with a transitive verb are the nonconfigurational one in (31) and the configurational one in (32).

(31)

Nonconfigurational

s NPsubj

(32)

V

NPobJ

Configurational

s VP

NP,ubj

~

NPobj

V

What is crucial to note is that in the nonconfigurational structure in (31 ), the subject NP c-commands the object NP, and vice versa. This is because the first branching node in either instance is the Snode. On the other hand, in (32), there is an asymmetry. The subject NP c-commands the object NP, but the reverse is not true. The object NP cannot c-command the subject NP because the first branching node dominating the object NP, VP, fails to dominate the subject NP. These two structures give rise to different predictions for pronominal coreference in the following example.

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1.5 Phrase Structure in Japanese

(33)

John, no sensei ga kare, o sikatta. GEN teacher NOM he ACC scolded 'John,'s teacher scolded him,.'

As shown, the intended coreference is possible. The nonconfigurational structure incorrectly blocks this intended coreference while the configurational structure correctly allows it (Hoji, 1982; Saito, I 983a; Whitman, 1982). The nonconfigurational structure makes this incorrect prediction because the pronoun, which is in the object position, c-commands the subject position in this structure. On the other hand, by assuming the VP node, we correctly block the object NP from c-commanding the subject NP and thus correctly predict that the intended coreference in (33) is perfectly acceptable.

1.5.3. Weak Crossover The third and final argument for the VP node in Japanese concerns the interpretation of an empty pronominal when it is intended to corefer to a quantified phrase (Saito and Hoji, 1983). The phenomenon that bears on the argument is called "weak crossover." In English, Wasow ( 1972) first identified weakcrossover violations such as the following:

(34)?*Who, does his, mother love t,? Recently, it has been shown that weak-crossover violations occur when the original position of the quantified phrase (the position occupied by the trace in (34 )) fails to c-command the pronoun. 5 In (34), the original position of who is the object position, which does not c-command the pronoun his in the subject phrase. Saito and Hoji ( 1983) note that the same phenomenon can be observed in Japanese, thus showing that the VP node exists in Japanese. In Japanese, the WHphrase does not move at S-structure. (35)

Dare, ga [ pro, pro1 osieta gakuse(] o suisensita no? who NOM taught student ACC recommend Q 'Who, recommended the student that he, taught?

(36) ?*[pro, pro1 hitome mita hitoJ ga dare 1o suki ni natta no? one look saw person NOM who ACC came to like Q '*Whoi who did the person who saw him, once come to like?' In (35), the subject WH-phrase c-commands pro, in the object clause. This is true in either the nonconfigurational or the configurational structure. In contrast, in (36), the WH-phrase in the object position c-commands pro, in the subject clause only in the nonconfigurational structure. The fact that the intended inter-

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I. Arguments and Adjuncts

pretation is ungrammatical indicates that the WH-phrase does not c-command pro,. This is evidence in favor of the VP node. Note that the sentence is fine if the WH-phrase is replaced with a regular NP such as John. In this book, I will assume the VP node. I will present a number of subject/ object asymmetries, some of which have not been noted previously. The new data comprise additional evidence for the VP node in Japanese. One of the clearest cases of subject/object asymmetries involves the numeral quantifier. I present a detailed analysis of this construction in chapter 2 and further pursue the asymmetry in chapter 3.

_1.6. A NOTE ON THE LEXICAL ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX PREDICATES For my final remarks in this chapter, I comment on the assumption behind some of the analyses in this book. I adopt the approach that has come to be called "lexical analysis" (e.g., Farmer, 1980; Miyagawa, 1980, 1984). This approach assumes that complex predicates in Japanese, such as the causative and the passive, are formed in the lexicon. There is an alternative approach-the transformational or the syntactic approach-that hypothesizes a biclausal underlying structure, in which the causative morpheme and the passive morpheme constitute a "higher" verb in the configuration (e.g., Kuroda, 1965, 1978).

s

s

(37)

~VP

~VP

NP

NP

~V

S

D

... V

I

-(s)ase cause

~V

S

D

... V

I

-(r)are

passive

The complement and the higher verb are collapsed into a unitary verb by the rule of predicate raising. Clearly, one's view of arguments in these complex predicate constructions depends crucially on whether one takes the lexical approach or the syntactic approach. The lexical approach finds its theoretical source in the lexicalist hypothesis presented in Chomsky (1970). Chomsky examines two kinds of nominalizations in English, gerundive nominals and derived nominals.

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1.6 Lexical Analysis of Complex Predicates

(38)

John's being eager to please (gerundive)

(39)

John's eagerness to please

(derived)

In the earliest generative work on nominals, Lees ( 1960) assumed that both types of nominals are transformationally derived. Chomsky ( 1970) argues convincingly that the two types should be dealt with in distinct ways. He demonstrates that while the gerundive nominal is transformationally formed, the derived nominal is formed in the lexicon prior to lexical insertion in syntax. We thus get two types of linguistic phenomena: syntactic (gerundive nominal) and lexical (derived nominal). Some of the evidence that Chomsky provides for the lexical nature of derived nominals concerns their idiosyncratic character. He notes that derived nominals, such as those in (40), have taken on noncompositional meanings that can only be accounted for if they are "words" in the lexicon. (40)

laughter, marriage, construction, actions, activities, revolution, belief, doubt, conversion, permutation, trial, residence, qualifications, specifications

The gerundive nominals, on the other hand, are always associated with the same compositional meaning as the original verb. By viewing the complex verbs in Japanese as words, the lexical approach naturally focuses on the lexical property of these verbs. Not surprisingly, an important discovery of this approach has to do with noncompositional meanings associated with these complex verbs. In Miyagawa (1980, 1984), it is proposed that an organization in the lexicon called "paradigmatic structures" allows us to predict precisely when a causative verb can take on idiosyncratic meaning. An extension of this study is presented in chapter 4. In chapter 5, I present a uniform analysis of the direct and the indirect passive constructions using the lexical approach. In contrast to the lexical approach, the syntactic approach naturally concerns itself with syntactic issues such as reflexivization and pronominal coreference (e.g., Kuroda, 1965, 1978; Oshima, 1979). Some linguists with this orientation have criticized the lexical approach for not dealing with all of the data relevant to their syntactic approach (e.g., Kuroda, 1981 ), even though the two approaches focus on very different properties of the same phenomenon. I look at evidence for and against the lexical approach in chapter 4. It is possible that a third approach might be found that can deal elegantly with the vast range of data now separately accommodated by the two approaches." In the meantime, it is imperative that we push the known approaches to their limits. In this spirit, I extend the lexical approach to those data that have not been sue-

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I. Arguments and Adjuncts

cessfully accounted for by any approach to complex verbs. This is done in chapters 4 and 5. Any alternative approach will have to take into account the analysis presented in those chapters. In chapter 2, I present a detailed analysis of the numeral quantifiers in Japanese. As I demonstrate there, the particular perspective that I take on the numeral quantifiers ultimately has a number of significant consequences for the structural analysis of Japanese, including its case marking system.

NOTES 'The following glosses are used throughout this volume: nominative (NOM), accusative (ACC), dative (DAT), genitive (GEN), copula (COP), topic (TOP), passive (PASS), classifier (CL), specifier (SPEC), traversal (TRAY), and complement (COMP). 'A number of textbooks are available for those who wish to get a basic grounding in government-binding and its predecessor, extended standard theory. Radford's 198 I book, Transformational Syntax: A Student's Guide to Chomsky's Extended Standard Theory, provides an excellent introduction to the extended standard theory. Three textbooks on government-binding are Peter Sells' Lectures on Contemporary Syntactic Theories: An Introduction to Government-Binding Theory, Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar, and Lexical-Functional Grammar ( 1985), van Riemsdijk and Williams's Introduction to the Theory of Grammar (1986), and Lasnik and Uriagereka's A Course in GB Syntax: Lectures on Binding and Empty Categories (1988). 'Until recently, it was simply assumed that the X-bar structure is uniform across languages. Recently, Fukui (I 986) and Fukui and Speas (1987) have proposed a nonuniform theory, in which languages vary as to whether they allow the X" node. It is claimed in this theory that while English-type languages do allow the X" projection, Japanese-type languages are limited to the single bar X' projection. Because what usually hangs from a X" node is its Spec(ifier), it is noted that languages that do not allow the X" projection, such as Japanese, are "SPECless" languages. 4 [t is not clear if everyone assumed this hypothesis in the 1970s. For example, Yuki Kuroda, who assumed the VP node in his 1965 MIT dissertation, and who has recently spoken out in favor of the "configurational" (i.e., a structure with the VP node) hypothesis for Japanese, does not take a position in his one major paper on syntax in the 1970s (Kuroda, 1978). None of the examples in his 1978 paper is labelled for structure. 'For analyses of weak crossover, see Chomsky ( 1977), Higginbotham ( 1980), Koopman and Sportiche (1982), and Safir (1984), among others. For studies of this phenomenon in Japanese, see Hoji (1985), Saito (1985), and Saito and Hoji (1983). "One possible alternative is the parallel-structure hypothesis (Miyagawa, 1984, 1986; Zubizarreta, 1982). In this approach, it is hypothesized that both a simplex and a complex structure are projected from a complex verb. This approach has the advantage of capturing both the word-like nature and the syntactic nature of the complex predicates in Japanese.

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Notes

Its disadvantage is that the actual mechanism for creating the two seemingly contradicting projections is not clear. A proposal similar to the parallel-structure approach is the one given by Mccawley and Momoi (1986). They suggest that phrase structures should be allowed to have "crossing" lines.

s

( i)

VP

NP

s

V

~VP

NP

~

saselrare cause/PASS

.. V

The line drawn from the embedded V to the higher V represents the "lexical" integrity of the complex verb. At first, this proposal appears offensive to our intuition about phrase structure. But in reality, it is not as farfetched as it seems. For example, Baker (1988) proposes a verb-raising analysis that essentially makes the same proposal within a less radical and more highly constrained framework. More must be known before we arrive at an analysis that can successfully accommodate the lexical and the syntactic charcteristics of complex predicates.

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2 NUMERAL QUANTIFIERS AND THEMATIC RELATIONS

2.1. INTRODUCTION In Japanese, the action of counting people, animals, or things invariably invokes the use of a numeral quantifier. A numeral quantifier consists of a numeral and a classifier that agrees with the type of entity being counted. For example, to count people, one would use the classifier -nin, as shown in (l). To count bound volumes such as books and magazines, the classifier -satu is used, as shown in (2). I (l)

Sensei ga 3-nin kita. teachers NOM 3-CL came 'Three teachers came.'

(2)

Hanako ga hon o 2-satu katta. NOM book ACC 2-CL bought 'Hanako bought three books.'

The number of these classifiers is quite large. In fact, there are over 150 classifiers attested, though the inventory of those most commonly used is considerably smaller, possibly less than 30 (Downing, 1984, pp. 12- 15). When fifteen informants were asked by Downing to choose the classifiers that they use from a list of 154, all chose the 27 listed in (3) (1984, pp. 13-14). They were also asked to list the entities that the classifier can count. Understandably, not all speakers agreed 19

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

on exactly what entities can be counted with these classifiers. Those entities listed in parentheses are entities that not everyone listed. (3)

I. dai-furniture, machines, land and air vehicles 2. hiki-animals [excluding birds, for some speakers] 3. hon-long, slender objects, such as pencils, trees, threads, roads, and lines; (items that follow a trajectory, such as TV programs, letters, telephone calls, and baseball hits). 4. kabu-rooted plants, roots and bulbs, shares of stock. 5. ken-buildings or parts of buildings that act in some functional capacity, such as a home or shop 6. ken-incidents, occurrences, such as robberies, fires, and accidents 7. ki-airplanes (other air vehicles, such as helicopters and rockets) 8. ko-small objects of roughly equivalent extension in all three dimensions, such as fruits, candies, and stones; also coins [general inanimate classifier, for some speakers] 9. ku-haiku [seventeen-syllable poems], (other short poems) 10. kyoku-pieces of music 11. mai-flat, thin objects such as sheets of paper, pieces of cloth, dishes, items of clothing, phonograph records, leaves, rugs, and coins 12. mei-human beings [honorific] 13. mon-questions, problems 14. mune-buildings 15. nin-human beings 16. satu-books, magazines, notebooks, books of tickets, pads of paper 17. seki-large boats 18. soku-pairs of footwear 19. soo-small boats 20. syoku-meals 21. teki-drops of liquid 22. ten-points in a score, items in an inventory, works of art 23. too-large animals 24. toori-methods, opinions 25. tu-inanimates, concrete or abstract [general classifier] 26. tubu-small, grainlike objects such as grains of rice, grapes, gems, pills, and drops of liquid 27. tuu-letters and postcards, documents, (telephone calls)

The fact that numeral quantifiers occur in Japanese is consistent with what has been observed cross-linguistically. A number of linguists have noted that a numeral quantifier system and obligatory plural marking are in complementary distribution: a language can have one of them, but rarely both (Greenberg, 1972;

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2.1 Introduction

21

Sanches and Slobin, 1973; T'sou, 1976). Although Japanese has plural markers (-tati, -ra), they are certainly not obligatory because a noun without such marking can typically denote a singular entity or a collection of an entity. The word gakusei, for example, can mean 'student' or 'students'. For this reason, the plural markers rarely surface, except when a specific reference to a plurality of entities is required and contextual information alone does not suffice. For a numeral quantifier (NQ) to function properly, it must of course be construed with the appropriate noun phrase whose referent is being counted. In most cases this is not a problem because the classifier identifies the type of entity being counted. In (4), the NQ 4-satu 'four-bound volumes' can only be construed with the object NP hon 'books' because the classifier -satu is used exclusively to count bound volumes. (4)

Gakusei ga hon o 4-satu katta. students NOM book ACC 4-CL bought 'The students bought four books.'

One would not attempt to relate this NQ to the subject, gakusei 'students', because "student" is incompatible with the classifier -satu. But if one wishes to count "students" here, it is not enough to simply change the classifier.

hon o 4-nin katta. students NOM book ACC 4-CL bought

(5) ?*Gakusei ga

The classifier -nin is used to count people, hence it should be appropriate with "students." But as shown, this construal is impossible. To make it possible, the NQ must be positioned next to the subject. (6)

Gakusei ga 4-nin hon o katta. students NOM 4-CL book ACC bought 'Four students bought books.'

The grammatical examples up to now, (4) and (6), happen to have the NQ adjacent to its NP. Is it the case that the only condition necessary is adjacency? If it is, not much more needs to be said. As shown in the following examples, however, successful NP-NQ construals need not always involve adjacency. (7)

Gakusei ga kyoo 3-nin kita. students NOM today 3-CL came 'Three students came today.'

(8)

Hon o Taroo ga 2-satu katta. books ACC NOM 2-CL bought Lit: 'Books, Taro bought two.'

In (7), the time adverb kyoo 'today' intervenes between the subject NP and its NQ. In (8), the object NP has been scrambled to the head of the sentence, result-

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

ing in the subject NP intervening between it and its NQ. Examples such as (7) and (8) demonstrate that the NP and its NQ are syntactically independent phrases. Otherwise, an adverb, as in (7), or a subject NP, as in (8), cannot possibly intervene. In all of the examples that we have seen thus far, the NP and the NQ are separate phrases. There is an alternative construction in which the two occur in the same phrase. As shown in (9a), in this construction the NQ is in the modifier position of the NP headed by the "counted" noun. The syntactically separate construction is given in (9b) for comparison. (9)

a. [Nr 3-nin no gakusei ] ga kita. 3-CL GEN students NOM came 'Three students came.' 3-nin kita. b. Gakusei ga students NOM 3-CL came 'Three students came.'

The existence of these two constructions has led many linguists to claim that the "syntactically separate" construction in (9b) is transformationally derived from (9a) by the rule of quantifier-float (e.g., Okutsu, 1974; Shibatani, 1977, 1978). I briefly review this literature in the next section. In this chapter, I look at the syntactic and semantic factors that govern the construal of the syntactically separate NQ with its NP. In other words, my primary concern is the construction exemplified in (9b), in which the NQ is clearly syntactically separate from its NP. I propose that the NQ in examples such as (9b) can be related to the appropriate NP by the theory of predication (Williams, 1980; Rothstein, 1983; Culicover and Wilkins, 1984). The theory of predication provides the conditions necessary for the construal of "small clauses" in English, such as raw in the following example:

( I0) John ate the meat raw. In the theory of predication, raw is considered a predicate that modifies (is predicated of) the object NP meat. A small clause can also modify the subject. ( 11)

John ate the meat nude.

While an NQ may not transparently qualify as a predicate, we can nevertheless note similarities between the small clauses and the NQ. First, the small clause and the NQ are syntactically separate from the NP that they modify. We saw this for the NQ in (7) and (8), where an independent phrase intervenes between the NP and the NQ. Second, neither the small clause nor the NQ is an argument of the verb because the verb does not assign a thematic role to them. 2 Finally, both most commonly modify subjects and direct objects. My contention is that this

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2.2 Past Studies of NQ

parallelism between NQs and small clauses is not coincidental, but rather it is because both are governed by the theory of predication. 3 In looking at the NQ, one goal is, of course, to formulate a viable analysis of the NQ. It is not enough, however, to just propose such an analysis. For the research to have a true impact on the study of Japanese in particular and universal grammar in general, it is necessary to look at the consequences of the proposed analysis for the entire Japanese language. In turn, we must reflect on yet other consequences, this time for the theory of universal grammar. The particular perspective on the NQ proposed in this chapter has a number of significant consequences both for the analysis of the Japanese language and for universal grammar, some of them quite unexpected. Among others, the analysis of the NQ provides evidence that the regular passive in Japanese involves movement, and that the so-called ergative verbs (Burzio 1981, 1986; Perlmutter, 1978) also involve movement, even in Japanese. As I demonstrate, this evidence for movement in the passive and the ergative constructions constitutes one of the strongest pieces of empirical evidence found for an important theoretical object, the NPtrace (e.g., Chomsky, 1977, 1981). The analysis of the NQ based on the theory of predication assumes that the NQ has not been moved by quantifier-float. Instead, the syntactically separate NQ is seen as base-generated in its position to begin with. In this chapter, I provide support for this analysis and look at its consequences for a number of constructions including the passive and the topic constructions. The next sections are organized as follows: section 2.2 gives an overview of past studies of the NQ. In section 2.3, I present an analysis of the NQ that is based on the theory of predication. Based on this analysis, I argue in section 2.4 that both the direct passive and the unaccusative constructions in Japanese involve the movement of the underlying object to the subject position, leaving behind a trace in the original object position. In section 2.5, evidence is presented to show that the semantic notion of affectedness plays an important role in the construal of the NQ. Finally, in section 2.6, I will look at the consequences that the analysis of the NQ presented in previous sections has for long-distance movement and for the topic/contrastive wa-construction.

2.2. PAST STUDIES OF THE NUMERAL QUANTIFIER

Virtually all of the past literature on the NQ centers on the relationship between the two constructions exemplified in the following pair of examples. The assumption is that the rule of quantifier-float derives a construction such as ( 13) from (12).

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

(12)

3-nin no kodomo ga kita. 3-CL GEN children NOM came 'Three children came.'

(13)

Kodomo ga 3-nin kita. children NOM 3-CL came 'Three children came.'

There are three hypotheses proposed in the literature for the relationship between (12) and (13). For present purposes, I call them grammatical-relation, surfacecase, and extended grammatical-relation hypotheses. The grammatical-relation hypothesis is found in works such as Okutsu (1969, 1974), Harada (1976a), and Kuno (l 978). Shibatani (l 977, 1978) proposes the surface-case hypothesis. And, finally, Inoue (1978a) proposes the extended grammatical-relation hypothesis. For each hypothesis, it is possible to abstract away from the issue of quantifierfloat and look at the condition imposed by each on "derived structures" such as ( 13). I prefer this approach because the analysis of the NQ presented later in this chapter does not assume the rule of quantifier-float. The proposed analysis focuses on the structural and semantic constraints imposed on constructions such as ( 13). For ease of exposition, I henceforth refer to the NP modified by the NQ as the "antecedent" of the NQ, following the terminology of Culicover and Wilkins (1984, 1986).

2.2.1. Grammatical-Relation Hypothesis The grammatical-relation hypothesis (Okutsu, 1969, 1974; Harada, 1976a; Kuno, I 978) states that the antecedent of an NQ must be either a subject or an object. Thus, while (14) and (15) are well formed, (16), in which the antecedent is the indirect object, is ill formed. (14)

Gakusei ga 3-nin hon o katta. students NOM 3-CL book ACC bought 'Three students bought a book.'

(15)

Gakusei ga hon o 3-satu katta. student NOM book ACC 3-CL bought 'A student bought three books.'

(16)

(?)Hanako ga kodomo ni 2-ri okasi o ageta. 4 NOM children to 2-CL candy ACC gave 'Hanako gave candies to two children.'

Further support for the grammatical-relation hypothesis is the following contrast between two "verbs of receiving" constructions (Harada, 1976a):

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2.2 Past Studies of NQ

( 17)

o Taroo wa sensei ni 2-ri suisenzyoo TOP teachers DAT 2-CL recommendation letters ACC kaite moratta. write had. 'Taro had two teachers write (him) recommendation letters.'

moratta. (18) *Taroo wa sensei ni 2-ri hon o TOP teachers from 2-cl book ACC got 'Taro got books from two teachers.' In (17), the antecedent of the NQ 2-ri can be analyzed as the subject of the embedded verb kaite 'write', thus the sentence is well-formed. On the other hand, in ( 18), the same antecedent cannot function as the subject because the sentence is uniclausal, thus the NQ cannot take sensei (ni) '(from) teachers' as its antecedent. 5 The same phenomenon is observed in the indirect and direct passives (Harada, 1976a). In the indirect passive, the NP marked by the dative ni can be viewed as the subject of the embedded verb while this is not the case for the direct passive (Kuna 1973). Therefore, the ni-marked NP can be the antecedent of an NQ in the indirect passive but not in the direct passive. (19)

Boku wa kodomo ni 2-ri sin-are-ta. TOP children DAT 2-CL die-PASS-past 'I had two children die on me.' sensei ni 2-ri sikar-are-ta. by 2-CL scold-PASS-past teachers TOP two teachers.' by scolded 'Taro was

(20) *Taroo wa

2.2.2. Surface-Case Hypothesis Shibatani ( 1977, 1978) rejects the grammatical-relation hypothesis, and argues that what is crucial is the surface case marking of the antecedent. In particular, only the nominative (ga) and the accusative (o) NPs can function as the antecedent of a NQ. His argument rests crucially on two tests for subjecthood, reflexivization and subject honorification. The latter inserts the discontinuous morpheme o . .. ni nar on the verb (cf. Harada 1976b). His point is that these two tests identify certain dative-marked NPs as the subject, yet the same NP cannot function as the antecedent of a NQ. 0 The NP can function as such if marked by the nominative ga. The following are examples taken from Shibatani (1977): (21)

Reflexivization wakar-ana-i. Sensei ni (wa) zibun ga teacher DAT TOP self NOM understand-not-present 'The teacher does not understand himself.'

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(22)

2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

Subject Honorification Sensei ni (wa) eigo ga owakari ni nar-u. teacher DAT TOP English NOM understand 'The teacher understands English.·

As Shibatani notes, despite the fact that the dative NP in (21) and (22) is identified as the subject, the same NP cannot function as the antecedent of a NQ.

san-nin eigo ga wakaru. (23) *Korerano kodomo-tati ni these children DAT 3-CL English NOM understand 'These three children understand English.· These examples indicate a discrepancy between what can function as the antecedent of a NQ and grammatical relation. Shibatani views this discrepancy as a demonstration of the invalidity of the grammatical-relation hypothesis and uses it to support his surface-case hypothesis. In particular, he notes that the possible antecedent can only have the nominative ga or the accusative o. Hence, unlike (23), example (24) with the nominative case on the subject is acceptable. (24)

Korerano kodomo-tati ga san-nin eigo ga wakaru. these children NOM 3-CL English NOM understand 'These three children understand English.'

(24) is identical to (23), except that in (24) the subject is marked with the nominative ga instead of the dative ni. 1

2.2.3. Extended Grammatical-Relation Hypothesis Inoue ( 1978a, pp. 172-174) proposes what I term an "extended" grammaticalrelation hypothesis that incorporates what she calls "quasi-objects" as possible antecedents of the NQ along with the subject and the object. The following examples are from her work. (I provide the word-for-word gloss and the English translation.) (25)

Watakusi wa dantaikyaku o tomeru yadoya ni I TOP group guests ACC let stay inns DAT 2/3-gen atatte mita. 2/3-CL inquired 'I inquired at two or three inns that let groups of guests stay.'

(26)

Watakusi wa hasi o 2-tu ka 3-tu watatta to I TOP bridges TRAY 2-CL or 3-CL crossed COMP kiokusite iru. remember 'I remember that I crossed two or three bridges.'

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2.3 Mutual C-Command Requirement

Inoue notes that both the dative NP of ataru 'inquire' in (25) and the traversal NP marked with o of the verb wataru 'cross' in (26) are subcategorized NPs. This, she contends, is the reason why they can function as the antecedent of a NQ. These NPs are labeled "quasi-object" to distinguish them from regular direct objects and also indirect objects. Indirect objects in her analysis cannot function as the antecedent; the following example is from her work (1978a, p. 29). (I have provided the English gloss and translation.) (27) *Watakusi wa kono zisyo o syoonentati ni suu-nin I TOP this dictionary ACC boys to few-CL presento-sita. presented 'I presented this dictionary to a few boys.' The indirect object here is not subcategorized by the verb (it is not a necessary phrase), hence it is incapable of being the antecedent. Based on this distinction between indirect objects and quasi-objects, Inoue extends the list of possible antecedents of NQs to include quasi-objects along with subjects and direct objects. An important insight of Inoue's study is the distinction between subcategorized and nonsubcategorized NPs; she argues that only the subcategorized ones can function as the antecedent. In more recent terminology, this is the distinction between arguments and adjuncts (e.g., Chomsky, 1981; Huang, 1982). I shall focus on this distinction and show that the crucial factor is not grammatical relations or surface case but instead whether a NP receives a thematic role from an external source such as the verb. This analysis follows automatically from the theory of predication and is therefore most compatible with Inoue's extended grammatical-relation approach. Also, among the studies reviewed in this section, lnoue's is the only one that explicitly rejects the rule of quantifier-float, instead viewing the NQ as being base generated in its position. This, too, is a view that I share.

2.3. MUTUAL C-COMMAND REQUIREMENT ON PREDICATION In order for a predicate such as the NQ to successfully modify a NP, a particular structural relationship must hold between the predicate and the NP. The following exemplify cases where a NQ successfully modifies a NP: (28)

Gakusei ga 3-nin hon o katta. students NOM 3-CL book ACC bought 'Three students bought the book.'

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

Hanako ga pen o 3-bon katta. NOM pen ACC 3-CL bought 'Hanako bought three pens.'

In (28) the NQ 3-nin modifies the subject NP gakusei 'students', and in (29) the NQ 3-bon modifies the object NP pen 'pen'. If we simply consider the linear order of words, we see that in both examples the NQ is adjacent to the NP that it modifies. It is well known, however, that adjacency is not always required. For example, an adverbial phrase can intervene between the NP and the NQ. (30)

Gakusei ga kyoo 3-nin hon o katta. students NOM today 3-CL book ACC bought 'Three students bought the book today.'

(31)

Hanako ga pen o kyoo 3-bon katta. NOM pen ACC today 3-CL bought 'Hanako bought three pens today.'

The fact that the NQ in these two examples successfully modifies a NP despite the intervening adverb suggests that the relevant condition cannot be formulated on the basis of surface word order. Instead, it points to a condition that relies on abstract sentential structures.

2.3.1. Mutual C-Command Condition Although a time adverbial such as kyoo 'today' can intervene between the NP and the NQ, as we saw in (30) and (31 ), other types of phrases obstruct predication if placed between the NP and the NQ. Observe the contrast between the following examples (cf. Kamio, 1977). (32)

Tomodati ga 2-ri Sinzyuku de Tanaka-sensei ni atta. friends NOM 2-CL Shinjuku in Prof. Tanaka DAT met 'Two friends met Professor Tanaka in Shinjuku.'

Sinzyuku de Tanaka-sensei ni 2-ri atta. (33) *Tomodati ga friends NOM Shinjuku in Prof. Tanaka DAT 2-CL met 'Two friends met Professor Tanaka in Shinjuku.' The NQ 2-ri is intended to modify the subject NP tomodati 'friends' in both examples, but the predication is accomplished only in (32). To see why the NQ in (33) cannot modify the subject NP, let us compare the structure of these two sentences. (I exclude the postpositional phrase Sinzyuku de 'in Shinjuku' since it has no bearing on the argument.)

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2.3 Mutual C-Command Requirement

(34) [=(32)] NP

I

tomodati ga friends NOM

(35) [=(33)) NP

I

tomodati ga friends NOM

s NQ

I

2-ri 2-CL

VP

~

Tanaka-sensei ni atta Prof. Tanaka DAT met

*S

VP

~

Tanaka-sensei ni 2-ri atta Prof. Tanaka DAT 2-CL met

The crucial difference between these two structures is that, in the grammatical example in (34) [ = (32)], the NQ occurs outside the VP, but in the ungrammatical example in (35) [ =(33)], the same NQ occurs inside the VP. To be more precise, in the ungrammatical structure in (35), the NQ does not c-command the NP that it modifies. The following is the definition of c-command (Reinhart 1979). (36)

A c-commands B if neither of A, B dominates the other and the first branching node dominating A also dominates B.

In (35) the NQ 2-ri cannot c-command the subject NP because the first branching node, VP, that dominates it fails to dominate the subject NP. On the other hand, in the grammatical structure in (34) the NQ does c-command the subject NP because the first branching node that dominates the NQ, S, also dominates the subject NP. It is evident, then, that the NQ must c-command the NP for predication to take place. This is the reason why (32) is fine but (33) is ungrammatical. The question now is whether this is a sufficient condition to cover all cases of possible and impossible predication structures. The following example demonstrates that another condition must also be included.

kuruma ] ga 3-nin kosyoosita. friends GEN car NOM 3-CL broke down 'Three friends' cars broke down.'

(37) *[NP Tomodati no

The NQ 3-nin is intended to modify the NP tomodati 'friends', but this predication is somehow blocked. Note that while the NQ c-commands the NP, the NP does not in return c-command the NQ.

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

s

(38) NP

~

NP

N

tomodati no friends GEN

kuruma cars

I

6 VP

NQ

I

I

3-nin 3-CL

Based on this, I propose the following condition (cf. Williams 1980). (39)

Mutual C-Command Requirement: For a predicate to predicate of a NP, the NP or its trace and the predicate or its trace must c-command each other.

The mutual c-command requirement accounts for all of the grammatical and ungrammatical sentences that we have seen, including the examples in (30) and (31) in which a time adverb occurs between the NP and the NQ. Again consider example (30), repeated here as (40). 8 (40)

Gakusei ga kyoo 3-nin hon o katta. students NOM today 3-CL book ACC bought 'Three students bought the book today.'

The time adverb kyoo 'today' occurs between the subject NP and the NQ. A time adverbial can occur virtually anywhere in the sentence. It need not have a special node to which it attaches, any available node being sufficient. By this assumption, the relevant structure of (40) is (41).

s

(41) NP

I

gakusei ga students NOM

ADV

I

kyoo today

NQ

I

3-nin 3-CL

VP

6

In (41) the NP gakusei 'students' and the NQ 3-nin c-command each other because neither dominates the other, and the first branching node, S, that dominates one also dominates the other. The mutual c-command requirement also accounts for the following grammatical sentence: (42)

3-mai, kodomo ga sara o watta (koto). 3-CL child NOM plates ACC broke fact '(The fact that) the child broke three plates.'

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2.3 Mutual C-Command Requirement

Here, the NQ 3-mai is allowed to modify the VP-internal NP sara 'plates' despite the fact that the NQ is clearly outside the VP. (42) meets the mutual c-command requirement if we assume the following structure: (43)

[ 5 3-mai; . 3-CL

• [ vp

sara o t; . . . ] ] plates ACC

The structure in (43) readily fulfills the mutual c-command requirement if we allow the trace to participate in the c-command relationship with the NP. Likewise, the following example, in which the object NP has moved from its original position in the VP, can be accounted for if we allow its trace to participate in the c-command relationship with the NQ. 9 (44)

Hon, o, Taroo ga [vP 1;2-satu katta]. book ACC NOM 2-CL bought 'Taro bought two books.'

2.3.2. Mutual C-Command Requirement and the Postpositional Phrase One clear agreement among the past treatments of the NQ is that a NQ cannot take as its antecedent a NP that is within a postpositional phrase (PP). (45)

a. *Hito

ga tiisai mura kara 2-tu kita. people NOM small villages from 2-CL came 'People came from two small villages.' b. Hito ga 2-tu no tiisai mura kara kita. people NOM 2-CL GEN small villages from came 'People came from two small villages.'

(46)

a. *Gakuseitati wa kuruma de 2-dai kita. students TOP cars in 2-CL came 'Students came in two cars.' b. Gakuseitati wa 2-dai no kuruma de kita. students TOP 2-CL GEN cars in came 'Students came in two cars.'

(47)

a. *Hanako wa kooen e 2-tu itta. TOP parks to 2-CL went 'Hanako went to two parks.' b. Hanako wa 2-tu no kooen e itta. TOP 2-CL GEN parks to went 'Hanako went to two parks.'

The grammatical-relation hypothesis correctly excludes the intended predication because the antecedent is neither the subject nor the direct object (nor the "quasi-

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

object"). The surface-case hypothesis excludes it because the intended antecedent is not marked with the nominative ga or the accusative o. In the theory of predication, the ungrammaticality of (45a) and (46a) automatically follows from the syntactic structure without any reference to the grammatical relation or case marking. The mutual c-command condition on predication excludes any structure in which the antecedent is embedded within a PP, since such an NP cannot c-command the NQ external to the PP, as shown in (48). VP

(48) pp

NQ

~p

NP

2.3.2.1. CASE MARKING AND POSTPOSITION This analysis of the NQ, based on mutual c-command, has an immediate consequence for the structural analysis of the NP + particle sequence. In Japanese, every NP in a sentence is accompanied by a particle, either case markers such as the nominative ga and accusative o, or postpositions such as kara 'from' and de 'INSTRUMENTAL'. The mutual c-command analysis makes a clear distinction between these two types of particles based on whether a particle projects a maximal node under which the potential antecedent NP occurs: a postposition does project such a node (PP) whereas case markers such as the nominative ga and the accusative o do not. As demonstrated in the prior section, an NP with a postposition is incapable of functioning as the antecedent to a NQ because of the PP node that is projected from the postposition. This PP node prohibits the NP from c-commanding the NQ. In contrast, if a NP can function as the antecedent of a NQ, the accompanying particle has no projection but rather is cliticized onto the NP. These two structures are shown in (49) and (50) for phrases both internal and external to the VP. (49)

PP Structure

a.

VP pp

NQ

V

~p

NP

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2.3 Mutual C-Command Requirement

s

b. pp

NQ

~

NP

(50)

p

VP

~

Cliticized Structure a.

VP

NP-particle

NQ

V

s

b. NP-particle

NQ

VP

~ I have already discussed why the NP under the PP in (49) cannot be the antecedent to the NQ. In (50), the particle has no projection, instead cliticizing onto the NP. Because of this, it is capable of c-commanding the NQ in both (a) and (b). If the particle in (50) were to have a projection, it would be impossible to construe the NQ as intended. What are the particles that cliticize directly onto a NP as shown in (50)? The two that immediately come to mind are the nominative ga and the accusative a. These two particles, but not postpositions such as kara 'from', share one crucial property. The NP to which ga or o attaches receives its thematic role not from the particle but from an external source: if the NP occurs in the subject position (marked by ga), the thematic role is assigned by the VP (cf. Chomsky, 1981 ; Marantz, 1984); if it occurs within the VP, the thematic role is assigned directly by the V (the NP here has a). ( 51)

[ vr hon o katta II NOM book ACC bought 'Taro bought a book.'

[ Taroo ga

In (51 ), the phrase Taroo ga receives the Agent thematic role from the VP node (the Agent of "bought a book"). The phrase hon o receives its thematic role directly from the verb (the Theme of "bought"). In contrast, the object of a postposition such as kara receives its thematic role directly from the postposition itself, namely, ablative. We therefore have the following generalization:

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

If a particle assigns a thematic role to the NP, the particle has a projection (postposition); if the NP-particle receives its thematic role from an external source, the particle has no projection but instead cliticizes onto the NP (case marking).

The distinction in (52) is, at its core, the common distinction between arguments and adjuncts. In brief, an argument is a phrase that bears some grammatical relation, most commonly subject or object, whereas an adjunct phrase does not. In this sense, the grammatical-relation approach to the NQ captures the correct generalization. Our approach differs from the grammatical-relation approach in that I do not draw a direct correlation between grammatical relations and the antecedent of a NQ but focus instead on the syntactic structure as defined by mutual c-command. A subject, for example, can function as the antecedent not because it has this grammatical relation, but, being a subject, it has the cliticized NP-particle structure that is amenable to predication according to the mutual c-command condition. In other words, a NQ seeks out a subject NP, for example, as its antecedent not by grammatical relation but simply by structural affinity effected by the argument-particle sequence.

2.3.2.2. CASE THEORY AND THE Two PARTICLE STRUCTURES The distinction drawn between the PP structure and the case-cliticization structure is a natural one when we consider the function of the various particles. Take, for example, the postposition kara 'from'. This postposition has semantic content that is fully realized in combination with its object NP, for example, uti kara 'from the house'; the postposition takes the NP as its argument and assigns the thematic role ablative. For this to happen, the NP must occur in the object position of the postposition as shown in (53). (53)

pp

~P

NP

I

uti

I

kara

This structure, in particular the PP projection, is necessitated by the function of the postposition that requires it to have a NP object, to which the thematic role ablative is assigned. In contrast, the nominative ga and the accusative o do not have semantic content, so the thematic role that the NP with these particles has is provided by a source external to the NP-particle phrase. As pointed out for (51 ), the subject NP with ga receives its thematic role from the VP whereas the direct object NP with

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2.3 Mutual C-Command Requirement

o receives its thematic role directly from the verb. If ga and o do not provide a thematic role to their NP, why do these particles need to occur at all? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to turn to a universal linguistic principle. The appearance of these case markings can be accounted for if we view them as having just one function: to provide case to the NP. The subtheory of universal grammar pertinent to case marking is case theory (Chomsky, 1981; Stowell, 1981), which requires that every overt NP have case. This is formalized into what is called the "case filter," one version of which is given below.

(54)

Case Filter (Chomsky, I 981 ): * NP if NP has phonetic content and has no case.

(54) marks as ungrammatical any sentence containing a caseless NP. Nominative ga and the accusative o occur to fulfill this requirement that the overt NPs be case marked. Because these case particles do not themselves require a NP argument in the way that we saw for postpositions, we would not expect the case particles to project a phrasal node of their own. Instead, they simply cliticize onto the NP in order to fullfill their sole function as the provider of case. I will henceforth refer to particles such as ga and o as case markers and those such as kara 'from' as postpositions. 10

2.3.2.3.

ARGUMENTS AND ADJUNCTS

Returning to the NQ, the case-cliticization of ga and o accounts for the observation made by the grammatical-relation hypothesis that the subject and direct object NPs can function as the antecedent of the NQ. The cliticized case marking structure makes the subject and object NPs amenable to the mutual c-command requirement. Because the present analysis does not depend on grammatical relations but only on structure, I predict that any NP, including the subject and the direct object, whose thematic role is provided by a source external to the NP-particle phrase can function as the antecedent of the NQ. This makes it possible to also incorporate the observation made by Inoue (I 978b)-what I term the "extended grammatical-relation" hypothesis-that certain nonsubject, nondirect object NPs can function as the antecedent. Two such NPs are the traversal object and certain dative NPs. (55)

Taroo wa hasi o 2-tu watatta. TOP bridges TRAY 2-CL crossed 'Taro crossed two bridges.'

(56)

Boku wa yuumei na gakusya ni 3-nin atta. I TOP famous scholars DAT 3-CL met 'I met three famous scholars.'

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

Inoue observes that these antecedent NPs (termed "quasi-objects"), are required by the verb. From our perspective, these are arguments of the verb and thus receive a thematic role directly from the verb instead of from the particle. The function of these particles is therefore simply to provide case to the NP, so that the particle is a case marker that cliticizes onto the NP as we saw for the subject and direct object NPs. Our analysis predicts, then, that any NP internal to the VP that can function as the antecedent is an argument of the verb. For example, while we have seen that the NP marked with ni is an argument for verbs au 'meet' and ataru 'inquire', the following examples show that the Goal NP, marked with ni for the verbs iku •go' and kuru 'come', is not an argument of these verbs; hence it is an adjunct.

kooen ni 2-tu itta. children TOP parks to 2-CL went 'The children went to two parks.' Cf. Kodomotati wa 2-tu no kooen ni itta. children TOP 2-CL GEN parks to went 'The children went to two parks.'

(57) *Kodomotati wa

paatii ni 3-tu kita. last year TOP parties to 3-CL came 'Last year, Hanako came to three parties.' Cf. Kyonen, Hanako wa 3-tu no paatii ni kita. last year TOP 3-CL GEN parties to came 'Last year, Hanako came to three parties.'

(58) *Kyonen, Hanako wa

These show that the particle ni 'to' with iku 'go' and kuru 'come' is a postposition that projects the PP node, thereby making it impossible to obtain the mutual c-command relationship between the NP and the NQ. It is also worth noting that the same verb can select a ni-marked phrase either as an argument or as an adjunct. As pointed out by Nobuko Hasegawa (personal communication), the verb katu 'win' can take a ni-phrase that either denotes the person/team that the subject beat or the type of game that the subject won. Only the latter, however, can be the argument of the verb. (59) *Taroo ga Amerikazin ni 3-nin katta.

NOM 3-CL won 'Taro beat three Americans (in a game of some sort).' (60)

Taroo ga geemu ni 2-tu katta. NOM game 2-CL won 'Taro won two games.'

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2.3 Mutual C-Command Requirement

As also noted by Hasegawa, although Japanese allows both of these phrases to occur with the same particle, English allows only the counterpart of (60): John won the game!*Henry. In chapter 5, I give evidence for the assignment of dative case by the verb.

2.3.2.4.

MUTUAL C-COMMAND AND THE SURFACE-CASE HYPOTHESIS

Recall that Shibatani ( 1977) gives examples of what he calls "dative subject" to support the idea that the antecedent of a NQ is not decided by grammatical relations. In particular, he notes that NPs that qualify as a subject by the reflexive and the subject-honorification tests can function as the antecedent if marked by the nominative ga but not the dative ni. (61)

Korerano kodomotati gal*ni 3-nin eigo ga hanaseru. these children NOM/DAT 3-CL English NOM can speak 'These three children can speak English.'

Our analysis predicts that the NP korerano kodomotati 'these children' is the subject NP only if marked by ga. If the dative ni appears instead, the particle projects the PP node that blocks mutual c-command. Being a PP, the dative phrase is not the subject. Saito ( 1982) in fact argues independently that the dative subject is a PP.

2.3.3. Passive Formation I now apply the mutual c-command analysis to the passive formation. In Japanese, there are two types of passives, commonly called "direct" and "indirect" (or "pure" and "adversitive," cf. Kuno, 1973). Both types of passives are formed by attaching the bound passive morpheme -(r)are to a verb. The direct passive is similar to the English passive in that the passive morpheme attaches to a transitive verb and the subject is the original object NP of the transitive verb. The agentive phrase is marked by ni 'by'. (62)

Kodama ga oya ni sikar-are-ta. child NOM parents by scold-PASS-past 'The child was scolded by his parents.·

The indirect passive differs from the direct passive in that the attachment of the passive morpheme -(r)are results in the addition of an Experiencer NP. In the indirect passive, the passive morpheme can attach to intransitive and transitive verbs.

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

(63)

Taroo ga ame ni fur-are-ta. NOM rain DAT fall-PASS-past 'Taro was rained on.'

(64)

Hanako ga sensei ni kodomo o sikar-are-ta. NOM teacher DAT child ACC scold-PASS-past 'Hanako had her child scolded by the teacher.'

The referent of the added Experiencer phrase [Taroo in (63), Hanako in (64)] is understood to be somehow affected by the action, usually in an adversitive fashion (cf. Kuno, 1973).

2.3.3.1.

DIRECT PASSIVE

There are two analyses proposed in the literature for the direct passive that presuppose a simplex structure throughout the derivation. The first is a movement analysis (Kuno, 1973), which regards the subject of the passive as having moved to that position from the object position, very much like the analysis proposed for the English passive (Chomsky 1981 ). Under this analysis, the passive sentence in (62) above has the structure in (65).

s

(65)

VP

NP;

I

?

kodomo RG child NOM oya parents

I;

sikar-are-ta scold-PASS-past

ni

by

The other approach is a strictly lexical one (e.g., Miyagawa, 1980). In this analysis, it is assumed that no movement has occurred; the passive verb simply takes as its subject what corresponds to the object of the transitive verb. An analysis of this sort has been proposed for English as well (e.g., Williams, 1981). The mutual c-command requirement helps us to choose between these two possible accounts. As we shall see, the movement account is more promising than the lexical account. The crucial example is the following: (66)

Yuube, kuruma ga doroboo ni 2-dai nusum-are-ta. last night cars NOM thief by 2-CL steal-PASS-past 'Last night, two cars were stolen by a thief.'

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2.3 Mutual C-Command Requirement

The important point to note is that the NQ 2-dai occurs in the VP, and it successfully modifies the subject NP kuruma 'car'. Example (66) sharply contrasts with a nonpassive example such as (67). (67) *Tomodati ga Sinzyuku de Tanaka-sensei ni 2-ri atta. friends NOM Shinjuku in Prof. Tanaka DAT 2-CL met 'Two friends met Professor Tanaka in Shinjuku.' Just as in (66), there is a NQ, 2-ri, in the VP that is intended to modify the subject NP. Unlike (66), (67) is ungrammatical because the NQ fails to c-command the subject NP. There can only be one reason why (66) is grammatical. The NQ somehow manages to c-command the subject NP. The NQ obviously cannot directly c-command the NP in the subject position because of the intervening maximal projection VP. The only choice open to us is that the subject NP starts out in the object position and is moved to the subject position, leaving behind a trace. The relevant portion of the structure for (66) is thus the following:

s

(68)

NP;

I

kuruma ga cars NOM

VP

~

doroboo ni I; 3-dai ... thief by 3-CL

Before the movement, the NP and the NQ mutually c-command each other directly because both occur in the VP. After the movement, the mutual c-command is maintained by the trace left by the NP. The following are other passive examples similar to (66): (69)

Kinoo, gakusei ga ano otoko ni 2-ri koros-are-ta. yesterday students NOM that man by 2-CL kill-PASS-past 'Yesterday, two students were killed by that man.'

(70)

Gakkoo no mae de, kodomo ga kuruma ni 2-ri school GEN front in children NOM car by 2-CL hik-are-ta. run over-PASS-past 'Two children were run over by a car in front of school'

(71)

Ano mise de wa, takai konpyuutaa ga okyakusan ni 2-dai that store at expensive computer NOM customer by 2-CL kowas-are-ta. break-PASS-past 'At that store, two expensive computers were broken by a customer.'

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The movement analysis of the direct passive assumes that the bound passive morpheme lexically attaches to a transitive verb. According to the movement analysis of the passive in English (Chomsky, 1981 ), the addition of the passive morphology does two things: it "suppresses" the original agentive role of the transitive verb; and it "absorbs" the case-assigning ability of the transitive verb. The latter causes the object NP to be without case, thus forcing it to move to the subject position in order to receive case from INFL (inflection). Suppression of the external thematic role allows the object NP to move to the subject position because the subject position is not associated with a thematic role. Otherwise, the NP would have two thematic roles, the thematic role originally assigned to it as an object NP (Theme) and the Agent role assigned by the transitive verb to its subject position. I provisionally assume this analysis for the Japanese direct passive. The important point of course is that the analysis predicts movement of the object NP to the subject position, which allows the mutual c-command to be maintained. It is important to note that the argument given above for the movement analysis of the direct passive hinges on the assumption that the agentive phrase (marked by the particle ni 'by') is in the VP. Otherwise, there is no guarantee that the NQ that follows the agentive phrase is itself in the VP, hence making it questionable that its ability to take the subject NP as its antecedent is due to the existence of the trace within the VP. The VP-internal assumption of the passive agentive phrase is upheld if we follow Jaeggli 's (1986) analysis of the passive. In particular, he proposes that the passive morpheme subcategorizes for the by-NP in that the morpheme, which absorbs the external 0-role of the verb, in turn discharges this 0-role onto the PP via the preposition by (see his work for details). This accounts for the fact that the agentive NP of the passive is not always "agentive." It is whatever corresponds to the external 0-role of the verb. For example, in the package was received by John, John can be interpreted not as the Agent but as the Goal, which is an option open for the external role in the nonpassivized form of the verb. This assignment of the absorbed external thematic role by the passive morpheme presumably occurs under government, hence the by-phrase must be in the VP since Jaeggli argues that the passive morpheme subcategorizes the PP headed by by. We see a similar phenomenon in Japanese. In the following example, the NP marked with ni is the Experiencer, which is the original external role of the verb sinpaisuru 'worry'. (72)

Sano koto ga minna ni sinpais-are-ta. that matter NOM everyone by worry-PASS-past Lit. 'That matter was worried by everyone.'

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2.4 Ergative Verbs

The ni phrase here can only have this Experiencer role if the phrase occurs in the VP, and it receives this thematic role from the passive morphology, as argued by Jaeggli (1986).

2.3.3.2.

INDIRECT PASSIVE

Unlike the direct passive, the indirect passive does not switch the order of the arguments. Instead, it adds an Experiencer NP, which then becomes the subject of the passive verb. What is involved here is not movement but simply the addition of an extra argument (the Experiencer argument). Certainly, we cannot conceive of a NP movement from within the VP to the subject position as we did for the direct passive. This predicts that a NQ within the VP cannot modify the subject NP of the passive because there is no trace coindexed with the subject NP. This is borne out in the following:

ame ni 2-ri fur-are-ta. children NOM rain DAT 2-CL fall-PASS-past 'Two children were rained on.'

(73) *Kodomo ga

(74) [=(73)] *[, kodomo ga

children NOM

[ vr

ame ni 2-ri fur-are-ta II rain DAT 2-CL fall-PASS-past

The NQ 2-ri occurs in the VP without the benefit of a VP-internal trace coindexed with the subject NP kodomo 'children'. The NQ therefore fails to c-command the subject NP that it is intended to modify in violation of the mutual c-command requirement. The behavior of the NQ coupled with the mutual c-command requirement shows that the direct passive is best accounted for by movement. The indirect passive involves no such movement and is characterized simply by the addition of the Experiencer NP (cf. Miyagawa, 1980).

2.4. ERGATIVE VERBS Note that the following example appears to be a blatant violation of the mutual c-command requirement on predication: (75)

Kinoo, tekihei ga ano hasi o 2-3-nin yesterday enemy soldiers NOM that bridge ACC 2-3-CL watatta (no o mita). crossed ACC saw '(I saw that) yesterday, two to three enemy soldiers crossed that bridge.'

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

The problem posed by this example is that the NQ 2-3-nin occurs in the VP, yet it is able to be construed with the subject NP. We have already seen that similar examples are ungrammatical.

(76)?*Tomodati ga ie o 3-nin katta. friends NOM house ACC 3-CL bought 'Three friends bought houses.' Note that there is a difference in the thematic role of the subject NP in these two examples. In (76) the subject is Agent, but in the acceptable (75) the subject is Theme, which is most commonly associated with the object NP. In fact, if we can show that a "Theme subject" such as in (75) originates in the object position and is moved to the subject position, leaving behind a trace in the VP, (75) need not be considered a counterexample to the mutual c-command requirement. I intend to demonstrate this here. Linguists have argued that the subject NP of certain intransitive verbs in Italian originates in the VP (Belletti and Rizzi, 1981; Burzio, 1981; Perlmutter, 1978). These verbs are called "unaccusative" (Perlmutter, 1978) or "ergative" (Burzio, 1981, 1986). I will follow Burzio in using the term ergative to refer to this class of verbs. As one piece of evidence, Burzio ( 1981, 1986) notes that the partitive clitic NE can only go with the object of transitive verbs and the subject of ergatives. (77)

Gianni NE ha insultati due. of-them has insulted two 'Gianni has insulted two of them.'

(78) *NE telefonano mo/ti. of-them telephone many 'Many of them telephoned.' (79)

NE

arrivano mo/ti. of-them arrive many 'Many of them arrive.'

In (77), NE goes with the object of a transitive verb. In (78), the clitic is intended to go with the subject of the unergative verb telefonano, but, as shown, the sentence is ungrammatical. In contrast to this, (79), which is also an intransitive construction, allows the clitic to be construed with the subject NP. Following Perlmutter (1978), Burzio suggests that the subject of arrivano is in fact the object of the verb at D-structure, thereby making it possible to have the generalization that NE can only go with (deep) objects. He shows that this is true for other ergative verbs. In chapter 3, I discuss the ergative hypothesis in detail. Let us then suppose that the subject of the verb watatta 'crossed' in (75) originates in the object position and is moved to the subject position by Move-a at

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2.4 Ergative Verbs

S-structure. Presumably, what motivates this movement is the lack of case that the verb can assign to the object. Akin to the direct passive, the object must move to the subject position where the nominative ga is assigned. The resulting structure is given in (80).

s

(80)

VP

NP,

~ 'crossed'

t, NQ

watatta

The trace left by the NP allows this structure to fulfill the mutual c-command requirement, just as we saw for the direct passive. The following are other examples of ergative verbs together with a NQ in the VP. I assume the same subject-trace structure for these that is proposed for (80). (81)

Gakusei ga [ vr ofisu ni 2-ri kita] students NOM office to 2-CL came 'Two students came to the office.'

(82)

Otoko ga [ vp baa ni 2-ri haitta] men NOM bar to 2-CL entered 'Two men entered the bar.'

(83)

Onna ga [ vP butai ni 1-ri agatta] woman NOM stage to I-CL went up 'One woman went up onto the stage.'

(84)

Kyaku ga lvr rokyan ni 2-ri tuita] guests NOM inn to 2-CL arrived 'Two guests arrived at the inn.'

(85)

Doa ga lvr kono kagi de 2-tu aita] door NOM this key with 2-CL opened 'Two doors opened with this key.'

These all have a theme subject which, under the analysis we are pursuing, originates in the object position within the VP. A crucial assumption behind the examples just presented is that the phrase that intervenes between the antecedent NP and its NQ, such as kono kagi de 'with this key' in (85), is in the VP. This is crucial because if the intervening phrase were outside the VP, dominated directly by the S node, the examples in (81 )-(85) would have no bearing on the issue of ergative verbs. I justify this assumption because the intervening phrase semantically goes with the predicate of the sentence. Thus, for example, kono kagi de 'with this key' in (85) denotes the instru-

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

ment that made the action denoted by the verb aita 'open' possible. More importantly, while the instrumental PP kono kagi de 'with this key' is fine in the ergative construction in (85), it cannot intervene between the subject and its NQ in the transitive counterpart. (86)

a. ?*Kodomo ga kono kagi de 2-ri doa o children NOM this key with 2-cl door ACC 'Two children opened a door with this key.' b. Kodomo ga 2-ri kono kagi de doa o children NOM 2-CL this key with door ACC 'Two children opened a door with this key.'

aketa. opened aketa. opened

Based on the ergative hypothesis, (86a) is ungrammatical because the instrumental PP is in the VP, hence the NQ also is in the VP, thereby violating the mutual c-command requirement. This violation occurs because, unlike the ergative constructions, there is no trace in the VP coindexed with the subject NP. In contrast to ergative verbs, unergative verbs, which are intransitives with deep subjects (Perlmutter, I978), do not allow a NQ in the VP to take the subject as its antecedent NP. (87) ?*Gakusei ga [ vP zibun no kane de 2-ri denwa-sita] students NOM self 's money by 2-CL telephoned 'Two students telephoned using their own money.' (88) *Kodomo ga [ vp geragera to 2-ri waratta] children NOM loudly 2-CL laughed 'Two children laughed.' (89)?*Kodomo ga [ vp wa ni natte 10-nin odotta] men NOM circle become 10-CL danced 'Ten children danced in a circle.' These sentences would be acceptable if the NQ occurred outside of the VP, where it can c-command the subject NQ. A verb is categorized as unergative if it assigns an external thematic role, unlike the ergative verbs such as 'go' and 'arrive' that only assign an internal role that corresponds to the object NP. According to Burzio ( 1986), the property that separates these two types of one-argument verbs is case: (90)

Burzio's Generalization: A verb assigns an external thematic role if it can assign case.

The most straightforward manifestations of this generalization are the gardenvariety transitive verbs such as kill; kill assigns the external thematic role Agent and it assigns case to its object. Likewise, unergative verbs such as laugh, which also assign an external thematic role, can assign case, according to Burzio, so they are able to take an object as in the following example:

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2.4 Ergative Verbs

(91)

He laughed a laugh.

In (81) through (89), it was shown that a NQ within the VP can take the subject NP as its antecedent only if the verb is ergative. In the previous section, we saw the same thing for the direct passive. Ergative verbs and passive verbs share the property of a surface subject that originates in the object position and moves to the subject position at S-structure, leaving behind a trace in the object position. It is this trace that c-commands, and is c-commanded by, the NQ in the VP, thus fulfilling the mutual c-command requirement. As noted earlier, what is crucial in the examples is the assumption that what intervenes between the subject NP and the NQ is itself in the VP, so that the NQ that follows can likewise be understood to occur internal to the VP.

2.4. 1. Condition C I now present another argument to support the ergative hypothesis for Japanese. The argument, which crucially relies on pronominal coreference, is based on Chomsky's ( 1981) binding theory, in particular, Condition C of his binding theory. (92)

Binding Theory, Condition C: An R-expression must be free.

R-expression stands for "referential expression," which is primarily a gardenvariety NP such as Taro, Mary, and table. The statement "an R-expression must be free" means that such an expression cannot be coindexed with (be referentially dependent on) a c-commanding phrase. A simple illustration of this principle is the following example, in which the pronoun in the matrix subject position cannot be bound to an R-expression in the embedded subject position. (93) *He, thought that John; would be chosen.

The matrix subject pronoun he c-commands the R-expression John, so that John would be bound to a c-commanding phrase, he, under the intended interpretation, in violation of Condition C. As we can see, then, an R-expression cannot be coreferential with a pronoun that c-commands the R-expression. We can exploit this property of pronouns and R-expressions to give further credence to the idea that the ergative hypothesis applies in Japanese. Look at the following sentences: (94)

Taroo; no gakusei ga kyoo kare; ni hanasita. GEN student NOM today he DAT spoke 'Taro's student spoke to him today.'

(95)

Taroo; no kodomo ga kare; ni atatta. GEN child NOM he DAT ran into 'Taro's child ran into him.'

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The subject of the verb hanasu 'speak' in (94) is both the deep and the surface subject, since the verb is not ergative. On the other hand, the verb in (95), ataru 'run into', is an ergative verb, so that the surface subject is assumed to originate in the object position. The point to note here is that the dative phrase is a pronoun that is coreferential with Taroo, which occurs in the prenominal position of the subject NP. As shown, the coreference is allowed, so that, under Condition C, the dative phrase must be viewed as not c-commanding the subject NP. Thus, the configuration must be (96a), not (96b). (96)

a. NP

~

Taroo; no gakusei/kodomo

NP

I

kare

b. NP

~

Taroo; no gakusei!kodomo

NP

I

kare

The configuration in (96b) cannot be the correct structure since the pronoun c-commands Taroo, hence coreference would be impossible by Condition C. Incidentally, since the dative phrase itself can function as the antecedent of a NQ, it is clear that the dative phrase is a NP, and not a PP. (97)

a. Taroo ga sensei ni 3-nin hanasita. NOM teacher DAT 3-CL spoke 'Taro spoke to three teachers.' b. Taroo ga kuruma ni 2-dai atatta. NOM cars DAT 2-CL ran into 'Taro ran into two cars.'

Of course, by a semantic criterion, we would expect (96a) to be the correct structure since the dative phrase is a part of the predicate, hence within the VP. Pronominal coreference gives an independent motivation aside from semantics that the dative phrase must be in the VP. On the basis of this, if we insert a NQ after the dative phrase, we can be certain that the NQ is in the VP. As shown in the following examples, if such a NQ is intended for the subject NP, the intended construal is possible only with the ergative verb.

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(98)

a. ?*Taroo; no gakusei ga kyoo kare; ni 2-ri hanasita. GEN students NOM today he DAT 2-CL spoke 'Two of Taro's students spoke to him today.' b. Taroo; no kodomo ga kare; ni 2-ri atatta. GEN children NOM he DAT 2-CL ran into 'Two of Taro's children ran into him.'

Because of Condition C, there is no way for the dative pronoun to c-command the subject, in turn making it impossible for the following NQ to c-command the subject NP, its intended antecedent. The fact that the intended construal is possible anyway in (98b) must be because of a trace in the VP that is coindexed with the subject, and it is this trace and the NQ that meet the mutual c-command requirement.

2.4.2. Inherent Case Let us return to the first example in this section, (75), repeated below as (99). (99)

Kinoo, tekihei ga ano hasi o 2-3-nin yesterday enemy soldiers NOM that bridge ACC 2-3-CL watatta (no o mita). crossed ACC saw '(I saw that) yesterday, two to three enemy soldiers crossed that bridge.'

Based on the evidence presented earlier, we can account for the grammaticality of this sentence if the Theme subject tekihei 'enemy soldiers' is seen to have originated in the object position, as in the following schema: (I 00)

Is - - Ivr hasi ( o) tekihei

watatta] I bridge enemy soldiers crossed

Notice that this is a problem for Burzio's (1986) generalization. The verb wataru 'cross' is hypothesized to assign two internal roles but no external role. Burzio's generalization predicts that such a verb cannot assign case, but in fact, the case marker o appears on the "traversal" object hasi 'bridge'. One possibility is that this o is a postposition, but the following example, in which a NQ successfully predicates of the traversal object, makes it difficult to pursue this line of argument. (IOI)

Kodomo ga hasi o 3-tu watatta. child NOM bridge 3-CL crossed 'The child crossed three bridges.'

As argued in section I, this predication is possible only if the particle on the NP is a case marker instead of a postposition.

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Another possibility is to adopt the analysis of psych-verbs of Belletti and Rizzi ( 1986). They argue that in Italian a verb such as preoccupare 'worry' assigns two internal thematic roles but no external role. Therefore, in the following example, the surface subject questo 'this' originates in the object position. (102)

Questo preoccupa Gianni. 'This worries Gianni.'

This verb violates Burzio's generalization very much like the Japanese wataru 'cross' example. The verb is claimed to assign no external thematic role, yet it appears to assign case to the Experiencer NP ( Gianni). To salvage the generalization, Belletti and Rizzi turn to a proposal made by Chomsky (1986a) about case assignment. In brief, Chomsky proposes that there are two types of cases, structural and inherent. Structural case is the the case assigned by a case assigner and is the one most commonly discussed in the literature. According to Chomsky, this type of case is assigned and realized at S-structure. In addition, Chomsky proposes an inherent case that is assigned at D-structure. Unlike structural case, which is independent of the thematic grid, inherent case is closely associated with a thematic role. What Belletti and Rizzi ( 1986) claim is that for psych-verbs such as in (102), an inherent case is associated with the thematic role Experiencer. They justify this analysis by observing that the Experiencer NP behaves differently from NP receiving structural case, for example, with regard to extraction. As shown in the following examples from their work, it is possible to extract from the object of the verb 'fear', which they assume to be a regular transitive, but not from the Experiencer position of 'worry'. (103)

a. La ragazza di cui Gianni teme ii padre 'the girl of whom Gianni fears the father' b. *La ragazza di cui Gianni preoccupa ii padre 'the girl of whom Gianni worries the father'

The verb wataru 'cross' in Japanese manifests one property that supports the inherent-case argument. The verb does not allow direct passive. This is predicted if the assigned case is inherent, not structural, since it is the latter that can be absorbed (Belletti and Rizzi, 1986). (104) *Ano hasi ga kodomo ni watar-are-ta. that bridge NOM child by cross-PASS-past 'The bridge was crossed by the child.' The issue here may be more complex. For example, the reason why this sentence is ungrammatical may be due to the general tendency in Japanese to avoid an inanimate subject in the passive construction. This is simply a tendency, since an inanimate subject is not completely precluded (for example, the direct passive in (66) with the inanimate subject kuruma 'cars' is grammatical). I leave this problem open.

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It should be noted that the ergative hypothesis has been proposed elsewhere for Japanese (Terada, 1987), interestingly, also using numeral quantifiers, though the actual facts observed are different. Before we go any further with our own analysis, let us briefly look at Terada's proposal.

2.4.3. Terada's Analysis Terada ( 1987) proposes the ergative hypothesis for Japanese using numeral quantifiers (called "quantifier phrases" in her study). She notes the following distinction in grammaticality (the * for (105) is based on her judgment): (105) *Kodomo ga 6-nin tylenol-ni seisankari o ireta. children NOM 6-CL to cyanide ACC put 'Six children put cyanide into tylenol.' (106)

Kyoosi ga seito o 6-nin rooka ni tataseta. teachers NOM students ACC 6-CL hall in stand 'The teacher made six students stand in the hall.'

The asterisk for sentence (105) is intended to indicate that the sentence is ungrammatical under the distributional reading. It is acceptable if interpreted in the group reading for the quantified NP. Sentence (I 06) is acceptable with the distributional reading, which is the only reading Terada is concerned with. Terada claims that this distinction between (105) and (106) arises at the level of LF. At LF, the numeral quantifier along with its NP is quantifier-raised, leaving a trace. Terada argues that this LF-raising causes an ECP-violation in ( 105) because the trace is not properly governed, this because the trace is not lexically governed." She uses Pesetsky's ( 1982) theory of QP in Russian to preclude the other possibility for proper government, that of antecedent government. She claims, following Pesetsky, that the raised QP cannot antecedent-govern its trace because the trace left by the QP is nominal, but the antecedent (NP-numeral quantifier) is a QP, hence there is a mismatch in category. Example (106) avoids the same ECPviolation because the trace of the QP is properly governed by the verb. Second, Terada notes that in contrast to (105), the following sentence is acceptable with the distributional reading: (107)

Hune ga 6-soo boohuuu de sizunda. ships NOM 6-CL storm in sank 'Six ships sank in the storm.'

Like (105), a NQ modifies the subject, but here there is apparently no ECPviolation. This is evidence, according to Terada, that the surface subject and the NQ are in the object position at D-structure, so that the trace after QR is properly governed by the verb. This is an attractive analysis and I heartily support her conclusion. But it seems that, while the conclusion is fine, the supporting evidence is not. Terada's

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crucial point is that ( I 05) is ungrammatical with a distributional reading. I do not share this intuition, nor do those with whom I consulted. The following example constitutes a convincing argument against Terada 's use of examples such as ( 105) to motivate the ergative hypothesis: (108)

Gakusei ga nan-nin hon o katta no? students NOM WH-CL book ACC bought Q 'How many students bought a book?'

In this example, which is perfectly grammatical, a WH-NQ modifies the subject NP instead of a NQ. Because of this, the quantified phrase must necessarily take scope at LF, leaving behind a trace in the subject position. Terada's analysis would incorrectly mark this sentence as ungrammatical.

2.5. FURTHER EVIDENCE: NQ-SCRAMBLING A clear asymmetry reveals itself when we scramble a NQ that modifies a subject NP and one that modifies an object NP. (109)

2-tu, kodomo ga kozutumi o okutta. 2-CL child NOM packages ACC sent. 'The child sent two packages.'

gakusei ga katta. (110)?*2-ri, hon o 2-CL books ACC students NOM bought. 'Two students bought a book.' In (109), which is grammatical, the subject NP occurs between the NQ and the object that the NQ modifies. In (110), which is ungrammatical, the object NP intervenes between the NQ and the subject NP that the NQ modifies. Katagiri ( 1983), who noted this asymmetry, formulates a stipulation whereby a direct object NP is prohibited from intervening between the NQ and the subject NP modified by the NQ. But it is not just the object NP that is prohibited from intervention. Intervention of the indirect object between the NQ and the subject NP is equally unacceptable. I; omiyage o age ta. (111) *2-ri,, Tanaka-san ni gakusei ga 2-CL DAT students NOM present ACC gave 'Two students gave Mr. Tanaka a present.'

Indeed, what blocks the intended construal is anything from within the VP intervening between the subject NP and its NQ. Hence, along with direct and indirect objects, even an instrumental PP has the same effect.

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2.5 Further Evidence: NQ-Scrambling

t 1 roopu o kitta. 2-CL knife by children NOM rope ACC cut 'Two children cut the rope with a knife.'

(l 12) ?*2-ri,, naifu de, kodomo ga

On the other hand, a time adverb can intervene between the subject NP and the NQ since such an adverb need not originate within the VP. (l 13)

2-ri kyoo gakusei ga nihongo no hon o katta. 2-CL today students NOM Japanese GEN book ACC bought 'Today two students bought Japanese language books.'

The generalization in all of these examples is the following: a subject-oriented NQ cannot be scrambled. In other words, a NQ whose antecedent is the subject (at least of a transitive verb) cannot be moved by scrambling. Among the examples provided, those where a VP-internal phrase intervenes between the subject NP and its NQ necessarily involve NQ-scrambling. This is because in order to position the VP-internal phrase, for example, the object NP in front of the subject NP, the object must scramble, forming the following adjunction structure: (l 14)

Is OBJECT, Is SUBJECT NQ lvp t, V]]]

Now, we can see that to position the subject-oriented NQ in front of this object, the NQ must necessarily move. The only exception to this required movement is if a time adverb intervenes, as in (l 13); as noted earlier in this chapter, a time adverb can be base generated under virtually any node, so that (l 13) has the following nonscrambled structure for the NQ. (l 15)

[s NQ ADVERB SUBJECT lvP ]]

The NQ can be considered base generated in this position, where it meets the mutual c-command requirement with the subject NP. Because no movement of the subject-oriented NQ is involved, the sentence is grammatical. If the ergative hypothesis that we are pursuing is correct, it would not be surprising to find that the subject of an ergative verb behaves the same as the direct object of a transitive verb with respect to the NQ. Both should allow NQscrambling, unlike the subject of transitive verbs or, we can predict, the subject of unergative verbs. The following ergative examples support this prediction, in turn supporting the validity of the ergative hypothesis: (l 16)

2-ri, ofisu ni gakusei ga t, kita. 2-CL office to students NOM came Lit: 'Two;, to my office, (t;) students came.'

(l 17)

3-nin 1 butai ni onna ga 11 agatta. 3-CL stage to women NOM went up Lit: 'Three,, onto the stage, (t,) women went up.'

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(118)

2-tu, konokagide doa ga l;aita. 2-CL this key with door NOM opened 'Lit: Two,, with this key, (l;) doors opened.'

(l I 9)

2-ri, ryokan ni kyaku ga t, tuita. 2-CL inn to guests NOM arrived Lit: 'Two,, to the inn, (t,) guests arrived.'

(120)

2-ri, ano baa ni onna ga t. haitta. 2-CL that bar to women NOM entered Lit: 'Two,, into the bar, (t;) women entered.'

As predicted, unlike the ergative verbs, the unergative verbs do not allow scrambling of the NQ.

t. keisan-sita. (121) *2-ri, konpyuutaa de gakusei ga 2-CL computer by students NOM calculated Lit: 'Two,, by a computer, (l;) students calculated.' (122) *3-nin, geragerato kodomo ga t, waratta. 3-CL loudly children NOM laughed Lit: 'Three,, loudly, (t,) children laughed.' (123) *2-ri, kawa o otoko ga t, oyoida. 2-CL river ACC men NOM swam Lit: 'Two,, the river, (t,) men swam.' As the final point in this section, I note that what is predicted for the ergative verb should also apply to the direct passive. Both involve the movement of deep subject to the surface subject position. This is borne out in the following: (124)

Yuube, 2-dai, doroboo ni, kuruma ga nusum-are-ta. last night 2-CL thief by cars NOM steal-PASS-past 'Last night, two cars were stolen by a thief.'

The following summarizes the discussion thus far: ( 125)

a. Transitive object: acceptable

s

~S

NQ 1

~VP

~

NP

I;

V

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

b. Ergative and passive subjects: acceptable

s

~

S

NQ,

~VP

NP1

~

tj

I;

V

c. Transitive subject: unacceptable

s

~

S

NQ;

~VP

NP

I;

d. Unergative subject: unacceptable

s

~S

NQ;

~VP

NP

t;

As shown, the trace left by NQ-scrambling is in the VP in the transitive (where the NQ modifies the object) and the ergative/passive constructions, but not in the unergative case. This allows us to capture naturally the observed asymmetry between an Agent subject (of both transitive and unergative verbs), on the one hand, and the object/indirect object and the Theme (ergative) subject, on the other. The ergative/passive data are strong evidence for the existence of NPtrace, predicted by theory but heretofore lacking sufficient empirical evidence.

2.6. A UNIFIED ACCOUNT OF NQ-SCRAMBLING In the previous section, it is shown that the subject of ergative/passive verbs and the object of transitive verbs are the same in allowing a NQ that modifies

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

them to scramble. This is in contrast to the subject of unergatives and transitive verbs, which do not allow such scrambling. I did not give an account of why this distinction exists. In this section, I introduce other data similar to those presented in section 2.4 and propose a unified account of NQ-scrambling. I shall show that the account, which I call "predicate licensing," finds support both within Japanese and across other languages. In the earlier discussion of NQ-scrambling, it was first noted that the objectoriented NQ can scramble but the subject-oriented NQ cannot. Thus, we have the following distinction in grammaticality: (126)

2-satu,, Tarooga lvr hon o t,katta] ( koto) 2-CL NOM book ACC bought fact '(The fact that) Taro bought two books.'

(121)?*3-nin,, koohee o, o~aku ga t, Ive nonda] (koto) 3-CL coffee ACC guests NOM drank fact '(The fact that) three guests drank coffee.' One point that I did not mention is that there are cases in which the scrambling of an object-oriented NQ also results in an unacceptable sentence. Note the following distinction: (128)

2-tu,, John ga kozutumi o 11 okutta (koto). 2-CL NOM package ACC sent fact '(The fact that) John sent two packages.'

(129)?*2-ri,, Mary ga gakusei o 11 matte iru (koto). 2-CL NOM students ACC wait fact '(The fact that) Mary is waiting for two students.' What I wish to do is to propose a uniform account of why a NQ cannot be scrambled, whether it is a subject-oriented NQ or, as in ( 129), object-oriented NQ. Of course, as we saw in the previous section, the subject-oriented NQs that cannot be scrambled are those that take the subject of transitive verbs and unergative verbs, such as the following: sensei ga t, I; kaita (koto). (130) *3-nin,, ronbunj o, 3-CL paper ACC teachers NOM wrote fact '(The fact that) three teachers wrote a paper.' (131) *3-nin,, Hanako no koto 0 1 , otoko ga t, lvr t1 warattaJ 3-CL about Hanako men NOM laughed 'Three men laughed about Hanako.' It is clear that we cannot rely on Terada's (1987) account. Pesetsky's (1982) theory of QPs, on which Terada bases her analysis, is designed for QPs in argument positions. The phenomenon of NQ-scrambling instead concerns the trace left by the movement of an adjunct.

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

Note, too, that a straightforward ECP account also is not available. The ECP (Chomsky, 1981, 1986b) only looks at formal structures, so it is unable to distinguish between, say, the acceptable (128) and the unacceptable (129). In both, the original position of the NQ is the same-in the VP-so that both should be either governed or ungoverned by the verb. It would be difficult to argue that only the NQ in (128) is governed by the verb. (This is unlikely, anyway, since a NQ is not an argument.) Another problem in trying to invoke the ECP has to do with subject-NQ scrambling [cf. ( 130), ( 131 )], which appears always to be ungrammatical. 12 The subject here is of course of transitive verbs and unergatives, but not of ergatives. Although the NQ is not governed, since I assume it is in a VP-external position, the trace left by NQ-scrambling can be properly governed by antecedent-government. In the NQ-scrambling structure in (131 ), for example, no barrier exists between the scrambled NQ and its trace; the trace is locally bound by the NQ, so it is properly antecedent governed. Before proceeding, there is one point that must be emphasized. Although the prohibition against scrambling of object-oriented NQs, as in (129), is limited to only some occurrences of the object NP (specified later here), all subjectoriented NQs are prohibited from scrambling. In other words, there is a clear subject/object asymmetry-subject-oriented NQs never scramble, whereas most object-oriented NQs can scramble. It is important to keep this in mind. Otherwise, one might mistakenly conclude, contrary to what we saw in section 3, the fact that an object-oriented NQ cannot move undermines the evidence provided in section 3 for the ergative hypothesis, based as it is on the prohibition against scrambling of subject-oriented NQs. It is not difficult to see how this misunderstanding could occur or how the misdirected argument would be formulated: the fact that subject-oriented NQs cannot scramble has nothing to do with the ergative hypothesis, because some object-oriented NQs cannot scramble either. This line of argument is completely misinformed because there is still a clear subject/object asymmetry, hence all that I discussed in section 3 about ergative verbs still is valid.

2.6.1. Predicate Licensing To account for the prohibition against scrambling of some object-oriented NQs and all subject-oriented NQs, I propose the following principle: ( 132)

Predicate Licensing: The position of a predicate (NQ) is licensed by the verb if the predicate takes an affected Theme NP as its antecedent, and the NP and the predicate are governed by the verb that assigns this thematic role.

I call this position licensed by the verb the "virtual argument position," or "virtual A-position" for short. This name serves to emphasize that the posi-

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

tion is licensed by thematic role assignment (affected Theme), just as a regular A-position. Unlike a regular A-position, this licensing is indirect, thus "virtual." Based on this definition, the following is stipulated: (l 33)

Stipulation on the Occurrence of Trace: only in virtual A-position.

A predicate can leave a trace

This stipulation reduces the inability of a NQ to scramble to the inability to leave behind a trace. An object-oriented NQ leaves a trace behind (assuming that the object is an affected theme), as shown in (l 34), and this trace and the NQ can meet the mutual c-command requirement. The subject of a transitive or of an unergative verb, however, does not have an affected theme, hence a NQ that modifies this subject is not in a virtual A-position. If the NQ is moved, it thus cannot leave a trace (see note 12). This is shown in (135). 13 (134)

s

~S

NQ;

~VP

NP

~

NP

(135)

*

I;

V

s

~S

NQ;

~VP

NP-ga

(t;)

To accept (134) and reject (135), we need only to appeal to the mutual c-command requirement. In (134), the trace of the NQ and the object NP mutually c-command each other. But in (135), there is no such trace, so the NQ is left "dangling" without an antecedent. In the remainder of this section, I apply predicate licensing to several structures to give further support for the hypothesis.

2.6.2. Test for Themehood and Predicate Licensing "Theme," as the term is used here, refers to an entity that is affected by being moved or changed as a result of the action that is represented by the verb. Anderson ( 1977) proposes a Theme rule that assigns the Theme role to a specific NP. The following is the relevant portion of his rule (the wording is changed slightly but this does not affect the content):

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

(136)

57

Theme Rule a. Either assign lexically idiosyncratic roles or b. Assign Theme to the object if there is one; otherwise, assign Theme to the subject

This algorithm recognizes that the assignment of Theme is predictable to a great extent. As noted in (b), Theme is assigned to the object, if there is one, and to the subject if no object occurs. This means that the subject of (most) intransitive verbs has this thematic role, as well as most objects of transitive verbs. As we can see in (a), however, some verbs assign other thematic roles where the Theme is otherwise expected. I do not share Anderson's assumption that the subject of (most) intransitive verbs has the Theme role. As we saw earlier, although ergative verbs have a Theme subject, unergatives do not. For the object, the relevant thematic role for licensing is assigned by some but not all transitive verbs. In the next section, I suggest an objective test to see if a particular transitive verb assigns this thematic role. The notion that is operative here is that of an entity that is understood to be affected.

2.6.2.1.

INDEPENDENT TEST FOR THEMEHOOD

The term "affect" covers a wide range of events, some of which are listed in (137) (adapted, with examples, from Martin, 1975). (137)

A partial characterization of affectedness a. That which is exchanged: (tori)-kaeru 'exchange' b. That which is created: tukuru 'make', kaku 'write', tateu 'build', kosiraeru 'concoct', hanasu 'speak', yobu 'call out', sakebu 'cry out' ---_ c. That which is converted: naosu 'correct, repair' d. That which is extinguished, consumed, destroyed, or gotten rid of: taberu 'eat', nomu 'drink', kesu 'extinguish, erase', kowasu 'break', korosu 'kill', nakusu 'lose, get rid of', usinau 'lose', wasureru 'forget'

Most if not all of the actions in ( 137) intuitively fall into a class of events that affect something, either by moving it or changing it. But these are all semantic characterizations. To utilize the notion Theme for syntactic purposes, as we wish to do, an independent test must be found that objectively identifies this thematic role. There exists in Japanese a construction that crucially depends on the Theme role. This is the "intransitivizing resultative" construction -te aru (cf. Jacobsen, 1982; Martin, 1975, among others).

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58 (138)

2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

Ringo ga katte aru. apples NOM bought 'Apples are bought.' ( = 'Apples have been bought.')

This construction represents the resultative state of an action, for example, the state that exists as a result of buying apples. The construction consists of the gerundive form of the verb (-tel-de) plus aru. Aru is probably related to the verb aru 'exist', which would explain the stative nature of this construction (cf. Jacobsen, 1982). Also, as shown in (138), aru attaches to the gerundive form of a transitive verb (katte 'buy'), and the original object of this transitive verb is externalized to the subject position of the entire V-te aru verb. This externalization of the object is similar to the passive, giving the intransitivizing resultative a passive-like interpretation. Unlike the passive, the original Agent NP never surfaces in this construction. There is an alternative structure in which the object stays in its original position. (139)

Ringo o katte aru. apples ACC bought 'Apples are bought.' ( = 'Apples have been bought.')

This alternative, which Martin (1975) calls "possessive resultative," allows aru to attach not only to transitive verbs but also to intransitive verbs. (140)

Moo asonde aru kara, korekara wa benkyoo-simasu. already played because now study 'I've already played, so I'll study now.'

Our point of interest is the intransitivizing resultative exemplified in ( 138). As far as I can tell, this construction only allows a transitive verb that assigns the Theme role to its object, which surfaces as the subject of the verbal complex V-te aru. Let us begin by comparing kau 'buy' with the verb aisuru 'love'. The English love does not assign the Theme role to its object (Williams, 1980). Assuming the same for the Japanese word aisuru 'love', note the following contrast: (141)

Ringo ga katte aru. apples NOM bought 'Apples are bought.'

(142) *Hanako ga

alSlte aru. NOM loved 'Hanako is loved.'

The intransitivizing resultative, then, provides us with an independent, objective test for Themehood. We therefore stipulate that if a transitive verb participates in this construction, it assigns the Theme role to its object; if not, the object

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59

receives some other role. We can term the transitive verbs that assign the Theme role "theme transitives" and the others "nontheme transitives." The following are other examples of these two types of verbs (constructed from data in Martin, 1975):

(143)

Theme Transitives Mada ga akete aru. window NOM opened 'The window is opened.'

(144)

Tegami ga kaite aru. letter NOM written 'The letter is written.'

(145)

Ankeeto ga atumete aru. questionnaire NOM collected 'The questionnaire is collected.'

(146)

Onigiri ga tukutte aru. rice balls NOM made 'Rice balls are made.'

(147)

Omotya ga kowasite aru. toys NOM broken 'The toys are broken'

Nontheme Transitives ( 148) *Haru ga matte aru. spring NOM waited 'Spring is waited.' ( 149) *Kodama ga homete aru. children NOM praised 'The children are praised.' (150) *Aisukuriimu ga

kononde aru. ice cream NOM liked "Ice cream is liked.'

(l 51 ) *Sono koto

ga okotte aru. that matter NOM angry at 'That matter is angry at.'

(152) *Kodama ga

donatte aru. child NOM shouted at "The child is shouted at.'

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

(153) *Ano hito ga nagutte aru. that person NOM hit 'That person is hit.' In the normal construction, the object NP of the nontheme verbs as well as of the theme verbs takes the accusative case marking o. It is something of a surprise to find a verb such as naguru 'hit' in the nontheme category. Based solely on its meaning, it certainly seems that the referent of the object NP of this verb is "affected" (i.e., Theme). The fact that this verb is a nontheme transitive is not unique to Japanese; it is the same for the English verb hit. (154)

John smashed the can.flat.

(155) *John hit the can.flat. The adjectival predicate flat can modify the object of smash, but it cannot modify the object of hit. Example (155) indicates that the object of hit does not assign the theme role to its object NP. 14

2.6.2.2. THEME AND N0NTHEME TRANSITIVES AND PREDICATE LICENSING As already demonstrated, if the intransitivizing resultative is grammatical, the transitive verb assigns the Theme role to its object, but if not, some other thematic role is assigned. In light of predicate licensing, the following two predictions can be made: l. If the object is an (affected) Theme, the NQ that takes it as an antecedent is in virtual A-position, so the NQ is free to move.

2. If the object is a nontheme, the NQ that takes it as an antecedent is not in virtual A-position, so the NQ cannot move. The following examples illustrate that these predictions are correct. The (a) examples show whether NQ scrambling is appropriate; the (b) examples are the intransitivizing resultatives built from the verb in (a) to show whether the verb is theme or nontheme transitive. As shown, nontheme transitives do not license NQ movement while theme transitives do. (156)

Nontheme Transitives a. ?*2-ri, Taroo ga zyosei o aisite iru (koto). 2-CL NOM women ACC love 'Taro loves two women.' b. *Ano zyosei ga a1S1te aru. that woman NOM loved 'That woman is loved.'

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

(157)

a. ?*3-nin, Taroo ga

(158)

a. ?*1-ri, Tanaka-sensei ga

(159)

tomodati o matte iru (koto). 3-CL NOM friends ACC waiting 'Taro is waiting for three friends.' b. *Tomodati ga matte aru. friend NOM waited 'The friend is waited.'

gakusei o hometa (koto). I-CL Prof. Tanaka NOM student ACC praised 'Professor Tanaka praised one student.' homete aru. b. *Ano gakusei ga that student NOM praised 'That student is praised.' a. ?*2-ri, Taroo ga kodomo o donatta (koto). 2-CL NOM children ACC shouted at 'Taro shouted at two children.' b. *Sano kodomo ga donatte aru. that child NOM shouted at 'That child is shouted at.'

a. ?*1-ri, Tanaka ga

(160)

boku no tomodati o nagutta (koto). I-CL NOM I GEN friend ACC hit 'Tanaka hit one of my friends.' b. *Tomodati ga nagutte aru. friend NOM hit 'A friend is hit.'

(161)

a. ?*1-ri, Hanako ga

kurasumeeto o kiratte iru (koto). I-CL NOM classmate ACC hate 'Hanako hates one of her classmates.' b. *Kurasumeeto ga kiratte aru. classmate NOM hated 'A classmate is hated.'

(162)

a.

b.

(163)

a.

Theme Transitives 2-tu, Taroo ga mado o aketa (koto). 2-CL NOM windows ACC opened 'Taro opened two windows.' Mado ga akete aru. window NOM opened 'The window is opened.'

3-tu, Ziroo ga onigm o tukutta (koto). 3-CL NOM rice balls ACC made 'Jiro made three rice balls.'

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(164)

2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

b.

Onigiri ga tukutte aru. rice balls NOM made 'Rice balls are made.'

a.

3-nin, Hanako ga borantia o atumeta (koto). 3-CL NOM volunteers ACC gathered •Hanako gathered three volunteers.' Borantia ga atumete aru. volunteers NOM gathered.' 'Volunteers have been gathered.'

b.

(165)

a.

b.

(166)

a.

b.

2-mai, akanboo ga sara o watta (koto). 2-CL baby NOM plates ACC broke 'The baby broke two plates.' Sara ga watte aru. plate NOM broken 'The plate is broken.'

2-hiki, Taroo ga inu o suteta (koto). 2-CL NOM dogs ACC abandoned 'Taro abandoned two dogs.' /nu ga sutete aru. dog NOM abandoned 'The dog has been abandoned.'

The theme transitive examples in (162a)-(166a) may sound slightly awkward, even with the nominal koto. This awkwardness is common in scrambled cases. The awkwardness disappears when the examples are placed in more clearly embedded constructions. For example, (166a) is embedded in a larger sentence in (167). (167)

2-hiki, Taroo ga inu o suteta koto ga mondai ni natta. 2-CL NOM dogs ACC abandoned fact NOM problem became 'The fact that Taro abandoned the two dogs became a problem.'

Although this embedding helps the theme transitive examples to become completely natural, it does not help the nontheme transitive examples. In the following example, (161a) is embedded in a larger sentence: (168)?*1-ri Hanako ga kurasumeeto o kiratte iru koto ga I -CL NOM classmate ACC hate fact NOM mondai ni natta. problem became 'The fact that Hanako hates one of her classmates became a problem.' The scrambled NQ cases involving the theme transitives in ( I 62a)-( 166a) meet the condition for predicate licensing. Hence the NQ can leave a trace,

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

which in turn fulfills the mutual c-command requirement. The examples in (l56a)-(l6la) violate this requirement because the transitive verb is nontheme, so that the NQ is not in a virtual A-position. Once moved, the NQ does not leave a trace that would otherwise fulfill the mutual c-command requirement.

2.6.3. Predicate Licensing and Subjacency Further evidence for predicate licensing comes from subjacency, which is a condition on movement (Chomsky, 1982). Subjacency prohibits a phrase from moving across more than one "barrier" node. The two stipulated barrier nodes are Sand NP (Chomsky, 1973, 1981, 1982). Saito (l 985) has shown that scrambling, a movement rule, is subject to subjacency. The following is an example of a subjacency violation (cf. Saito, 1985): Taroo ga I; katta syatu o kite iru. (169) *Hawai de;, Hanako ga in NOM NOM bought shirt ACC wearing Lit: 'In Hawaii,, Hanako is wearing the shirt Taro bought (t,).'

This sentence has the following structure: (170)

lsHawai de, ls Hanakoga [NP Hawaii in NOM syatu]] o kite iru ] shirt ACC wearing

Is Tarooga NOM

l;katta] bought

As shown in (l 70), the postpositional phrase (PP) Hawai de 'in Hawaii' has moved over three barrier nodes, two Ss and a NP, which is two more than allowed by subjacency. The following sentence is an apparent counterexample to subjacency: (171) ?Gakkoo de;, Hanako ga kodomo ga I; kega o sita to school at NOM child NOM injury ACC incur COMP omotte iru. think Lit: 'At school,, Hanako thinks that the child was injured (t;).' The postpositional phrase gakkoo de 'at school' starts out in the embedded sentence and ends up adjoined to the matrix S. The postpositional phrase (PP) therefore moved over two Ss, the embedded and the matrix Ss, in violation of subjacency, as shown in (172), yet the sentence is grammatical. (172)

?[s Gakkoo de; ls Hanako ga school at to] omotte iru JJ COMP think

NOM

Is kodomo ga child

I; kega o

NOM

sita injury ACC incur

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

As Saito ( 1985) points out, ( 172) is a violation of subjacency only if we consider this movement as a one-step move. Instead, the PP can move in two steps, the first is from the original position to the VP adjoined to the matrix VP: (173)

[ 5 Hanako ga [ vr gakkoo de; [ vp NOM school at

[5

kodomo ga child NOM

t. . .. ]])]

The second step is to the head of the sentence: (174)

[s Gakkoo de; [s Hanako ga

school at

[ vP I;

fvr [ 5

NOM

kodomo ga I; . .. ]]]]] child NOM

No violation of subjacency occurs because the PP moves over just one S with each of the two movements. This accounts for the acceptability of (l 71 ). Note that this multiple-step movement does not help the ungrammatical example in (l 69), repeated in (175), from violating subjacency. Taroo ga t. katta syatu o kite iru. (175) *Hawai de;, Hanako ga in NOM NOM bought shirt ACC wearing 'Lit: 'In Hawaii;, Hanako is wearing the shirt Taro bought (t;).' Even if this is a two-step movement via VP adjunction, the first movement must necessarily move over an S and a NP because the moved PP originally occurs in a relative clause, as shown in (l 76). (176) [=(169)]

[5 Hawaide;[ 5 Hanakoga at NOM [Nr [ 5 Taroo ga I; katta ] NOM bought syatu o kite iru ]])]] shirt ACC wearing

[vpl;[vP

On the first movement, the PP has to cross over both the embedded S and the NP. Turning to the NQ, observe that the following example is ungrammatical: (177) *3-satu;, Taroo ga Hanako ga hon o I; katta to 3-CL NOM NOM books ACC bought COMP omotte iru. think Lit: 'Three;, Taroo thinks that Hanako bought books (t;).' This sentence is structurally identical to the grammatical (l 71), the structure of which is given in (172). In both, a phrase, PP or NQ, is moved from the embedded sentence with the complementizer to to the head of the sentence. It was shown that (l 71) is grammatical because the PP moves in two steps, first adjoined to the matrix VP, then to the matrix S, thereby moving over only one Sat

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

a time in accordance with subjacency. Then why is ( 177) ungrammatical if it parallels exactly the structure for ( 171 )? Let us look at the structure for ( 177) as just described. (178)

[,3-satu; [, Tarooga 3-CL

lvrt; lvr ls ... I; ... ]])]]

NOM

This structure, like the one in (172), avoids violating subjacency because the NQ moves over just one S at a time. The difference between the PP-scrambling case in ( 171) [ = (172)] and the NQscrambling case in (177) [=(178)] is that in the former, both of the traces left by the movement are coindexed with a PP, but in the latter, the traces are coindexed with a NQ. Let us suppose that every trace left by a NQ must be in a virtual A-position by being licensed by a verb. The lower trace in the embedded sentence is fine because it occurs in a virtual A-position: the trace, or, more precisely, the NQ in that position before the movement, modifies the Theme NP hon 'books', which is the object of the Theme transitive kau 'buy'. Both this NQ and the object NP that it modifies are governed by the verb that assigns the Theme role. The position is therefore licensed by the verb as a virtual A-position. Turning to the intermediate trace, we see immediately that it fails to occupy a virtual A-position: the trace does not define a position of a NQ that modifies a Theme NP. There is in fact no NP, Theme or otherwise, that can be modified from this position. Even if there was a Theme NP, it would not license the trace because this hypothetical NP and the trace would not be governed by the embedded verb kau 'buy'. This intermediate trace, in other words, is nonexistent. A trace of the NQ simply cannot occupy this position, hence the only position that allows a trace is the original position of the NQ in the embedded clause. As a result, the NQ must be conceived as having moved in one step from its embedded position to the head of the sentence, crossing over two Ss in the process in violation of subjacency. The correct structure for the NQ-scrambling example in ( 177) is thus not (178) but rather (179). (179) *[,3-satu;[,Tarooga [,Hanakoga hon o l;katta 3-CL NOM NOM book ACC bought to] omotte iru ]I COMP think Lit: 'Threei, Taro thinks that Hanako bought (t;) books.' Predicate licensing thus accounts for the difference in grammaticality between the long distance movement of a PP and the long distance movement of a NQ. Predicate licensing is irrelevant for a PP because a PP is not a predicate in the sense that we are using the term, hence it can leave an intermediate trace, which makes possible the two-step movement to avoid violating subjacency. But a NQ

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

is subject to predicate licensing, therefore it cannot leave the intermediate trace, leaving the NQ no option but to move in a single step from the embedded position to the head of the sentence in a blatant violation of subjacency.

2.6.4. Predicate Licensing and the Passive Earlier it was argued that the "direct" passive, the passive form similar to the English passive, involves movement of the object NP to the subject position. The argument is based on the behavior of NQs with regard to the mutual c-command requirement. A crucial example is (180), in which a NQ in the VP modifies the subject NP. (180)

Yuube, terebi ga doroboo ni 2-dai nusum-are-ta. last night TV NOM thief by 2-CL steal-PASS-past 'Last night two TV's were stolen by a thief.'

This example sharply contrasts with nonpassive sentences in which a NQ can never modify the subject NP from within the VP, as shown in (181). (181) *Gakusei ga hon o 3-nin katta. students NOM book ACC 3-CL bought 'Three students bought the book.' (181) is ungrammatical because the mutual c-command requirement is not met. (Also, it violates the Theme condition because a NQ in a VP modifies a nontheme NP.) The NQ 3-nin fails to c-command the subject NP gakusei 'students' because the maximal node, VP, intervenes between the NQ and the subject NP. The grammatical passive case in ( 180) should also violate the mutual c-command requirement. In order to account for its acceptability, we suggested in our earlier discussion that the subject NP starts out as the object NP of the passivized transitive verb. This object NP is moved to the subject position, leaving a trace. The trace left in the VP allows the mutual c-command requirement to be met, as shown in (182). (182)

Is

yuube, terebi; ga [ vp I; 3-dai nusum-are-ta ]] last night TV NOM 3-CL steal-PASS-past

This movement analysis of the passive is well established for the English passive (Chomsky, 1981). It has also been proposed for Japanese (Kuno, 1973; Saito, 1985). The direct passive construction gives further evidence for predicate licensing under the assumption that this passive form involves movement. Predicate licensing predicts that only a NQ in virtual A-position can move to another position in the sentence. The verb licenses the position occupied by a NQ as a virtual

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

A-position if the NQ modifies a Theme NP, and both the NQ and the Theme NP are governed by the verb that assigns the Theme role. In order for the NQ to move and leave a trace, it must occur in the VP, and it must modify a Theme NP within the same VP. Observe the following grammatical sentence: (183)

Yuube, 2-dai, doroboo ni kuruma ga nusum-are-ta. last night 2-CL thief by cars NOM steal-PASS-past 'Last night, two cars were stolen by a thief.'

In (183), first the agentive phrase doroboo ni 'by a thief' is scrambled from within the VP to the head of the sentence. To this structure scrambling again applies, moving the NQ to the head of the sentence ahead of the scrambled dative NP. The question here is where did the NQ originate? Based on predicate licensing, there can be only one possibility: it originates inside the VP, which is the only place where virtual A-position occurs. The relevant structure is (184) before the movement of the NQ. (184)

ls yuube

[ s dorobooj ni last night thief by 2-dai nusum-are-ta ]]]] 2-CL steal-PASS-past

[s

kuruma, ga [ vP ti t, cars NOM

As shown, the object kuruma 'car' moves to the subject position; because it leaves a trace, it and the NQ 2-dai are able to maintain the mutual c-command relationship. In addition, the agentive phrase doroboo ni 'by a thief' scrambles and adjoins to the matrix S. To this structure, movement again applies, this time moving the NQ ahead of the scrambled agentive phrase, as shown in (185). (185)

2-dai; [s dorobooj ni [s kuruma, 8.!!._ last night 2-CL thief by cars NOM [ vp tit, I; nusum-are-ta ]]]] steal-PASS-past

[s yuube

The trace left by the NP kuruma 'cars' makes it possible for the NP and the NQ to meet the mutual c-command requirement throughout the derivation. Before any movement takes place, the NP and the NQ are in the VP, the latter in the virtual A-position, so they obviously c-command each other. After the NP is moved to the subject position, the mutual c-command is maintained by the trace of the NP and the NQ c-commanding each other. After the NQ moves to the head of the sentence, the mutual c-command is met by the trace of the NP and the trace of the NQ c-commanding each other. Thus, the mutual c-command requirement is successfully maintained after each movement.

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

In contrast to (l 83), the following sentence is unacceptable: (I 86) ?*2-ri, Tarooi ni zyosei ga

ais-are-te iru. 2-CL by women NOM love-PASS 'Two women are loved by Taro.'

Predicate licensing predicts this ungrammaticality because the verb, aisuru 'love', is not a Theme transitive, hence the original position of the NQ in the VP is not a virtual A-position. As can be seen in (187) and (188), there is nothing inherently wrong with passivizing this verb and also moving the agentive phrase to the head of the sentence. ( 187)

Ano zyosei ga Taroo ni ais-are-te iru. that woman NOM by love-PASS 'That woman is loved by Taro.'

(188)

Taroo ni (wa) ano zyosei ga ais-are-te iru. by TOP that woman NOM love-PASS 'As for Taro, that woman is loved by him.'

(187) is a straightforward passive example with aisuru 'love'. In (188), the agentive phrase Taroo ni has been scrambled to the head of the sentence. The acceptable status of these two sentences isolates the problem of (186) to the movement of the NQ. Predicate licensing correctly predicts the impossibility of this movement.

2.6.4.1. MORE ON THE MUTUAL C-C0MMAND REQUIREMENT The passive not only gives further evidence for predicate licensing, but it also provides evidence that the mutual c-command requirement for predication must hold at every level of derivation. Recall that a NQ that modifies the subject NP can occur either before or after the subject NP. (189)

Kyoo gakusei ga 2-ri waratta. today students NOM 2-CL laughed 'Today two students laughed.'

( 190)

2-ri kyoo gakusei ga waratta. 2-CL today students NOM laughed. 'Today two students laughed.'

In the discussion of predicate licensing, it was pointed out that the two possible positions for the NQ here are not owing to movement. For example, it is not the case that ( 189) is the basic structure and ( 190) is derived from ( 189) by moving the NQ to the head of the sentence. Indeed, predicate licensing predicts that no

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

movement is involved because the NQ in either position fails to occupy a virtual A-position. Suppose then that a passive structure of the following sentence is generated. This abstract schematization represents a direct passive before movement of the object NP.

s

(l 91)

VP

NQ

~

NP

V-(r)are

The delta in the subject position represents the empty slot into which the object NP is to be moved. At this point, the NP and the NQ do not mutually c-command each other because the NP fails to c-command the NQ. But once the object NP moves to the subject position, the mutual c-command requirement is met, as shown in (192).

s

(192) NQ

VP

NP;

~

I;

V-(r )are

Now, if the structure in ( 192) represents a possible predication structure, it would mean that the mutual c-command requirement need not be met at every level. Rather, it simply needs to be met "in the end." On the other hand, if ( 192) is ungrammatical, we have evidence that the mutual c-command requirement must necessarily be met throughout the derivation of this sentence. The following examples are the crucial test cases. (l 93)

2-dai, kuruma ga doroboo ni nusum-are-ta. 2-CL car NOM thief DAT steal-PASS-past 'Two cars were stolen by a thief.'

(194) ?*2-ri, zyosei ga Taroo ni ais-are-te iru. 2-CL women NOM DAT love-PASS 'Two women are loved by Taro.' Both of these examples could conceivably have the structure in ( 192). The NQ is generated immediately under the S, and the object NP moves into the subject position where, for the first time, the NQ and the NP c-command each other. The sharp contrast demonstrated in this pair is evidence that the mutual c-command requirement must be met not only "in the end" but also throughout

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the derivation. The sharp contrast we see must be a result of movement of the NQ from within the VP. In ( 192) this is allowed because the original position of the NQ is a virtual A-position, but it is not in (194). If instead the NQ in both is generated at the head of the sentence to begin with, and the mutual c-command requirement needs to be met "at the end," we would expect both of these sentences to be grammatical. We thus revise the mutual c-command requirement as follows: (195)

Mutual C-Command Requirement for Predication (Revised): The predicate and the antecedent must c-command each other throughout the derivation of the sentence.

2.6.4.2.

INDIRECT PASSIVE

In contrast to the direct passive, we have seen that the indirect passive does not involve movement. The crucial example is as follows: (l 96)

a. Tomodati ga 2-ri, dareka ni kuruma o nusum-are-ta. friends NOM 2-CL someone DAT car ACC steal-PASS-past 'Two friends had someone steal their car (to their detriment).' b. *Tomodati ga dareka ni 2-ri kuruma o nusum-are-ta. friends NOM someone DAT 2-CL car ACC steal-PASS-past 'Two friends had someone steal their car (to their detriment).'

In (196b), which is ungrammatical, the NQ 2-ri that must be construed with the subject NP occurs within the VP. This indicates that the mutual c-command does not hold, in turn showing that the indirect passive does not involve a movement of the object to the subject position. Predicate licensing gives further support to our analysis of indirect passive. Note that the following example is ungrammatical: (l 97) *2-ri

dareka ni tomodati ga kuruma o nus um-are-ta. 2-CL someone DAT friends NOM car ACC steal-PASS-past 'Two friends had someone steal their car (to their detriment).'

The NQ 2-ri here must be construed with the subject NP tomodati 'friends'. The NQ is separated from the subject by the agentive phrase dareka ni 'by someone', which has been scrambled from within the VP. We saw that direct passive cases paralleling ( 197) are grammatical because both the NQ and the subject NP originate in the VP. Their traces therefore c-command each other. (The verb nusum 'steal' is a theme transitive.) The fact that the indirect passive version is unacceptable indicates that the subject NP is generated in the subject position to begin with, and the NQ directly under S, from where it can modify the subject position. Hence the relevant portion of the structure of ( 197) is as follows:

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

(198)

Is NQ,

...

Is

tomodati ga t, ... ])

The trace left by the NQ is not in a virtual A-position, hence it is not licensed to occur, in turn prohibiting the moved NQ to be related to its original position. We see too that the indirect passive structure distinguishes theme and nontheme transitives just as the direct passives do. Note that the sentences in ( 199) and (200) are grammatical. (The complementizer koto 'matter' makes each entire sentence an embedded structure. It is there to compensate for the otherwise slight awkwardness commonly associated with scrambling.) ( 199)

2-dai, tomodati ga doroboo ni kuruma o t, 2-CL friend NOM thief DAT car ACC nusum-are-ta ( koto).

steal-PASS-past (the matter) 'A thief stole two cars from a friend of mine.' (200)

2-tu,, CIA ga

supa1 m

himitu o

t, moras-are-ta (koto).

2-CL NOM spy DAT secret ACC leak-PASS-past '(Their own) spy leaked two secrets to the detriment of the CIA.' Cf. Himitu ga morasi-te aru. secret NOM leak 'The secret has been leaked.'

In both, a NQ modifying the object NP of the indirect passive has moved to the head of the sentence. The stem of each passive verb (nusum 'steal', moras 'leak') is a theme transitive, thus the NQ is able to leave a trace in order to meet the mutual c-command requirement. Compare these with the following sentences in which the passive morphology attaches to a nontheme transitive: (201) *2-ri, Hanako ga Tanaka ni kodomo o nagur-are-ta (koto). 2-CL NOM DAT child ACChit-PASS-past 'Tanaka hit two (of Hanako's) children to Hanako's detriment.' (202) *2-ri, Hanako ga Tanaka-sensei ni kodomo o 2-CL NOM Prof. Tanaka DAT child ACC home-rare-ta ( koto).

praise-PASS-past 'Professor Tanaka praised two of Hanako's children.'

2.6.5. wa-Construction The particle wa functions to mark the topic of a sentence, or to contrast one phrase with another. The topic phrase with wa never receives stress whereas the contrasted phrase with the particle has prominent stress (Kuno 1973). The following example can exemplify either use of wa:

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72 (203)

2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

Taroo wa konpyuutaa o katta. computer ACC bought Topic: 'As for Taro, he bought a computer.' Contrastive: 'Taro [but not, say, Hanako) bought a computer.'

In either usage, Taroo corresponds to the subject of the verb kau 'buy'. Our point of interest is the structural analysis of wa examples such as (203). In the literature, three possible analyses have been proposed. We can refer to these as the base-generation, movement, and in situ analyses and can show that all three are in fact valid analyses based on the NQ (see also Saito, 1985; Hoji, 1985).

2.6.5.1.

BASE-GENERATION ANALYSIS

Kuno (l 973) proposes that the wa-phrase is base generated in the topic position. We can assume that this position is dominated by the S" so that (203) has the following structure (see Lasnik and Saito 1984 among others for discussion of COMP and S'). (204)

S"

NP; Taroo wa

S'

~

S

~

NP

lcoMP

VP

I~

0;

NP

I

konpyuutaa o

V

I

katta

This analysis is supported by the following type of sentence (Kuno, 1973): (205)

Sakana wa tai ga ii. fish red snapper NOM good 'As for fish, red snapper is good.'

What is crucial is that this sentence has no nontopic counterpart from which it can be derived. The logical possibility is (206), but as shown, it is unacceptable. (206) *Sakana ga tai ga ii. fish NOM red snapper NOM good Therefore (205) must be base generated with the topic phrase in a position that can have only wa, that is, the position dominated directly by S". Shigeru Miyagawa - 978-90-04-37325-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 10:57:00AM via free access

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

2.6.5.2.

MOVEMENT ANALYSIS

Saito (1985) proposes a "mixed" analysis in which a given structure with wa can either be base generated, as proposed by Kuna, or result from movement similar to scrambling. The distinction here is between the topic and the contrastive usages of wa: if topic, the wa-phrase is base generated, but, if contrastive, it derives by movement. The movement analysis imposes the structure in (208) on the wa example in (207). (207)

Konpyuutaa wa, Taroo ga katta. computer CONT NOM bought 'As for the computer, Taro bought it.'

(208)

[, konpyuutaa, wa [ s Taroo ga [ ve t, katta]]] computer CONT NOM bought

2.6.5.3. IN

SITU ANALYSIS

In the first analysis of wa within the generative framework, Kuroda ( 1965) proposes a rule he calls "wa-attachment." The particle wa is generated at the end of a sentence and subsequently moved and attached to a phrase within the sentence. For example, the base-generated structure in (209) gives rise to the three possibilities in (210). (209)

[, Taroo tosyokan de hon yomanakatta] wa library at book didn't read 'Taro didn't read a book at the library.'

(210)

a. Taroo wa tosyokan de library at b. Taroo ga tosyokan NOM library c. Taroo ga tosyokan NOM library

hon o yomanakatta. book ACC didn't read de wa hon o yomanakatta. at book ACC didn't read de hon wa yomanakatta. at book didn't read

The wa-attachment raises a third possibility for a structural analysis of the waphrase, namely, that the wa phrase stays in situ within the original sentence.

2.6.5.4.

wa-PHASE AND THE

NQ

I now defend the three analyses of wa based on our analysis of the NQ. We begin with the base-generation analysis. Note the distinction in grammaticality between the following two topic constructions. (Both are grammatical if they are interpreted as contrastive, as discussed later.) (211)

Gakusei wa 2-ri odotta. students TOP 2-CL danced 'As for students, two danced.' Shigeru Miyagawa - 978-90-04-37325-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 10:57:00AM via free access

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

(2 I 2) *2-ri gakusei wa odotta. 2-CL students TOP danced These are identical constructions, except that in (212) the NQ 2-ri occurs before the NP that it modifies. If the NP gakusei wa were in situ, (212) should be acceptable because the NQ can be base generated in the position at the head of the sentence, and the NQ and the NP can c-command each other, as shown in (213).

s

(213) NQ

I

2-ri

NP

I

gakusei wa

This leaves the two possibilities, movement and base-generation. The movement analysis is promising because this imposes the following structure on (212): (214)

S"

S'

NQ;

I

2-ri

s

NPi

I

gakusei wa

~ I; VP

BO

I As shown, the movement analysis forces the NQ 2-ri to move from its original position directly dominated by S. But this position is not licensed by the verb, because it is not governed by the verb. Therefore the trace of the NQ cannot occur, making it impossible for the NQ and the NP (or thee coindexed with it) to maintain the mutual c-command requirement. The movement analysis, however promising it seems, is invalidated by the following examples. (Again, wa is intended solely to indicate topic, not contrast.) (215)

Gakusei wa boku ga 2-ri yonda. students TOP I NOM 2-CL invited 'As for students, I invited two.'

(216) *2-ri gakusei wa boku ga yonda. 2-CL students TOP I NOM invited 'As for students, I invited two.'

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2.6 A Unified Account of NQ-Scrambling

(217)

Gakusei ga yonde aru. students NOM invited 'Students have been invited.'

In (215) and (216), the topic NP gakusei 'students' corresponds to the object of the verb. Here, the movement analysis cannot account for the ungrammaticality of (216). The NQ 2-ri modifies the object NP, thus in (216) it has moved to the head of the sentence from within the VP. As shown in (217), the verb yob •invite' is a theme transitive, so that the original position of the NQ is a virtual A-position. By the movement analysis, (216) should be grammatical. The base-generation analysis can account for the ungrammatical (212) and (216) if we take into consideration the hypothesis that adjunction sites are limited to Sand VP (cf. Saito, 1985). A moved element therefore must adjoin either to a S or a VP but not to any other node. In both (212) and (216), the NQ has clearly moved, either from directly under Sas in (212) or from within the VP as in (216). If we assume the base-generation hypothesis, the NQ in these sentences has adjoined to S", which is not a possible adjunction site. The sentences are thus correctly ruled out. This is illustrated for (212) as follows: (218)

*

S"

NQ

I

2-ri

S'

~

NP

I

gakusei wa

The movement hypothesis of the wa construction receives support from the following example. The wa is intended to indicate contrast. (219)

2-ri gakusei wa boku ga yonda kedo, 2-CL students CONTR I NOM invited but sensei wa dare mo yobanakatta. teachers CONTR any did not call 'I invited two students, but did not invite any teachers.'

I am concerned only with the first portion of (219). This portion can only have the following structure: (220)

[ s 2-ri; [ s gakuse( wa [ s boku ga [ vp ti t 1 2-CL students CONTR I NOM yonda kedo]]]] invited but

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

According to this structure, the object NP gakusei 'students' is first moved and adjoined to the head of the sentence. To this structure movement again applies, this time moving the NQ 2-ri from inside the VP and adjoining it to the S that dominates the moved NP. Because the two movements involve S-adjunction, the restriction on adjunction sites is not violated. Also, the original position of the NQ is a virtual A-position, hence the trace can appear there, and it is this trace and the trace left by the object NP that satisfies the mutual c-command requirement. On the other hand, if the verb is nontheme, the sentence is ungrammatical. (221) ?*2-ri zyosei wa boku ga aisite iru kedo . . . 2-CL women CONT I NOM love but ... 'I love two women, but ... ' Finally, the following example gives credence to the in situ hypothesis of wa construction. As above, the sentence is to be read with the contrastive stress on the wa-phrase. (222)

2-ri gakusei wa odotta kedo, sensei wa daremo 2-CL students CONTR danced but teachers CONTR any odoranakatta. did not dance 'Two students danced, but no teacher danced.'

Unlike the example in (220), the contrastive phrase in the first portion of (222) corresponds to the subject of the verb. If we impose a movement analysis, as we did for (220), the following structure results: (223)

[ 5 2-ri; [ 5 gakusei, wa 2-CL students CONTR

Is

t, t,

[vp

odotta kedo]]]) came but

But this is an ungrammatical structure because the trace of the NQ, t;, is not in a virtual A-position. The only possible structure is (224), in which the wa-phrase occurs in situ, and the NQ preceding it is simply generated in that position. (224)

[ s 2-ri gakusei wa [ vp odotta ]] 2-CL students CONTR came

The NQ data therefore support the three analyses of the wa-construction: basegeneration, movement, and in situ. If it is a topic wa, it is base generated under S". If it is contrastive, it either moves and adjoins to the Sor else remains in situ.

2.6.6. Predicate Licensing and English As the final point in this chapter, I note that the predicational structure in English also exhibits properties compatible with predicate licensing, thus giving

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77

cross-linguistic support to our account of NQ-scrambling. Consider, first of all, the following examples, which have a small clause: (225)

The dog picked the bone clean.

(226)

I ate the meat raw.

Although these are grammatical, Chomsky (1986b) notes that there is a distinction in acceptability when we construct a WH-question using a WH small clause. (227)

How clean did the dog pick the bone?

(228) *How raw did you eat the meat? Chomsky observes that, in (227), the verb and the small clause can be construed as one complex predicate (pick clean), whereas the same combination in (228) cannot be interpreted as such (*eat raw). On the descriptive level, we can use the distinction between "resultative" and "depictive" predicates (Halliday, 1967; Rothstein, 1983). Clean in (225) and (227) is resultative, since it is the state that results from the event denoted by the verb. But raw in (226) and (228) is depictive because it merely describes the state of its antecedent, meat, at the time of the event denoted by the verb (Hale and Keyser, 1986; Halliday, 1967; Rothstein, 1983; Ueda, 1986). What we see, then, is that only a resultative predicate can be moved. The following sentences demonstrate the same point: (229)

a. John baked the fish dry. b. How dry did John bake the fish?

Dry in (229a) is ambiguous between resultative (baking the fish so it becomes dry) and depictive (baking it while the fish is dry). (229b) shows that only the resultative interpretation is maintained when the small c1ause is WH-moved. '5 We can see that the two ideas of "resultative" in English and "affected Theme" in Japanese are closely tied, hence the fact noted by Chomsky and the facts of NQ-scrambling in the previous section must be a singular phenomenon. Informally, a result occurs when something is affected: X affects Y with the result Z. Without an event that affects an entity, no result can appear. Somewhat metaphorically speaking, result is, in this way, an extension of the event denoted by the verb proper (and hence is, in a sense, part of the predicate, as noted by Chomsky). In both the NQ of Japanese and the small clause in English, the trace is licensed indirectly by the verb that takes an affected Theme. The fact that there is a parallel behavior of small clauses in English and the NQ in Japanese further supports our contention that the latter is governed by the theory of predication. Of course, to draw this parallel between the two languages is

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

one thing, but to come up with a formal account is another. Predicate licensing is a generalization; as such, it must ultimately derive from deeper principles of the grammar.

2.7. LF-EXTRACTION OF WH-NQ In the last two sections, we looked at the possibilities of movement of the NQ at S-structure. In this final section of the chapter, we briefly look at LF-extraction of WH-NQs. Note that the WH-NQs in the following sentences occur in positions that are not licensed by predicate licensing: (230)

Gakusei ga nan-nin hon o katta no? students NOM WH-NQ book ACC bought Q 'How many students bought the book?'

(231)

Mary wa kodomo o nan-nin hometa no? TOP children ACC WH-NQ praise Q 'How many children did Mary praise?'

In (230), the WH-NQ is outside the VP. In (231 ), the WH-NQ in the VP takes a nontheme object. We saw in the last section that the NQ in these positions cannot be scrambled. Assuming that the WH-element in Japanese moves at LF to the COMP position (Hoji, 1985; Huang, 1982; Saito, 1985), how do we account for the acceptability of the examples above? In particular, if we assume that the WH-NQ moves to COMP at LF, leaving behind a trace, this appears to violate predicate licensing, since neither NQ is in a licensed position. What I assume is that in these cases, the WH-NQ and its antecedent NP together are extracted at LF and placed in COMP. This makes sense semantically. Also, there is independent evidence that this must be the case. The WH-NQ is in an adjunct position, hence if it is extracted independently of its antecedent NP, we would expect an ECP-violation of the type noted by Lasnik and Saito (1984) for naze 'why'. (232) *Kimi wa [NP[s Taroo ga naze katta]s hon ]NP o you TOP NOM why bought book ACC yomi-tai no? read-want Q 'Why; do you want to read the book that Taro bought (t,)?' Here, naze 'why' occurs in a complex NP, thus the sentence is ungrammatical. Note, however, that a WH-NQ in the same position is grammatical.

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Notes

(233)

Is gakusei

ga nan-nin tukatta] konpyuuta ] ga kowareta no? students NOM WH-NQ used computer NOM broke Q Lit: 'How many students; did the computer that (t;) used break down?'

[NP

We can readily account for this grammaticality if we simply assume that gakusei (ga), predicated of by the WH-NQ, together with the WH-NQ are extracted at LF. '0 By this account, the analysis of (233) is identical to the normal LFextraction of arguments, which in Japanese is grammatical whether it is the subject or the object that is extracted, as in (235). (235)

Is dare ga

tukatta] konpyuuta ] ga kowareta no? who NOM used computer NOM broke Q Lit: 'Who; did the computer that (t;) used break down?' [NP

2.8. SUMMARY In this chapter, I have argued that the "floating" numeral quantifier in Japanese is best analyzed within the theory of predication. The NQ and the NP must c-command each other, which is what we expect if the NP-NQ construal is governed by predication. One added measure of support for the predication hypothesis is that movement of the NQ in Japanese and WH-extraction of small predicates in English manifest similar properties. It is for the small predicates in English that Williams (1980) first proposed the theory of predication, hence such parallel behavior indicates that both the English small clause and the Japanese NQ are exploiting the same component of universal grammar, that of predication.

NOTES ' Some numeral quantifiers are idiosyncratic. For example, as shown in (I), the regular classifier for people is -nin; however, for counting one or two people, the "native Japanese numbers" hito 'one' andfuta 'two' are used in combination with the classifier -ri (hito-ri 'I-CL', futa-ri '2-CL'). Beginning with the number three, the numeral system borrowed from Chinese is used in combination with the regular classifier -nin. This classifier is also borrowed from Chinese. Some numeral-classifier combinations undergo phonological change. For example, the initial /hi of the classifier -hon, which is used to count long, slender objects as shown in (4), changes to lb/ when attached to the numeral san 'three' (san-bon). This change, which is obligatory, is conditioned by the final nasal element in san. For reasons unknown, when the same classifier attaches to the numeral yon 'four', which also has a final nasal element, the !hi - lb/ change does not occur: yon-honl*yon-bon.

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

'Unlike raw and nude in ( I0) and ( 11 ), which do not receive a thematic role from the verb, some "predicates" in English do function as arguments of the verb. For example, the lower clause in (i), to go, is considered to have the thematic role Goal (cf. Culicover and Wilkins, 1986). (i)

John tried to go.

See the above reference and also Gruber (1965, 1976) and Jackendoff (1972) for an extensive discussion of different thematic roles assigned by particular verbs. One controversy pertaining to examples such as (i) is whether this clause is a full S or simply a VP. The former assumes that the clause contains PRO in the subject position. We will not enter into this controversy since NQs do not occur as the main predicate of a clause, hence there is no justification for positing a PRO. For the analysis of infinitival clause as a full S, see Williams (1980), Chomsky (1981), Koster and May (1982), and Manzini (1983), among others. For the "VP analysis" of infinitival clauses, see Brame (1975), Hasegawa (1981 ), Bresnan (1982), and Culicover and Wilkins (1986), among others. There is one case in which a NQ can occur in an argument position. (ii)

Ano 3-nin ga mata kita. those 3-CL NOM again came 'Those three (people) came again.'

(iii)

Kono 2-mai o Tanaka-san ni ageru. these 2-CL ACC to give 'I'll give these two (sheets) to Tanaka.'

These are only apparent counterexamples to the generalization that, as a predicate, a NQ must occur in combination with a name (antecedent). Note that the demonstratives ano 'those' in (ii) and kono 'these' in (iii) indicate that the antecedent is clearly understood in context. These are, in other words, elliptical expressions in which the clearly understood antecedent of the NQ is left unsaid. Without any indication that the antecedent is recoverable from context, these expressions would be infelicitous, as shown in (iv) and (v). (iv) *3-nin ga kita. 3-CL NOM came 'Three came.' (v) *2-mai o

Tanaka-san ni ageru. 2-CL ACC to give 'I'll give two to Tanaka.'

3 I first proposed the predication theory analysis in Miyagawa (1986b, 1988c). Ueda (1986) independently has made the same proposal. 4 The judgment "?" is mine. The judgment of sentences in which a NQ modifies the indirect object of ageru 'give' varies from speaker to speaker. For example, Haig (1980) reports that his informants accept this sentence while Tomoda (1982) marks it as ungrammatical. The three native speakers that I consulted varied in their judgments as well: one completely rejects it, another accepts it, and the third detects a slight awkwardness.

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81

Notes

'The relationship between grammatical relations and quantifier-float is investigated in detail in the literature on relational grammar (e.g., Postal, 1976). "Kuroda (1965) first noted that the antecedent of the reflexive zibun must be the subject. See Inoue (1976) and Kitagawa (1980) for counterexamples. Harada (1976b) proposes that the honorification morpheme o ... ni naru, which is called subject honorification, is triggered by the subject NP. See Kitagawa (1980) for some counterexamples. 'One problem with Shibatani's analysis concerns sentences such as (22) and (24), which are also cited by Harada in support of the grammatical-relation hypothesis. In these grammatical examples, the antecedent of the NQ is a subject marked by the dative ni in violation of Shibatani's "surface nominative/accusative" generalization. Curiously, Shibatani (1977, p. 80 I , fn. 14) accounts for their grammaticality by stating that these NPs with the dative case "function as embedded NOM subjects before they are made into datives in the main clauses following Predicate Raising." Such an analysis goes against his assertion that what counts is the surface case marking. 'The following example, pointed out to me by Peter Culicover (personal communication), is a problem for the mutual c-command requirement for predication: (i)

John swims nude, and Mary does too.

In the original analysis by Williams (1980), the predicate nude is analyzed as being directly dominated by S, hence it and the subject NP John c-command each other. However, as Culicover notes, such an analysis is dubious in light of (i). In (i), presumably VPdeletion has deleted the VP of the second conjunct. As we can see, the predicate nude is a part of the deleted VP. If, contrary to this, we adopt Williams' analysis, nude should not be deletable under VP-deletion. I leave this as a problem for future analysis. • Haig (1980) and Kuroda (1980) independently note examples such as (44). Saito (1983b) suggests the "trace" analysis to account for the grammaticality, though he does not explicitly propose an analysis of the NQ. ' 0 To complete the picture, it is necessary to note that a postposition provides case as well as a thematic role to its object NP, an assumption commonly made in the governmentbinding framework. In the GB framework, it is stipulated that l~cal items with the feature [ -NJ are case assigners (Chomsky, 1981; Kayne, 1981 ). The following is the lexicalfeature specification for the four major categories verb, noun, adjective, and preposition/ postposition (Chomsky, 1970): (i)

Verb Noun Adjective Preposition

[+V, [-V, [ + V, [ - V,

-NJ +NJ + NJ - NJ

As shown, verbs and prepositions (or postpositions) share the [-NJ feature that designates case assigners. 11 The empty-category principle (ECP) embodies the notion that an empty category must be "properly governed" (Chomsky, 1981). (i)

x properly governs y iff either: (a) x governs y and x is a lexical category or (b) xis a phrasal category X" locally coindexed with y

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2. Numeral Quantifiers; Thematic Relations

12 In fact, it seems that this subject NQ-scrambling is always worse than cases such as (129), in which a NQ is scrambled from within the VP, yet the sentence is unacceptable. I will not try to account for this distinction, if indeed it is a true difference. ,., Predicate licensing is a nonautonomous approach in that it lets a "semantics" of sorts (thematic roles) play a part in what appears to be a syntactic phenomenon. One of the reasons for adopting this approach is the inability of the ECP (see note 11) as formulated by Chomsky (1981) to deal with the problem. The ECP specifies that a nonpronominal empty category must be properly governed. By this account, a trace left by an objectoriented NQ would be properly governed by (a), and a trace left by a subject-oriented NQ would be properly governed by (b). As shown, however, movement of subject-oriented NQs results in an ungrammatical sentence every time. See note 16 for an alternative to predicate licensing that is "autonomous." ' 4 As Williams ( 1980) has suggested, a predicate inside the VP must take "theme" as its antecedent. This is presumably why (155) is unacceptable. "One possible structural solution to the difference in behavior of resultative and depictive predicates was suggested to me by Peter Culicover (personal communication). He suggests positing two different structures, as shown in (i).

(i)

a. Resultative John baked lx the fish dry ] b. Depictive John baked the fish; lx PRO; dry]

In (ia), X is not a barrier because the phrase that it heads is 8-marked. Hence dry can move out of this phrase. In contrast, in (ib), Xis a barrier because the phrase that it heads is an adjunct. Consequently, the predicate dry cannot be extracted out of this phrase. Naturally, independent evidence of these structures must be found. '"Recent proposals to "unpack" the ECP might allow us to capture the LF and also S-structure movement of a NQ without resorting to the types of analyses that I have suggested in this chapter. Aoun, Hornstein, Lightfoot, and Weinberg (1987) suggest, for example, that the disjunction in the definition of proper government (Chomsky, 198 I) should be separated into two principles (see note 11 ). Glossing over the details of their analysis, the idea is that (a) and (b) should not only be separated but also should be made to apply at different levels. Let us say that (a), which I refer to as "head government" following Aoun et al. (1987), applies at S-structure. And (b), "antecedent government," applies at LF. Recall, now, that scrambling of a subject-oriented NQ always results in an ungrammatical sentence. This is predicted by this theory because movement here occurs at S-structure, where only head government is available. The theory correctly predicts that object-oriented NQs can scramble because the trace of the NQ is head governed by the verb. Of course, this still leaves unexplained those ungrammatical scramblings of objectoriented NQs that occur with nontheme transitive verbs. We also loose the explanation for why some predicates in English cannot be WH-moved, as we saw earlier. By taking the autonomous approach suggested in this footnote, our analysis is incapable of covering as much data. On the other hand, it has the theoretical advantage of keeping "pure" the autonomous hypothesis for syntax.

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Notes

83

This autonomous approach extends naturally to the LF movement of NQs. It is possible to allow a NQ to move by quantifier raising (May, 1977) independent of its antecedent. The NQ can leave a trace because, under the analysis that we are pursuing here, antecedent government (as opposed to head government) applies at LF. The trace of a NQ moved at LF is thus properly governed. Cornrie-Kumahira (1987) proposes this head-government analysis of NQ-scrambling. Her analysis is based in part on data in an earlier version of this chapter (1986b). Very clearly, the proposal to split ECP into two independent principles leads to desirable results for the analysis of the NQ. The most desirable result is simply that it allows us to maintain syntax as an autonomous component of the grammar. Of course, as I have noted, adopting this purely syntactic analysis results in sacrificing data coverage: predicate licensing does allow us to deal with far more ungrammatical sentences. Despite this, the autonomous approach-either as proposed here or in some modified form-is promising, and I hope to pursue it in future research.

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3 ERGATIVE CONSTRUCTION

In chapter 2, I argued that verbs such as tuku 'arrive' and hairu 'enter' are ergative verbs. The surface subject of these intransitive verbs originates in the object position and moves to the subject position at S-structure, as shown in (l).

s

(l)

VP

NP;ga

~

V

I;

This movement is motivated by the need of the NP to acquire case. The verb fails to furnish the necessary case, thus the NP moves to the subject position, where it receives the nominative ga marking. Later in this chapter, I briefly comment on how the nominative case is assigned. In this chapter, I further pursue the "ergative" analysis. I begin by recapitulating the evidence based on the numeral quantifier, then I present evidence from other languages. Finally, further support is provided for the ergative analysis in Japanese, using data from verbal compounding and the so-called galno conversion (Harada, 1973; Terada, 1987; Fujita, 1988). 85

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3. Ergative Construction

3.1. EVIDENCE BASED ON THE NUMERAL QUANTIFIER In chapter 2, I argued that the NP and its numeral quantifier (NQ) must mutually c-command each other. Thus, although (2) is grammatical, (3) and (4) violate this condition. (2)

hon o 3-satu katta]. books ACC 3-CL bought 'Taro bought three books.'

Taroo ga

[vp

NOM

[ vp hon o 2-ri katta]. students NOM books ACC 2-CL bought 'Two students bought books.'

(3) *Gakusei ga

kuruma] ga 2-ri nusumareta. friends GEN cars NOM 2-CL stolen 'Two friends' cars were stolen.'

(4) *[NP Tomodati no

In (2), the NQ 3-satu modifies the object NP; since both are in the VP, they mutually c-command each other. In contrast, in (3), the NQ 2-ri in the VP is intended to modify the subject NP, but this construal is impossible because the NQ cannot c-command the subject NP owing to the intervention of the VP node. In (4), it is the NP that fails to c-command the NQ. The direct passive construction contrasts sharply with (3) above. In (3), a NQ in the VP expectedly fails to modify the subject NP, but the same construal is in fact possible in the direct passive. (5)

Kuruma ga [ vp doroboo ni 3-dai nusum-are-ta]. cars NOM thief by 3-CL steal-PASS-past 'Three cars were stolen by a thief.'

As I argued in chapter 2, this construal constitutes evidence that the direct passive involves NP movement: the surface subject begins in the object position and moves to the subject position, leaving behind a trace. It is this trace in the VP that maintains the mutual c-command relationship with the NQ, as shown in (6). (6)

NP,

[vp . . .

t, NQ VJ

The first argument for the existence of ergative verbs in Japanese parallels what we just saw for the direct passive. Note that the following sentence is grammatical: (7)

Doa ga fvp kono kagi de 2-tu aita]. doors NOM this key by 2-CL opened 'Two doors opened with this key.'

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3.1 Evidence Based on the Numeral Quantifier

In (7), the NQ 2-tu is capable of modifying the subject NP despite the fact that the NQ is in the VP. As I argued in chapter 2, this construction should be analyzed in the same manner as the direct passive. Thus, we postulate the D-structure in (8a) and the S-structure in (8b). (8)

a. b.

Is - - lvP ... NP NQ VJ] Is NP; lvp ... t; NQ V]]

A crucial assumption in (7) is that the instrumental PP, kono kagi de 'with this key', is in the VP. This is important since tlie NQ is made to be in the VP by virtue of following this PP. If the PP were not in the VP, we would be hard pressed to show that the NQ itself is in the VP. The following sentence provides a clear indication that the instrumental PP is in the VP: (9) ?*Kodomo ga

kono kagi de 2-ri doa o aketa. children NOM this key by 2-CL door ACC opened 'Two children opened the door with this key.'

(9) is a transitive construction. Note that the NQ intended for the subject NP follows the instrumental PP in question. We can readily account for the ungrammaticality of this sentence by the mutual c-command requirement: the instrumental PP is in the VP, hence the NQ that follows it, 2-ri, is also in the VP, so that the NQ fails to c-command its intended antecedent in the subject position. In this way, I argued for a class of ergative verbs in Japanese, which are verbs without an external argument (in the sense of Williams, 1981 ), but with one internal argument that moves to the subject position at Sstructure, very much like the direct passive structure. Other verbs in the class include kuru 'come', hairu 'enter', agaru 'rise', and tuku 'arrive'. Semantically, these are precisely the verbs that one expects to belong to the ergative class since all have a Theme NP as opposed to an Agent NP characteristic of unergative verbs such as odoru 'dance' and warau 'laug1f. Unlike the ergative verbs, an unergative verb (Perlmutter, 1978), which is a kind of intransitive verb that has a deep subject, does not allow a NQ within the VP to modify the subject.

( I0) ?*Gakusei ga Ivp zibun no kane de 2-ri denwa-sita] students NOM self 's money by 2-CL phoned 'Two students phoned with their own money.' Along with the "VP-NQ" argument just examined, we saw that the facts of NQ-scrambling give further credence to the ergative hypothesis. Abstracting away from some of the complications, we can observe that a NQ in the VP can scramble, but a subject-oriented NQ cannot.

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3. Ergative Construction

3-satu,, Hanako ga (vp hon o 11 katta] (koto) 3-CL NOM books ACC bought fact '(The fact that) Hanako bought three books.'

(12) ?*2-ri,, hon o gakusei ga t1 katta. 2-CL books ACC students NOM bought 'Two students bought books.' When we look at the direct passive, we see that the subject-oriented NQ can scramble, unlike an active voice transitive construction such as (12). (13)

Kinoo, 3-dai. doroboo ni kuruma ga t, nusum-are-ta. yesterday 3-CL thief by cars NOM steal-PASS-past 'Yesterday, three cars were stolen by a thief.'

This is consistent with the assumption that the direct passive involves movement; therefore, the NQ in (13) is viewed as having scrambled from within the VP, as shown in (14). (14)

NQ, ... NPi ga [ vp

...

11 ti nusum-are-ta]

The same pattern arises with the ergative verbs. As shown in the following examples, an ergative verb such as aku 'open' makes it possible to scramble the subject-oriented NQ, whereas this movement is not possible with unergative verbs such as warau 'laugh'. (15)

2-tu,, kono kagi de doa ga t. aita. 2-CL this key by door NOM opened Lit: 'Two 1 , with this key, (t;) doors opened.'

(16) *3-nin,, geragerato kodomo ga 11 waratta. 3-CL loudly children NOM laughed Lit: 'Three 1 , loudly, (1 1 ) children laughed.' Just as we assumed for the direct passive, the movement in (15) presumably occurs from within the VP, whereas the movement in (16) cannot originate within the VP, hence it is ungrammatical.

3.2. REMARKS ON THE NOMINATIVE CASE MARKER ga

The most salient feature of the ergative construction and also of the passive construction is that the original internal NP moves to the external subject position, leaving behind a trace. What motivates this movement? From our analysis of the passive, it is easy to see that the internal NP moves in order to acquire

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3.2 Remarks on the Nominative Case Marker ga

89

case. The passive morphology absorbs the case-assigning feature of the transitive verb, making it impossible for the verb to assign case to the NP in the object position. Consequently, the NP moves to the subject position, where it receives the nominative case marker ga (see chapter 5 for a detailed analysis of the passive). The same analysis applies to the ergative construction. Like the passive, at D-structure, ergative verbs such as tuku 'arrive' and tokeru 'melt' have an internal argument but not an external one. An ergative verb does not possess a caseassigning feature, therefore the internal NP cannot receive case in its original position. As a result, it moves to the subject position. How is the nominative ga assigned to the NP in the subject position? I assume a "formal" analysis of ga. This means simply that the assignment of ga is sensitive to the structure in which the NP occurs. From the earliest generative analysis of Japanese, linguists have taken a formal approach to the assignment of ga: ga is assigned to the "first" or the "left-most" NP in the sentence (cf. Kuno, 1973). Kuroda (1965) underscores the strictly formal character of ga (and also the accusative o) by comparing it to an approach that makes crucial reference to elements other than the formal structure of the sentence. Calling it a "substantial interpretation" of ga, as opposed to a "formal interpretation," Kuroda entertains the possibility (ultimately rejected) that ga is assigned to the subject of the sentence. In this approach, the notion of subject is primitive-it is not derived from other, more fundamental notions such as formal structure-and ga is sensitive to this notion. Kuroda rejects this substantial interpretation, however, in favor of a formal structural approach on the grounds that subject and ga are often incompatible. For example, he notes that in the potential construction, ga can go with the object. ( 17) Zyon ga nihongo ga/o hanas-e-ru. John NOM Japanese NOM/ACC speak-can 'John can speak Japanese.' Here, nihongo 'Japanese' is apparently the object of the verb hanas(-e) '(can) speak', as shown by the option of having the accusative o on it. The fact that ga can also occur ostensibly demonstrates that it is compatible not only with subjects but also with objects. For the details of the analysis of this and other derived stative verbs, readers are referred to Kuroda (1965, 1978), Kuno (1973), and more recently, Takezawa (1987), among others. (See also chapter 5 of this book for comments on the "object" ga.) Saito ( 1982) takes the formal approach to ga one step further. He argues that there is only one structure in which this case marker can appear. This is on the NP directly dominated by S ([NP, SJ). In most cases this is the subject, but this analysis has the advantage of accounting for "multiple ga" -constructions such as the subjectivization examples of Kuno (1973).

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3. Ergative Construction

Bunmeikoku ga dansei ga heikin-zyumyoo developed countries NOM men NOM average life expectancy ga nagai. NOM long 'It is in developed countries that the average life expectancy of men is long.'

Saito ( 1982) imposes the following S-adjunction structure to ( 18) whereby each occurrence of NP ga is directly dominated by a S node.

s

(19)

~S

NP-ga

,~

I~ S

Bunmeikoku NP-ga

dansei

NP-ga

AP

heikin-zyumyoo

nagai

I

I

We can readily see that in the ergative and the passive constructions, the moved NP receives the nominative ga by precisely the same mechanism. The NP moves from the object position to the position directly dominated by S, that is, [NP, SJ, which qualifies it to receive ga. Coincidentally, this analysis of ga reflects the history of this case marking. In older Japanese (the seventh through the tenth centuries), ga was a genitive marker along with no. Only no has maintained the same function into modern Japanese. As a genitive marker, ga was assigned strictly by structure (cf. Matsunaga 1983), this structure being the NP immediately dominated by another NP.

(20)

NP

~

NP-ga

If we replace the top NP with S, we get the structure in modern Japanese. Arguably, this is, in essence, what transpired historically. (21)

s

~

NP-ga

Thus, in modern Japanese, there is a structural parallel between ga and the genitive no.

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3.3 Ergative Constructions in Other Languages

s

(22)

NP

~s

NP-ga

~s

~NP

NP-no

NP-ga

~NP

NP-no

~

~

NP-ga

NP-no

The parallelism between ga and no in modern Japanese is not just in structure. As I illustrate later in this chapter, there is a construction even in modern Japanese in which the subject NP allows either ga or the genitive no. This alternation is presumably a remnant of older Japanese. Before taking up this and other data from Japanese that bear on the ergative issue, however, I first discuss the ergative construction in other languages.

3.3. ERGATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS IN OTHER LANGUAGES Perlmutter ( 1978) first proposed that some intransitives in Dutch behave more transitively than the "normal" agentive intransitives such as laugh and dance. In particular, he noted that impersonal passivization in Dutch is impossible with ergative verbs, which he calls "unaccusatives."' (23)

Er wordt hier door de jonge Lui veel gendanst. 'It is danced here a lot by the young people.·

(24) *Er werd door de kinderen in Amsterdam gebleven. •It was by the children remained in Amsterdam.•

If we take the position that passivization involves suppression of the external argument (cf. Chomsky, 198 l; Jaeggli, 1986), the distinction between these two examples is accounted for by the ergative hypothesis. In (23), there is an external argument to suppress, whereas the verb in (24) only has an internal argument, which moves to the subject position at S-structure. In observing this distinction, Perlmutter gives a semantic characterization of the two classes of verbs. (25)

Unergatives: This class includes predicates describing willed or volitional acts; manner-of-speaking verbs; sounds made by animals; certain involuntary bodily processes. Ergatives: In this class are predicates expressed by adjectives in English; predicates whose "nuclear term" is a Patient; predicates of existing

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3. Ergative Construction

and happening; nonvoluntary emission of stimuli that impinge on the senses; aspectual predicates; duratives. For the most part, we see this semantic distinction holding between these two types of verbs across other languages that apparently manifest this distinction. In Italian, there are three constructions that demonstrate the ergative hypothesis. First, as already noted in chapter 2, ne cliticization is possible with the object of a transitive verb and the subject of an ergative but not with the subject of an unergative (cf. Belletti and Rizzi, 1981; Burzio, 1981, 1986). (26)

a. Gianni ne ha insultati due. of-them has insulted two 'Gianni has insulted two of them.' b. Ne arrivano molti. of-them arrive many 'Many of them arrived.' c. *Ne telefonano mo/ti. of-them telephone many 'Many of them telephoned.'

Hoekstra (1984) reports a similar phenomenon in Dutch. Second, a number of linguists have also noticed that auxiliary selection in Italian can be used for the ergative hypothesis (Burzio, I 986; Centineo, 1986; Van Valin, I 987). The ergatives select essere 'be' while the unergatives select avere 'have'. (27)

a. Giovanni e arrivato. 'Giovanni has arrrived.' b. Giovanni ha telefonato. 'Giovanni has telephoned.'

A similar phenomenon has been noted in Dutch (Hoekstra, 1984; Zaenen, 1987). 2 Third, both in Italian and in Spanish, a null subject with plural agreement can have an arbitrary reading if the verb is transitive or unergative; if the verb is ergative, the empty pronominal can only have a definite reading (Belletti and Rizzi, 1986; Jaeggli, 1986). (28)

a. Aqui pro durmieron hace dos dias. here arb slept ago two days 'Here [arb] slept two days ago.' b. Pro llegan cansados despues de un viaje tan largo. pro arrive tired after of a trip to long 'They arrive tired after such a long trip.'

In English, Levin and Rappaport ( 1986) note that among the intransitive verbs, only ergatives can undergo adjectival passivization.

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3.4 Verbal Compounding

(29)

a. wilted lettuce, a fallen leaf b. *run man, *coughed patient, *swum contestant

In the remainder of this chapter, I present additional evidence for the ergative hypothesis in Japanese.

3.4. VERBAL COMPOUNDING A verbal compound is composed of a nominal and a verb. In English, the verb portion is inflected with -ing (truck-driving), -er (truck-driver), or the passive participle -ed (teacher-trained). The verbal compound tolerates a wide range of nominal-verb combinations, but there are some restrictions. For example, the English verbal compound does not allow the subject of the verb in the nominal slot. This and other restrictions are successfully captured by Roeper and Siegel's (1978) First Sister Principle. Drawing on the observation of the nominal-verb relation in syntax, this principle restricts the nominal to what would correspond to the "first sister" of the verb in syntax. This automatically excludes the subject nominal from occurring in a verbal compound because the subject in syntax is always external to the verb phrase and never a sister to the verb. Japanese verbal compounds differ from their English counterpart in a number of ways. The most dramatic difference is that a number of attested Japanese verbal compounds have the subject nominal [e.g., mizu-more 'water-leaking (= water-leakage)', a combination never seen in English. This has led some linguists to suggest that the First Sister Principle or some such regular condition is irrelevant to Japanese verbal compound formation (Kageyama, 1982; Sugioka, 1984). Most of the Japanese compounds that have the subject nominal can be accounted for by the First Sister Principle. The analysis that makes this possible is the ergative hypothesis (Perlmutter, 1978; Burzio, 1981 ). The majority of the verbs that occur in a subject-verb compound in Japanese are these ergative verbs. The First Sister Principle readily accounts for their occurrence because the subject is underlyingly an internal argument that occurs as the first sister of the verb. I begin with a discussion of the First Sister Principle.

3.4.1. The First Sister Principle Roeper and Siegel ( 1978) proposed the First Sister Principle (FSP) to capture the generalization that the nominal in a verbal compound is a syntactic element that occurs as the first sister of the verb. The following forms exemplify some of the combinations accounted for by this principle:

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94 (30)

3. Ergative Construction

a. b. c. d. e.

truck-driving truck-driver night-driving man-made store-bought

An inspection of the syntactic counterparts of these compounds reveals that the nominal portion occurs as the first sister to the verb. (31)

a/b. c. d. e.

drive a truck drive at night made by man (this is) bought at a store

The first two compounds in (30) correspond to the transitive usage of the verb drive, as shown in (3la/b), while (30c) corresponds to the intransitive usage of the verb as seen in (31c). (30d) exemplifies a compound with a passive verb. As shown in (31d), the nominal man in the compound corresponds to the passive agentive phrase. (30e) is also a passive compound, but unlike (30d), the nominal portion is the location where the action took place, as shown in (3le). These two possibilities for a passive compound suggest that the agentive phrase in the passive is optional: if it occurs, it is the first sister to the verb (cf. 30d/3 ld), but if it does not occur, some other VP-internal element occupies the first sister position relative to the verb (cf. 30e/3le). This optional nature of the agentive phrase is a function of the analysis of the English passive (Chomsky, 1981). The FSP not only accounts for the possible compounds, but it also correctly excludes the impossible ones. For example, store-buying can only mean 'buying of stores', not 'buying (something) at a store'. The latter is excluded because the verb buy, being transitive, always has the direct object as its first sister. The principle also excludes all subject-verb combinations because the subject in syntax is external to the verb phrase. The generalization that a subject cannot occur in the English verbal compound is without exception. Indeed, any alternative to Roeper and Siegel's analysis that does not incorporate the FSP is forced to explicitly exclude the subject (Selkirk, 1982, pp. 34-38). I assume that the generalization gained by postulating the FSP is correct and utilize it in the original form proposed by Roeper and Siegel. 3

3.4.2. Verbal Compounds in Japanese One difference between English and Japanese compounds is the absence of verbal inflection in the latter. In English, the inflections -ing, -er, and -ed help to designate the function of the compound, for example, "act of N-V-ing" (truckdriving), "actor of N-V" (truck-driver). In Japanese, which lacks this type of

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inflection in general, the verb in the compound always occurs in its infinitive form, and, as a result, ambiguities often arise in the compound's function. For example, the compound kutu-migaki 'shoe-polish' can mean "act of polishing shoes," "shoe polish," or "one who polishes shoes" (Sugioka, 1984).

3.4.2.1. APPARENT COUNTEREXAMPLES TO THE FSP Another difference between the compounds of English and Japanese is that the subject nominal can occur in the Japanese compound in an apparent violation of the FSP. The following are the three categories of these compounds in the order of their frequency (most examples from Kageyama 1982 and Sugioka 1984 ): (32)

Subject-Intransitive Verb Compounds ne-agari 'price-hiking', yama-kuzure 'mountain-collapsing', mizu-more 'water-leaking', zikan-gire 'time-running out', yuki-doke 'snowthawing', mizu-tamari 'puddle' (lit. 'water-accumulation'), to-zimari 'locking up' (lit. 'door-closing')

(33)

"Weather" Compounds ame-huri 'rain-falling', kaze-huki 'wind-blowing', hi-deri 'sun-shining'

(34)

Subject-Transitive Verb Compounds musi-kui 'hole eaten out by a moth' (lit. 'moth's eating X'), kami-kakusi 'strange happening' (lit. 'god's hiding X'), uketorinin-barai 'recipient's paying', otoko-zuki 'men like X' (e.g., otoko-zuki no kao 'face that men like')

The subject-intransitive verb compound in (32), which is the most frequent formation type, and the "weather" compound in (33) are similar in that the latter also exhibits the subject-intransitive verb relation. I argue later that these productive compounds do not constitute counterevidence to the FSP.• The subjecttransitive verb compound in (34) is the least frequent type.

3.4.2.2. SUBJECT-TRANSITIVE VERB COMPOUNDS The one dominant feature of this type of compound is its nonproductivity. It has few attested instances, possibly as little as four, and those that do exist will not for the most part allow any substitution of the nominal element with another nominal that corresponds to the subject. For example, the compound musi-kui 'moth's eating X' does not give rise to any other similar compounds, such as *doobutu-kui 'animal's eating X' or * tori-kui 'bird's eating X'. The one exception to this is the compound otoko-zuki 'men like X', which does allow a limited option in the nominal position, for example, onna-zuki 'women like X'.

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Ignoring this one exception, these compounds do not appear to be governed by any regular rule of compound formation; otherwise they should exhibit more productivity both in number and in options available for the nominal. In other words, they are not rule-governed synthetic compounds but are closer to primary compounds that are known to be idiosyncratic. By this analysis, the limited productivity seen for the nominal position of otoko-zuki 'men like X' is simply due to analogy and does not reflect a regular rule of compound formation. I therefore exclude this type of compound from our analysis, thereby putting the burden of proof on an alternative analysis that attempts to account for these compounds by some regular rule of compound formation.

3.4.2.3.

SUBJECT-INTRANSITIVE VERB COMPOUNDS

Let us again look at the subject-intransitive verb compounds in (32), repeated below as (35). (35)

Subject-Intransitive Verb Compounds ne-agari 'price-hiking', yama-kuzure 'mountain-collapsing', mizu-more 'water-leaking', zikan-gire 'time-running out', yuki-doke 'snowthawing', mizu-tamari 'puddle' (lit. 'water-accumulation'), to-zimari 'locking up' (lit. 'door-closing')

Unlike the subject-transitive verb compound discussed above, the compounds in (35) exhibit productivity characteristic of rule-governed compound formation. The examples in (35) are a representative, and not an exhaustive, list of this type of compound. Also, many, though not all, of those listed allow an alternative subject nominal. Take, for example, the first three formations in the list. Along with ne-agari 'price-hiking', yama-kuzure 'mountain-collapsing', and zikangire 'time-running out', there are ame-agari 'rain-rising' ('stopping of rain'), gake-kuzure 'cliff-collapsing', and sina-gire 'product-running out' ('a product being sold out'). On the assumption that these compounds are formed by a productive rule of compounding, the question we must ask is: does this type of compound admit any subject-intransitive verb relation? A quick look through the list reveals the absence of one such relation, the Agent-verb relation: (36)

A subject-intransitive verb compound does not admit a nominal that corresponds to the Agent of the verb.

We thus do not find compounds such as *inu-hoe 'dog-barking' and *akanboonaki 'baby-crying'. What is important to point out is that this "no Agent" generalization is not limited to the subject-intransitive verb compound, but is true for all verbal compounds.

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Let us now look at the verbs in the compounds of (35). What is striking about these intransitive verbs is that all of them have a monomorphemic transitive counterpart, and the relation of the intransitive-transitive pair is something akin to inchoative-causative. The intransitive verbs in (35) are listed in (37) along with their transitive counterparts. (37)

Intransitive agaru 'rise' kuzureru 'collapse' kireru 'be cut' moreru 'leak' tokeru 'melt' tamaru 'accumulate' simaru 'close'

Transitive ageru 'raise' kuzusu 'destroy' kiru 'cut' morasu 'make X leak' tokasu 'melt' tameru 'accumulate' simeru 'close'

We can see immediately that if we assume the ergative hypothesis, it is possible to include these and correctly exclude the impossible Agent-verbal compounds, which would be comprised of an unergative verb. Let us assume the ergative hypothesis for the intransitive-transitive paradigm in (37). Under this hypothesis, both the subject of the "inchoative" intransitive verb and the object of the "causative" transitive counterpart in (37) are underlying internal arguments. This accounts for why, for example, the subject of the intransitive verb tokeru 'melt' and the object of the transitive counterpart tokasu 'melt' have the same semantic role Theme. The two verbs are identical in having this semantic role that is assigned to an internal argument. The intransitive verb tokeru 'melt' in (37) has the derived structure in (38). (38)

fvr l; toketa ]]. [s ame; ga candy NOM melted 'The candy melted.'

We have seen evidence already that the subject of an ergative verb such as tokeru 'melt' is underlyingly an internal argument. This was demonstrated in chapter 2 using the numeral quantifiers. I give an additional piece of evidence in the following discussion. The argument concerns the possibility of modifying the subject of an ergative verb with a resultative phrase. Simpson (1983) points out that a resultative phrase can only modify an internal argument of the verb. (39)

John separated the children into three groups.

The resultative phrase into three groups here modifies the internal argument the children. Note now the following contrast: (40)

The children separated into three groups.

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(41) *The children ran into three groups. In (40) the resultative phrase into three groups can modify the subject of the ergative verb separate because the subject is underlyingly an internal argument. In contrast, the same resultative phrase cannot modify the subject of run, as shown in (41), because this verb is not an ergative but a simple intransitive verb. The subject NP the children in (41) is an external argument of the verb at an underlying level as well as on the surface. We can see exactly the same phenomenon in Japanese. Take, for example, the intransitive-transitive pair wareru 'break' /waru 'break'. Note the following sentences: (42)

a. Taroo ga sara o konagona ni watta. NOM plate ACC pieces into broke. 'Taro broke the plate into pieces.' konagona ni wareta. b. Sara ga plate NOM pieces into broke 'The plate broke into pieces.'

In (42a), the resultative phrase konagona ni 'into pieces' modifies the object NP sara 'plate'. In (42b), the same phrase successfully modifies the subject of the ergative verb wareru 'break', which is the intransitive counterpart of waru 'break' in (42a). In contrast to (42b), a resultative phrase cannot modify the subject of a simple intransitive, as shown in (43). (43)

Kodomo ga 2-3-nin no guruupu *nilde hasitta. children NOM 2-3-CL GEN group into/in ran 'The children ran * into/in two or three groups.'

2-3-nin no guruupu ni 'into two or three groups' is a resultative phrase and is inappropriate for the subject kodomo 'children' because the verb is a simple intransitive. As shown, if the modifying phrase is a manner adverbial (2-3-nin no guruupu de 'in two or three groups'), instead of the resultative, the sentence is grammatical. In (42a), we saw that a resultative phrase can modify the subject of an ergative verb. If it is correct that a resultative phrase can only modify an internal argument, as appears to be the case, this gives support to the ergative-hypothesis approach to a verb such as wareru 'break'. Let us now look at the verbs in the paradigm in (35) to see if we can observe this phenomenon associated with the resultative phrase. Not all of the verbs listed are amenable to having their subject modified by a resultative phrase simply because of the meaning of the verb, but some do parallel what we saw for the warerulwaru pair in (42). (44)

a. Taroo ga ame o betabeta ni tokasita. NOM candy ACC sticky into melted 'Taro melted the candy into (a) sticky (state).'

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b. Ame ga betabeta ni toketa. candy NOM sticky into melt 'The candy melted into (a) sticky (state).' (45)

a. Kensetu-gaisya

(46)

a. Ziroo ga

ga gake o taira ni kuzusita. construction-firm NOM cliff ACC flat into destroy 'The construction firm flattened the mountain.' taira ni kuzureta. b. Cake ga cliff NOM flat into collapse 'The mountain collapsed into (a) flat (state).'

kami o hanbun ni kitta. NOM paper ACC half into cut 'Jiro cut the paper into halves.' b. Kami ga hanbun ni kireta. paper NOM half into was cut 'The paper was cut into halves.'

Based on the prior discussion, the verb involved in this type of compound is an ergative verb. Such a verb subcategorizes for an internal argument, which, through other independent principles, externalizes to the subject position in syntax. Underlyingly, the "subject" phrase is the first sister to the unaccusative verb, as illustrated in (47) for the unaccusative verb tokeru 'melt'. (47)

(Before movement)

s VP

~V

NP

I

ame

candy

I

tokeru melt

These compounds therefore do not provide counterevidence to the FSP-effect. Rather, they fit nicely into the FSP-scheme without further stipulation so long as the ergative hypothesis is assumed. This analysis of the subject-intransitive verb compound gives a straightforward account of why the subject can appear in the compound even with the FSP in place. The analysis can also account for the "weather" compounds in (33) (e.g., ame-huri 'rain-falling'), which have the identical subject-intransitive verb structure. The verbs in these compounds have a Theme subject, not an Agent. Hence, the verbs qualify semantically as members of the ergative class.

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JOO

3. Ergative Construction

I have demonstrated that verbal compounding in Japanese gives further credence to the applicability of the ergative hypothesis to Japanese. As was shown, only ergative verbs participate in subject verbal compounding. Because the surface subject is an internal argument of the verb, we are able to maintain the First Sister Principle for Japanese as well as for English.

3.4.3. Dutch I have shown that the ergative hypothesis accounts for the behavior of numeral quantifiers and both possible and impossible verbal compounds. I now present similar data from Dutch. As already noted, a number of linguists have argued for the application of the ergative hypothesis to Dutch. I present one argument having to do with the extraction possibility of the wat voor 'what for' construction. The analysis presented here is taken from Besten (1982). 5 The sequence wat voor N constitutes a NP, as shown in (48). (48)

Wat voor romans heeft hij geschreven? what for novels has he written 'What kind of novels has he written?'

It is possible to extract the wat portion from the "lexically frozen specifier wat voor" (Besten, 1982, p. 34). (49)

Wat heeft hij voor romans geschreven? what has he for novels written 'What kind of novels has he written?'

This extraction is permitted only if the NP containing the specifier is strictly governed by V, that is, under the V' node. Thus, (50) is ungrammatical because wat is extracted from the subject NP, while (51) is ungrammatical because the extraction takes place out of an indirect object NP. (50) *Wat hahhen voor mense je moeder hezocht? what have for people your mother visited 'What sort of people have visited your mother?' (51) *Wat heh jij voor mensen je stuk gestuurd? what have you for people your paper sent 'What kind of people have you sent your paper to?' Unlike these prior two examples, the following sentence is grammatical because the extraction takes place out of a direct object NP: (52)

Wat heh jij in ltalie voor musea hezocht? what have you in Italy for museums visited 'What sort of museums did you visit in Italy?'

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IOI

3.4 Verbal Compounding

As Besten argues, this is clearly an ECP-effect. In more recent frameworks, the domain of extraction constitutes a barrier only if it is not minimally governed by the V. 0 Moreover, Besten demonstrates that this object/nonobject asymmetry holds not only for surface objects but for underlying objects as well. Here we see a clear clue that the ergative hypothesis is applicable to Dutch. Note that both a passive subject and an ergative subject allow wat extraction. (53)

Wat zijin (er) jouw vader voor rare verhalen verteld? what have-been (there) your father for strange stories told 'What sort of strange stories have been told to your father?'

(54)

Wat zouden Peter nou voor boeken bevallen? what would Peter now for books please 'What sort of books would please Peter, I wonder.'

Having established the relevancy of the ergative hypothesis for Dutch by using the wat voor construction, let us now turn to verbal compounding. The First Sister Principle applies straightforwardly to Dutch except with a class of compounds that contain an ergative verb (Hoekstra, 1984). This is precisely the pattern discerned in Japanese. The following examples are taken from Hoekstra (1984): (55)

I'petrifaction

kooraalverstening

'coral-stone turning'

(of coral)'] ('litoral undulation')

kustdeining spookverschijning betekeniswijziging wegsplitsing stroomverzwakking bodemverzakking

'coast undulation' 'ghost-appearance' 'meaning change' 'road bifurcation' 'current weakening' 'soil subsiding'

bloedvatenverkalking valutadaling kaasrijping gasontsnapping bomontploffing pupilverwijding celdeling aardverschuiving prijstijging

'blood-vessel hardening' 'currency lowering' 'cheese maturation' 'gas escape' 'bomb explosion' 'pupil dilation' 'cell division' 'earth movement' 'price rise'

('subsidence of the soil')

('landslide')

The possibility of these verbal compounds further supports the ergative hypothesis for Dutch. It also gives cross-linguistic support to the idea that the ergative hypothesis is relevant to verbal compounding.

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3.5. ERGATIVE HYPOTHESIS AND ga/no-CONVERSION I turn now to a well-known phenomenon in Japanese called the ga/noconversion. First studied by Harada (1973), this is the phenomenon in which the subject of a relative clause can be marked optionally by the genitive no instead of the nominative ga. (56)

Taroo ga/no katta hon NOM/GEN bought book 'the book that Taro bought'

Bedell (1973) has proposed a "restructuring" analysis in which the NP acquires the genitive marking if it is restructured to a position that is dominated by the NP. (57)

[NP NP no [ ... katta] hon]

As I demonstrate, this analysis gives further support to the ergative hypothesis.

3.5.1. Saito's Analysis Recently, Saito (1982, 1983b) proposed that the NP shifts from its original subject position to the position illustrated in (57) by movement, leaving behind a trace. His analysis rests on the assumption that there is an asymmetry between the nominative ga marking and the accusative o marking. The object NP receives its accusative case directly from the verb, by the case-assigning property of the verb. On the other hand, a subject NP in Japanese is not assigned case by a lexical item such as inflection, but rather the nominative ga is simply assigned automatically to the NP directly dominated by S, that is, the subject NP. Whenever there is a NP directly dominated by S, ga is assigned to it. Hence, we get multiple nominative constructions such as the following: (58)

kodomo ga atama ga ii. Ano oya ga that parent NOM child NOM head NOM good 'It is that parent whose child is smart.'

Saito argues convincingly that it is this difference in case marking that allows the subject NP, but not the object NP, to optionally move to the position directly dominated by the NP, as in (57). If the subject NP happens not to receive the nominative case, it moves to that position, where the genitive marking is available. In this way the case filter is satisfied. On the other hand, an object NP must be assigned case by the verb. If it moves and receives the genitive case, the NP in effect is doubly case marked, once by the verb and again by the genitive case. The two cases are incompatible.

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3.5.2. Arguments and Adjuncts In a recent work, Fujita (1988), extending Terada's (1987) work, demonstrates that the extraction of the subject NP is sensitive to whether the overall phrase containing the relative clause is an argument or an adjunct. Using the adverbial toki 'when' phrase, he shows that the extraction leading to the genitive marking on the subject NP is not possible if the toki-phrase is an adjunct. (59)

a.

Kodomo ga

waratta toki, tonari no

heya ni ita.

child NOM laughed when next GEN room in was 'When the child laughed, I was in the next room.' b. ?*Kodomo no waratta toki, tonari no heya ni ita. In (59), the toki-phrase is an adjunct. As we can see in (59b), extracting the subject NP headed by toki 'when' leads to an unacceptable structure. I assume the following NP-adjunction structure for (59b): (60)

NP

NP; kodomo no child

NP 1

GEN

s

N

~VP

I;

I

I

toki when

V

I

waratta laughed

The fact that this extraction is ungrammatical suggests that the original NP that dominates the toki-phrase-NP' in (60)-is a barrier to movement. This is consistent with the idea that a barrier results if a maximal projection is not 0-marked (Chomsky, 1986b). 7 In (60), the toki-phrase is certainly not 0-marked by the main verb of the sentence. By being a barrier, it blocks the moved NP from being correctly construed with its own trace (i.e., the barrier blocks antecedent government and hence causes an ECP-violation [cf. Chomsky, 1981, and Lasnik and Saito, 1984, among others, for a discussion of proper government]). In contrast, if the toki-phrase is in an argument position, the subject NP can be marked with the genitive no.

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l 04 (61)

3. Ergative Construction

[NP Kodomo ga/no waratta toki] o omoidasita. child NOM/GEN laughed when ACC recalled 'I recalled when the child laughed.'

In this sentence, the entire toki-phrase is 0-marked by the verb omoidasu 'recall'. This means that the NP that dominates the toki-phrase [NP' in (60)] is not a barrier, so that the subject NP is free to move out of its original position to the position where it can receive the genitive no case marker. Because the NP' node that the subject NP crosses is not a barrier, it can readily be construed with its trace in the subject position. In (62), another pair of sentences illustrates the argument/ adjunct distinction. (62a) is an example of the toki-phrase in an adjunct position; in (62b) the same toki-phrase occurs in an argument position. (62)

a. ?*Zyosei no

b.

odotta toki, dansei wa minna suwatte ita. women GEN danced when men TOP all sitting 'When the women danced, the men were all sitting down.' Zyosei no odotta toki ga mondai ni natta. women GEN danced when NOM problem became 'The time that the women danced became a problem.'

3.5.3. Ergative Hypothesis There is a systematic exception to the generalization that extraction from an adjunct toki-phrase is impossible. These exceptions all involve ergative verbs (Fujita, 1988).' (63)

Kodomo ga/no kita toki, tonari no heya ni ita. child NOM/GEN came when next GEN room in was 'I was in the next room when the child came.'

(64)

Doa ga/no aita toki, takusan no kyaku ga sude ni door NOM/GEN opened when many GEN customers NOM already matte ita. waiting 'When the door opened, many customers were already waiting.'

These two examples contrast sharply with the unergative examples in (59b) and (62a). For the ergative examples, we can assume that the surface subject NP originates in the VP. (65)

[NP NP, [NP' [ [ vp

f;

V] toki]]]

Here, even though NP' is a barrier owing to the adjunct status of the clause, this does not block the movement of the NP. The NP originates in the VP, where it is lexically governed by the verb. This lexical government licenses the trace so that

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the existence of the barrier between the moved NP and its trace is not a problem (cf. Chomsky, 1981, 1986b; Lasnik and Saito, 1984). This is, then, another piece of evidence that the ergative hypothesis is applicable to Japanese.9 It can be further demonstrated that extraction from an adjunct toki-phrase is grammatical as long as it is from within the VP, as we saw in (63) and (64), whereas extraction from the subject position is ungrammatical, as we saw in (59b) and (62a). Note, first, that a predicate such as suki 'like' marks both its subject and object with the nominative ga and, optionally, with no if the NP occurs in a relative clause. (66)

a. Baku ga kanozyo ga suki da. I NOM her NOM like COP 'I like her.' b. Baku no kanozyo no suki na koto ga uwasa ni natta. I GEN her NOM like fact NOM rumor became 'That I like her was rumored.'

If one of these genitive-marked NPs is left unsaid, we get ambiguity of interpretation for the overt NP. (67)

Kanozyo no suki na koto ga uwasa ni natta. she GEN like fact rumor became (i) 'That (I) like her was rumored.' (ii) 'That she likes (me) was rumored.'

This ambiguity disappears, however, if the phrase is placed into an adjunct toki-phrase. (68)

Kanozyo no suki datta toki, boku wa she GEN like was when I TOP nani mo dekinakatta. nothing could do (i) 'During the time that (I) liked her, I couldn't do anything.' (ii)*'During the time that she liked (me), I couldn't do anything.'

As indicated, only the interpretation in (i) is possible. This is predicted if we assume that extraction from an adjunct phrase is possible only if what is extracted is in the VP to begin with. The interpretation in (i) reflects a structure in which the object NP is extracted, while that in (ii) requires that the subject NP be extracted. The observation here further supports the claim that the genitive no on subjects of verbs such as kuru 'come' in (63) and aku 'open' in (64) is possible because the subject originates in the VP, as predicted by the ergative hypothesis. The same genitive no is impossible on the subject of verbs such as warau 'laugh' in (59b) and odoru 'dance' in (62a) because the subject occurs outside the VP to begin with.

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3.6. ERGATIVE NOMINALS So far, the discussion of the ergative hypothesis in Japanese has been limited to verbs. Are there other lexical categories that manifest ergative properties? As the final point in this chapter, I show that nominals group into three categories that parallel transitive, unergative, and ergative verbs. The Japanese lexicon contains a rich set of nominals that assign 0-roles. Virtually all of these nominals are Sino-Japanese, meaning that they are borrowings from Chinese. These nominals contain two morphemes and quite often reflect the SVO word order of Chinese (Jacobsen, 1982). For example, the nominal nyuukoku 'enter a country' is made up of nyuu 'enter' and koku 'country'. To paraphrase this meaning in "native" Japanese, the order would be reversed: (69)

kuni ni hairu. country to enter 'enter a country'

Many of these nominals are predicates in original Chinese. A nominal can function as the head of a NP, as illustrated in (70), or it can function as a verb by attaching the "proverb" suru 'do', as shown in (71 ). (70)

suugaku no benkyoo math GEN study 'study of math'

(71)

suugaku o benkyoo suru math ACC study do 'to study math'

In Miyagawa (1987a), I argue that the proverb suru is an "empty" verb. It has the features [ + V, -NJ of a verb, so that it can assign case, as shown in (71) above. But it is deplete of 0-roles; the 0-roles must be provided by the nominal that suru attaches to. In a recent article, Grimshaw and Mester ( 1988) introduce the term "light verb" to refer to suru. There is an alternation that commonly occurs in constructions containing a light verb. The nominal can attach directly to the light verb, as in (71 ), or the nominal can function as the argument of the light verb, as in (72). (72)

suugaku no benkyoo o suru math GEN study ACC do 'to study math'

In Grimshaw and Mester's analysis ( 1988), the 0-roles of the nominal benkyoo 'study' are transferred to the light verb suru. Although most nominals allow this alternation, there are some that do not. Note the following examples (Miyagawa, 1987a, 1989a):

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(73)

a. kaitoo surul*kaitoo o suru 'to melt' b. tanzyoo surul*tanzyoo o suru 'to be born' c. zyoohatu surul*zyoohatu o suru 'to evaporate'

As observed in Miyagawa (1987a, 1989a), the striking thing about these nominals is that the thematic role assigned to the subject NP is Theme, very much like the ergative verbs such as tokeru 'melt' and tuku 'arrive'. In other words, we have the following generalization: (74)

Ergative nominals: An ergative nominal cannot function as the argument of the light verb suru.

This is evidence that the ergative hypothesis extends to nominals in Japanese. '0 Now that I have demonstrated the importance of the ergative hypothesis for Japanese nominals, let us see just what causes the ergative effect noted for (73). Why is it that ergative nominals cannot function as the argument of the light verb? The account that I propose is based on Burzio's ( 1981, 1986) generalization. (75)

Burzio's Generalization: A verb that assigns an external thematic role iff it can assign Case.

Note that in the unacceptable ergative constructions in (73), the light verb suru assigns the accusative case to the nominal. By Burzio's generalization, the light verb must also assign an external thematic role. But this is impossible. Following Grimshaw and Mester (1988), let us assume that the 0-roles of the nominal are transferred to the light verb. But ergative nominals such as those in (73) only have an internal 0-role. This internal 0-role of the nominal is transferred to the light verb. And the light verb is free to assign it. It is, however, an internal 0-role, not an external, hence the construction violates Burzio's generalization. If the nominal attaches directly to the light verb instead, as in (76), the light verb does not assign case, hence it need not assign an external 0-role (Miyagawa, 1989a). (76)

Mizu ga zyoohatu suru. water NOM evaporate 'Water evaporates.'

The syntactic structure of (76) is presumably (77) (77)

[, mizu; ga [ vP t; zyoohatu suru 11

Unlike ergative nominals, a nominal such as taisoo 'exercise' possesses an external 0-role so that it can participate in either construction. (77)

a. Kodomo ga taisoo o suru. child NOM exercise ACC do 'The child will exercise.' b. Kodomo ga taisoo suru.

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3. 7. SUMMARY The analysis of numeral quantifiers in Japanese led to a number of insights about basic structure and case marking in Japanese. One insight is the idea that the ergative hypothesis, originally proposed in relation to Dutch and Italian (Perlmutter, I 978; Burzio, I 98 I, I 986), is also applicable to Japanese. In this chapter, I pursued this point by first reviewing the literature on the ergative hypothesis in other languages and then providing further evidence for the ergative hypothesis in Japanese. I showed that, along with numeral quantifiers, the ergative hypothesis is detectable in verbal compounding, the so-called nominative/ genitive (galno) conversion, and in those nominals that can cooccur with the light verb suru. This is one of the clearest and most convincing demonstrations of the ergative hypothesis in any language and gives further credence to the universality of this hypothesis. I predict that further research will show that what I have presented in this chapter by no means exhausts the evidence for the ergative hypothesis in Japanese. It must be added that with each argument for this hypothesis, we are also providing further argument for NP-trace, a type of empty category that is theoretically predicted but thus far not readily supported by empirical evidence.

NOTES 'See Grimshaw ( 1987) for a summary of ergative constructions in other languages. See Rosen (1984) for an argument against using the Italian auxiliary selection for the ergative hypothesis. See Van Valin (1987) for arguments that the ergative hypothesis can derive from semantic, as opposed to structural, considerations. 'There are other portions of Roeper and Siegel's analysis, interacting with the FSP, that I do not assume. The two primary components of their analysis to which I remain neutral are "lexical transformations" (cf. also Keyser and Roeper 1984) and elaborate subcategorization frames for verbs. The latter device is intended to capture the FSP-effect by listing all of the possible first sister phrases that a verb can have in its subcategorization frame. Phrasal approaches to compounding can capture the FSP effect without making reference to any elaborate subcategorization frame (e.g., Botha, 1968; Sugioka, 1984). In one such analysis, it is proposed that verbal compounding in English occurs at the level of V', thus precluding all items except the one that occurs as the first sister of the verb in syntax (Sugioka, 1984). For example, in truck-driving, the inflection -ing attaches to the phrasal node V', Iv• drive truck], with a concomitant permutation of the phrasal word order to truck drive (ing). See also Pesetsky (1985), who proposes an affix-raising rule at the level of logical form that accounts for the FSP without assuming "phrasal affixation." •one possible way to explain why one finds "subject" verbal compounds in Japanese but not in English is to appeal to a proposed difference in the phrase structure of the two 2

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Notes

languages. A proposal has been made independently of compound formation that the Japanese phrase structure is "flat," so that all major elements of a simple sentence, including the subject and the verb, are immediately dominated by S (Hale, 1980; Farmer, 1980). By this analysis, the subject of an intransitive verb can be the first sister to the verb, thereby accounting for at least (32) and (33). This nonconfigurational approach to Japanese does provide a possible account of these compounds, but as we will see, it also incorrectly predicts the appropriateness of some impossible combinations. That is, compounds that have the agent-intransitive verb relation are nonexistent, though the phrasestructure approach would not discriminate this from other possible compounds. Also, recent works on Japanese phrase structure provide strong evidence that Japanese, like English, is configurational (Hoji, 1982, 1985; Saito, 1983a, 1983b, 1985; Whitman, 1982). See Kageyama (1985) for a phrase-structure approach to the ergative verbal compounds. He independently noticed that ergative, but not unergative, verbs can participate in verbal compounding. 'Besten also deals with the same construction in German, but 1 limit my discussion to Dutch. "See Chomsky (1986b) and Lasnik and Saito (1984), among others, for discussions of barriers in syntax. 7 The conditions under which a maximal projection becomes a barrier are more complex than what I present here. See Chomsky (1986b), among others, for a detailed discussion. 'Terada ( 1987) also argues that the ergative hypothesis is relevant to gal no conversion. For her, only a NP that starts in the VP can be extracted in order to acquire the genitive no. In other words, only the NP of an ergative verb is allowed to undergo this process. The more common no-marked NP, the subject of a transitive verb, is, in her analysis, generated in the specifier position of the NP to begin with. See her work for details. She does not draw the argument/adjunct distinction addressed here. 9 There are a number of problems I do not deal with in this analysis of the gal no conversion. First, I assume that for the subject NP to receive the genitive no, it must raise and adjoin to the highest NP (NP'). NP

(i)

~

NP;-no

NPI

~N

S

~VP

I;

If NP' is an adjunct, this movement is prohibited, since the NP is a barrier. The question is whether we can maintain this analysis that NP' is a barrier in this instance. Notice that while the subject NP formally crosses the barrier NP, the subject NP ends up adjoined to the barrier NP. If one adopts the assumption about segments and categories (May, 1977; Chomsky, 1986b), it is possible to say that the movement in (i) does not cross a barrier because the NP' and the NP created by adjunction constitute segments of the same category. Under this analysis, we would not be able to distinguish between the acceptable and

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unacceptable no cases. If, instead of what I have assumed in this chapter, this turns out to be correct, then an alternative analysis must be formulated. Second, this movement analysis allows adjunction to NP, whether the NP is 0-marked (argument) or not (adjunct). That I allow adjunction to a 0-marked maximal projection is counter to a stipulation made by Chomsky (1986b) that adjunction sites are limited to non-0-marked maximal projections. Third, unlike the toki-phrases we have looked at, the examples in (ii) and (iii) with mae 'before' and ato 'after' appear to be acceptable (Fujita, 1988).

odoru. (ii) ?[Taroo no odoru] mae, Hanako ga GEN dance before NOM dance 'Before Taro dances, Hanako will dance.' (iii) ?[Taroo no denwa-sita] ato, Hanako mo denwa-suru daroo. GEN phone after too phone probably 'Taro will probably phone after Hanako phones.' One possible difference between these and the ungrammatical toki-phrase is due to the fact that the two nominals, mae 'before' and ato 'after', select the inflection in the lower S. Thus, the tense of the verb preceding mae must always be nonpast, while the verb preceding ato 'after' must be in the past tense. This is true regardless of what the real-time reference is. One way to express this in a way that accounts for the grammatical (ii) and (iii) is to say that because maelato selects the inflection of the lower S, the nominal governs into the lower S. [That some nominals can govern into the lower clause has been suggested for other constructions (cf. Miyagawa, 1987b).) The trace in the subject position left by the genitive NP would thus be properly governed by the nominal, similar to Exceptional Case Marking in English (cf. Chomsky, 1981 ). This is speculative at this point, but the line of future research is clear. '"Grimshaw and Mester ( 1988) only deal with constructions in which the nominal functions as the argument of the light verb. They assume incorrectly that all nominals can participate in this construction. For example, they mark as grammatical the following sentence:

Uenoeki ni tootyaku o sita. train TOP Ueno station to arrive ACC did 'The train arrived at Ueno station.'

(i) Densya wa

Contrary to this judgment, the sentence is extremely awkward, if not ungrammatical. The sentence becomes perfectly acceptable if the nominal tootyaku 'arrive' attaches directly to the light verb. The fact that this nominal is unacceptable in (i) is consistent with the observation that an ergative nominal cannot be the argument of the light verb. Tootyaku 'arrive' is arguably an ergative nominal.

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4 PARADIGMATIC STRUCTURES AND THE CAUSATIVES

The causative in Japanese is formed by attaching the bound causative morpheme -(s)ase to a verb. The initial consonant of the morpheme, s, is deleted if the verb to which it attaches ends in a consonant (cf. McCawley 1968). (l)

Hanko ga Taroo ni syokki o araw-ase-ta. NOM DAT dishes ACC wash-cause-past 'Hanako caused (made/let) Taro to wash the dishes.'

(2)

lsya wa kanzya olni aruk-ase-ta. doctor TOP patient ACC/DAT walk-cause-past 'The doctor caused the patient to walk.'

In (I), the causative morpheme attaches to a transitive verb stem, araw 'wash'. The original Agent of the transitive verb is designated with the dative particle ni. In (2), the causative morpheme attaches to aruk 'walk', which is intransitive. As shown, the original Agent of the verb stem can take either the accusative o or the the dative ni. A number of linguists have commented on the semantic difference between the "a-causative" and the "ni-causative" (e.g., Kuroda, 1965; Kuno, 1973; Shibatani, I 973; Kitagawa, 1974). Although each has a slightly different account, they generally agree that the choice of o entails that the causee is somehow forced to carry out an act-the causee's wishes are ignored-whereas ni entails that the causee is allowed to carry out the act. Note that this choice of o or ni exists only if the verb to which -(s)ase attaches is intransitive, as in (2). If the 111

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verb is transitive, as in (I), the original Agent of the verb can appear only with the dative ni. Despite this, (I) is felt to be ambiguous between the two interpretations that, in (2), are manifested in the choice of o or ni. Complex causative verbs such as araw-ase 'wash-cause' and aruk-ase 'walkcause' constitute a single "word." This is clear because the causative morpheme -(s)ase is a bound morpheme, thus it never occurs as an independent word. One controversy surrounding the causative construction is the choice of the mechanism by which the complex causative verb is formed into a word. In this chapter, I pursue the lexical approach by presenting a lexical analysis of the causative. I therefore naturally focus on the morphological aspect of the causative. One significant point is that the ergative hypothesis, which I discussed in chapter 3, is also applicable to the causative verb construction. I begin by briefly discussing the two major approaches to the causative verb presented in the literature: the "transformational" approach and the "lexical" approach.

4.1. TWO APPROACHES TO CAUSATIVE VERBS 4.1.1. Transformational Approach The transformational approach "builds" a causative verb in the syntax. This approach ascribes a biclausal underlying structure that is "collapsed" into a uniclausal structure by the rule of predicate raising (cf. Kuno, 1973). By this analysis, the causative sentence in (I) has the underlying structure in (3a) and the surface structure in (3b). (3)

s

a.

NP

VP

Hanako (ga)

s

I

Taroo (ni)

V

~VP

I

NP;

0

-(s)ase

~V

NP

I

syokki (o)

dishes

I

araw wash

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s

b.

VP

NP

I

NP

Hanako ga NOM

I

Taroo ni DAT

NP

I

syokki o dishes ACC

V

I

araw-ase-ta wash-cause-past

Predicate raising raises the embedded verb (araw 'wash') and places it before the matrix -( s)ase, with a concomitant "tree-pruning" effect that raises the other lexical items from the embedded clause and does away with the embedded structure altogether. The important point to note for this approach is that the formation of a causative verb such as araw-ase 'wash-cause' takes place in the syntax by the rule of predicate raising. The assumption here is that -(s)ase is an independent lexical item that participates in syntax very much like a normal verb. The fact that the morpheme never arises as an independent verb in syntax, but rather only as a bound morpheme, is guaranteed by its occurrence in a structure that always undergoes predicate raising. In the transformational approach, the fact that a causative verb ultimately forms a "word" is almost coincidental. The more interesting aspect of the approach is the "syntax" -the underlying biclausal structure-of causatives. Indeed, virtually all work done in this framework has focused on the syntactic behavior of phenomena such as the reflexive, pronominal coreference, and case marking (e.g., Kuroda, 1965, 1978; Kuno, 1973; Mccawley, 1976; Oshima, 1979).

4. 1.2. Lexical Analysis The lexical analysis is an alternative to the transformational approach. As the name indicates, this approach assumes that a complex causative verb is built in the lexicon by morphological processes (e.g., Farmer, 1980, 1984; Miyagawa, 1980, 1984). Unlike the transformational approach, in which the word status of a causative verb is virtually coincidental, in the lexical approach it is a central concern. This focus on the morphological composition of the verb naturally leads to investigation of its morphological properties, as opposed to the syntactic properties closely scrutinized in the transformational approach. In this chapter, I present evidence for the lexical analysis. In particular, I show that the complex causative verb interacts with simple verb stems in a way that leads to the view that the causative verb must be present in the lexicon. After

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presenting the analysis already reported in Miyagawa (1980, 1984), I extend the approach to data heretofore unaccounted for by any analysis of the causative. One surprising result is that the ergative hypothesis turns out to be crucially relevant to an understanding of the causative morphology.

4.1.2.1.

PHONOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR THE LEXICAL ANALYSIS

I initially examine phonological support for the lexical analysis. My presentation to a large degree follows Kitagawa 's (1986) discussion. It is well known that an accent shift occurs between the present and past tense forms of accented simple verb forms (cf. Chew, 1961; McCawley, 1968). (4)

tabe-ru 'eat' tabe-ta 'ate'

The accent falls on the penultimate mora in the present tense (or, to put it another way, the last mora of the verb stem), whereas it "shifts" to the third from the last mora in the past tense. Chew (1961) and Mccawley (1968) have argued that the original accent position is that found in the past tense: hence, in present tense constructions, the accent is "attracted" by the present tense morpheme -ru. Recently, Clark (1986), refining the work by Haraguchi (1977), has proposed that this accent shift can be accounted for by adopting the framework of lexical morphology (e.g., Kiparsky 1982; Mohanan, 1982; Siegel, 1974). In essence, she proposes the following: (5)

(i) The tense morphemes -ru (present) and -ta (past) are attached in the lexicon (ii) -ru is a level I morpheme; -ta is level II (iii) An accentuation rule that accents the penultimate mora of an accented verb applies at level I (after -ru is attached)

Let us see how this analysis produces the two forms tabe-ru 'eat' and tabe-ta 'ate'. The first point to note is that the verb 'eat' is accented. If -ru is attached to the stem tabe, the penultimate accent rule applies to the verb form tabe-ru, producing the accented form tabe-ru. All of this occurs at level I and nothing transpires at level II, as illustrated in (b). (6)

Level I:

(i) -ru attachment tabe-ru (ii) penultimate accentuation tabe-ru

Level II: If, on the other hand, -ru does not attach to the verb stem, then at level I the only rule that applies is the accentuation rule. At level 11, -ta attaches to this accented stem.

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(7)

Level I: penultimate accentuation Level II: -ta attachment

ttibe ttibe-ta

If Clark's analysis is correct, the observed accentuation phenomenon provides phonological support for the lexical analysis of the causative construction. First, the fact that the causative morpheme attaches inside the tense morpheme is an indication that the causative morpheme must attach in the lexicon (cf. Kitagawa, I 986). Second, and more interesting than the first point, as noted by McCaw ley (1968), Kitagawa (1986), and others, the causative verb behaves precisely like a simple verb stem in its accentuation. This is evidence that the penultimate rule, which is a rule of the lexicon according to Clark, applies to the causative morpheme (see Kitagawa, 1986, for evidence that the same rule applies to the passive morpheme as well). (8)

Level I:

(i) -ru attachment tabe-sase-ru 'eat-cause-PRES' (ii) penultimate accentuation tabe-sase-ru

Level II: (9)

Level I: penultimate accentuation Level II: -ta attachment

tabe-stise tabe-sase-ta

As we can see in (8), at level I, if -ru attaches, the penultimate accentuation rule applies to the entire causative complex, producing tabe-sase-ru. On the other hand, we see in (9), if -ru does not attach at level I, the accentuation rule applies to the causative "stem," producing tabe-stise. At level II, -ta attaches to this accented form. By assuming the lexical analysis, then, the accentuation pattern of the causative verb is accommodated by the same rule that is responsible for simple verb stems, which naturally is a highly desirable consequence. 2

4.1.3. Kuroda 's Argument Against the Lexical Approach Kuroda ( 1981) has attacked the lexical approach, arguing that the transformational analysis is theoretically and empirically superior. Among the arguments that he gives, the clearest is the claim that the causative morpheme -sase can appear as an independent verb, thus ostensibly undermining the assumption that the morpheme is attached in the lexicon. The following is his example: ( I 0)

Taroo ga Ziroo ni utai mo sase-ta. NOM DAT sing also cause-past 'Taro let Jiro sing as well.'

In (10), Kuroda claims that sase is an independent verb separated from the verb stem utai by the particle mo 'also'. But this argument cannot be upheld. What Kuroda analyzes as a simple verb is in fact a complex verb composed of the verb

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s- 'do' and the causative verb; the morphological structure of the causative verb in (10) is therefore s-ase-ta 'do-cause-past'. We can see this by looking at the noncausative version of (10). (l l)

Ziroo ga utai mo si-ta. NOM sing also do-past 'Jiro sang as well.'

It is this form that is causativized in ( l 0). It just so happens that the stem of the irregular verb 'do' is s-; when causativized, the resulting verb form is s-ase. Also, as noted by Sugioka (1984 ), if sase in ( JO) is indeed an independent verb, parallel cases such as the passive and the desiderative should also produce grammatical sentences, but this is simply not true. (12)

Taroo wa Ziroo ni utai mo s-are!*rare-ta. TOP DAT sing also do-PASS/PASS-past 'Taro was troubled also by Jiro's singing.'

(13)

Baku wa utai mo si-tai!*tai. TOP sing also do-want/want 'I want to sing as well.'

We should not dismiss Kuroda 's proposal just because of the failure of this one argument. Indeed, I have noted in a previous work (Miyagawa, 1984) that the most interesting property of the causative verb is that it appears to be both lexical and sentential. The "ultimate" analysis will probably combine the two approaches, possibly along the lines proposed by Baker ( 1988), which utilizes the rule of verb raising. What is certain at this point is that very little is known about the lexical nature of the causative verb. In the remainder of this chapter, I present a detailed analysis of what I consider to be the most interesting result of the lexical analysis-the discovery of "paradigmatic structures" in the lexicon (Miyagawa, 1980, 1984; Zenno, 1985). I first outline the previous research; I then present new data to confirm earlier findings.

4.2. PARADIGMATIC STRUCTURES AND BLOCKING If we accept the basic assumption of the lexical analysis that a causative verb is formed in the lexicon, a natural question to ask is what kind of relation the morphologically complex verbs have to the morphologically simple verbs in the lexicon. A proposal has been made that a causative verb participates in a particular mode of organization in the lexicon that is set up primarily for verb stems

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(Miyagawa, 1980, 1981, 1984). I first summarize this lexical organization and demonstrate its predictive power. I then apply it to data not discussed previously in this context in order to reveal further features of the lexicon that concern the Agent and Theme roles.

4.2.1. Blocking Aronoff (1976) introduced the concept of "blocking" on the basis of the following paradigm: (14)

X-ous various curious glorious furious

Nominal

glory fury

-ity variety curiosity * gloriosity *furiosity

The -ity suffix attaches to an X-ous adjective to form a nominal. While the -ity nominals variety and curiosity occur in English, * gloriosity and *furiosity do not, their nonoccurrence correlating with the existence of the simple nominals glory and fury. According to Aronoff, there is only one "slot" for the nominal corresponding in meaning to the X-ous adjective. If this slot is already occupied by a simple nominal (glory, fury), the morphologically complex -ity nominal is blocked from entering this slot, hence it does not occur in the language. A similar phenomenon can be observed with the causative construction in Mitla Zapotec (Miyagawa, 1980). In Mitla Zapotec, the causative prefix s- attaches to an intransitive verb such as ni-;> 'move' to form the transitive s-nP 'move'. This s- can also attach to a transitive verb to form a ditransitive verb, as in gidza 'scold', s-gidza 'cause to scold'. This is a productive morphological process, but there are gaps in the paradigm. For example, the causative counterpart of ri-;> 'come/go out', * s-ri-;>, does not occur in the language; in its place the morphologically simple transitive verb Lee-;> 'take out' occurs. 3 To capture the facts about the causative construction in Mitla Zapotec, I postulate what I term "paradigmatic structures" in the lexicon. The purpose of the paradigmatic structure (PDS) is to organize verbs in the lexicon according to their meaning and the number of arguments that they take. The following schema is a PDS for ni-;> 'move (intr)' and s-ni-;> 'move (tr)'. (15)

INTR

TR

ni-;> 'move'

s-ni-;> 'move'

DITR

These two verbs occupy the same PDS because of the meaning that they share. Note that a PDS has three slots: intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive. The assumption here is that only one lexical item can occupy a particular slot; the exis-

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tence of a lexical item in a slot blocks another lexical item that would otherwise occupy that slot. This is illustrated in (16). ( 16)

INTR

TR

DITR

ri-;> 'come/go out'

Lte-;> 'take out'

*s-ri-;> (blocked) The transitive verb, Lte-;> 'take out', which corresponds in meaning to the intransitive verb ,;-;> 'come/go out', occupies the transitive slot. Consequently, the causative counterpart of the intransitive verb, * s-r;-;J, is blocked from occupying the transitive slot. Other examples of blocked causative verbs are in ( 17) and (18). (17)

INTR

TR

DITR

yabta-;> 'fall down'

ztelta-;> 'knock down'

* s-yabta-;> (blocked) (18)

INTR

TR

DITR

dauch 'eat'

yaten 'feed'

*s-dauch (blocked) Let us look at the function of the Mitla Zapotec causative prefix s- in the light of the PDS. This prefix functions to fill a gap in the paradigm that is otherwise filled by a simple verb, as illustrated by the pair ni-;> 'move (intr)' and s-ni-;> 'move (tr)'. The intransitive verb stem ni-;> does not have a simple transitive counterpart, hence s-ni-;> fills this gap and acts as the transitive counterpart of ni-;>_ Indeed, the meaning of s-ni-;> is that of a simple transitive verb-what is sometimes referred to as a "lexical causative" (e.g., Shibatani, 1973, 1976)-as opposed to an "analytical causative" whereby there is a clear "biclausal" interpretation of CAUSE XTO DO SOMETHING. In Mitla Zapotec, the latter interpretation is only possible with a separate periphrastic construction that involves an independent causative verb (Briggs 1961 ). Because the only meaning that a s-V verb can have is lexical causative, either transitive (cf. s-ne 'move') or ditransitive (cf. s-gidza 'cause to scold'), if a simple transitive or ditransitive verb exists that corresponds in meaning to the s-V verb, the latter is blocked from entering the appropriate PDS slot, in turn making it impossible to occur in the language. In other words, there is only one semantic slot that a verb can fill; if a simple verb already occupies this slot, for example, Lte-;>, the s-V counterpart is excluded from taking this meaning, *s-ri-;>_ The blocked s-V verb does not occur in the language because it cannot be associated with the only meaning that it can possibly have. By being blocked, a morphologically complex verb becomes a seman-

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4.2 Paradigmatic Structures and Blocking

tic "orphan," because it is cut off from a semantic representation to which it otherwise has a rightful claim.

4.2.2. PDS and the Issue of Occurrence in the Language The PDS is a hypothesis about how verbs are arranged in the lexicon. According to this hypothesis, verbs are arranged in the lexicon by the meaning and the number of arguments that they take. The PDS has three slots, intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive; a verb, either simple or complex, is placed into an appropriate slot. A verb stem, being the morphologically simplest form, automatically enters a PDS-slot. Before any morphological derivation takes place, all PDSslots that are filled have verb stems. Let us now consider in broad terms what purpose the PDS has in the lexicon. We have seen that the PDS organizes verbs by setting up slots related by meaning, but is there more significance to this organization than simply registering semantically related verbs into the same PDS-grid? Consideration of a property of verb stems gives us a clue to a more fundamental function of the PDS. As noted earlier, a verb stem automatically receives a PDS-slot because it is morphologically the simplest form of a verb. I also note that verb stems by nature are part of the permanent lexicon, which is a permanent list of lexical items for a language. Let us suppose that this correlation between having a PDS-slot to fill and being a member of the permanent lexicon is not coincidental but rather a necessary condition. A lexical item must have a PDS-slot to fill in order to become a member of the permanent lexicon. Viewed this way, the true function of the PDS is to serve as a jilter for the permanent lexicon, letting some but not all possible lexical items into the permanent lexicon. Once a lexical item successfully passes the PDS-filter by fitting into a slot, it receives permanent entry into the lexicon. In contrast, lexical items that are blocked do not receive such an entry. What happens to the lexical items that are blocked, thus unable to enter the permanent lexicon? What we have seen so far with the English -ity nominal and the Mitla Zapotec causative verbs is that a blocked item is kept from occurring in the language. Is it always the case that a blocked lexical item fails to occur in the language? Aronoff (1976), in his discussion of blocking of -ity nominals, assumes that such nonoccurrence is indeed the case. Our discussion of blocking with the Mitla Zapotec causative, however, does not assume that blocking per se prohibits a blocked causative verb from occurring in the language. The crucial point is that the causative prefix s- is singularly associated with a lexical causative interpretation. If there exists a monomorphemic (i.e., a simple) verb stem that corresponds in meaning to a s-V verb, the latter is blocked, and, consequently, it is unable to take on its only possible meaning of a lexical causative. Being devoid of meaning, it is unable to occur in the language.

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The PDS-hypothesis predicts that if a morphologically complex word has more than one possible meaning, and the word is blocked, it can still occur in the language because it has the second meaning to still give it full-fledged status as a lexical item with meaning. We find exactly such a case with the English -er suffix. This suffix attaches to a verb to form an agentive nominal, for example, writer (one who writes), or hitter (one who hits). This suffix has a second function by which it attaches to a verb to form a nominal that refers to an instrument for carrying out the action, for example, (door) opener [that which opens (doors)], or eraser [that which erases (something)). It is not rare to find the same V-er nominal referring both to the agent of the action and the instrument for carrying out the action. For example, word processor can refer both to the machine and to the person who processes words. Other examples include cleaner (one who cleans, that which is used for cleaning), timer (one who times, that which is used to time), and teaser (one who teases, that which is used to tease). Consider now the -er nominal cooker. This nominal potentially has the agentive and the instrumental interpretations, but in reality it only has the instrumental reading, that which is used to cook. As Kiparsky ( 1982) has noted, the agentive reading is already present in the simple nominal cook (one who cooks), hence cooker is blocked from taking on this meaning. But, because the -er suffix has the second, instrumental reading, the nominal nevertheless occurs in the language with that reading. In other words, cooker is blocked by the existence of the simple nominal cook, but the second, instrumental reading allows the nominal to fit into another slot, the one for the instrumental reading, making it possible to enter the permanent lexicon with this reading and in turn to occur in the language. I have so far considered two possibilities for an affix vis-a-vis blocking and occurrence in the language. In the first case which is represented by the English -ity and the Mitla Zapotec causative prefix s-, the affix has just one interpretation such that if a complex word with the affix is blocked, it is unable to be associated with its one possible meaning, hence it does not occur in the language. The second possibility, which is exemplified by the English -er suffix, is that the suffix has two possible interpretations, each interpretation having a semantic slot in the lexicon. If one interpretation is blocked, as in the case of the agentive interpretation of cooker, then the word still fits into the other slot (the Instrumental slot) so that it gets a listing in the permanent lexicon. Let us now consider a third possibility. Suppose that an affix has two possible interpretations just as in the case of -er, but, crucially, only one of the interpretations finds a potential slot in the lexicon, the other being outside the domain of the lexical semantic slots. What we would predict for a complex word with such an affix is the following: if it is not blocked, it is able to enter the permanent lexicon; if it is blocked, it naturally cannot enter the permanent lexicon, but it can occur in the language with the "nonlexical" interpretation. How can we tell

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if such a word is blocked if it occurs in the language anyway? The crucial point here, one to be tested empirically, is that such a blocked word is excluded from the permanent lexicon and, as such, is excluded from lexical processes reserved solely for items in the permanent lexicon. As we shall see, the Japanese causative verb with -( s )ase is an instance of this third possibility. In the next section we turn to a discussion of the Japanese causatives and demonstrate that only those causative verbs that are not blocked-thus can enter the permanent lexiconundergo permanent-lexicon processes.

4.3. PDS AND JAPANESE CAUSATIVES Observe the following three examples, which have the verbs agar 'rise', age 'raise', and the causative form agar-ase 'cause to rise'. (19)

Hanako ga

butai ni agatta. NOM stage to rose 'Hanako rose onto the stage.'

(20)

Hanako/isu o butai ni ageta. Taroo ga NOM chair ACC stage to raised 'Taro raised Hanako/the chair onto the stage.'

(21)

Taroo ga Hanako/*isu o butai ni agar-ase-ta. NOM chair ACC stage to rise-cause-past 'Taro caused Hanako/*the chair to rise onto the stage.'

Agar 'rise' and age 'raise' are a semantically related intransitive-transitive pair; the causative form agar-ase is constructed from the intransitive member of this pair. According to our PDS-hypothesis, these three verbs have the following distribution in the lexicon: (22)

INTR

agar 'rise'

TR age 'raise'

DITR

agar-ase (blocked) We see that the causative form agar-ase is blocked by the existence of the monomorphemic transitive stem age 'raise', yet the causative verb occurs in the language as shown in (22). What licenses the occurrence of agar-ase despite its being blocked? Based on our previous discussion of blocking, we predict that the blocked causative verb agar-ase occurs in the language because it can be associated with a meaning regardless of its blocked status. In order to isolate this meaning avail-

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able to the blocked causative verb, let us compare (20) and (21 ). In (20), which has the simple transitive verb age 'raise', the object of the verb can ~ither be animate (Hanako) or inanimate (isu 'chair'), whereas the object in (21) with the causative verb agar-ase can only be animate (cf. Shibatani, 1973). Intuitively, the causative verb does not allow an inanimate object because the referent of the object (Hanako) is understood to have "risen onto the stage" of her own accord, and the causer, Taroo, caused this to happen indirectly. The object cannot be an inanimate item such as isu 'chair' because a chair cannot rise onto a stage of its own accord. In contrast, the simple transitive sentence in (20) allows an inanimate object. This is acceptable because the transitive verb does not imply that the referent of the object rose onto the stage of its/her own accord, rather, the causer, Taroo, directly caused this to happen. I use the term "analytical causative" to refer to causative verbs, such as agar-ase in (21), that have the indirect causative interpretation, and the term "lexical causative" to refer to a verb, such as age 'raise' in (20), that have the direct causative interpretation. To return to the question posed earlier about the meaning of a blocked causative verb, we can now state that it is the availability of the analytical causative interpretation that allows such a verb to occur in the language. The distinction between analytical and lexical causatives becomes clearer if we place an instrumental phrase such as ita o tukatte 'by using a board' in (20) and (21 ). (23)

Taroo ga ita o tukatte Hanako/isu o butai ni ageta. NOM board ACC using chair ACC stage on raised 'Taro raised Hanako/chair onto the stage by using a board.'

(24)

Taroo ga ita o tukatte Hanako/*isu o butai ni agar-ase-ta. rise-cause-past 'Taro caused Hanako/the chair to rise onto the stage by using a board.'

The most straightforward interpretation of the lexical causative in (23) is that Taro physically raised Hanako or the chair onto the stage by using a board. In the analytical causative, on the other hand, this direct, physical causative interpretation is not available, but rather Taro somehow used a board to indirectly cause Hanako to rise onto the stage, for example, by threatening her with the board. 4.3. I. Causatives and the Permanent Lexicon I have isolated the analytical causative interpretation as the meaning associated with causatives regardless of whether the verb is blocked. Consequently, this available meaning allows a blocked causative to occur in the language. The next step is to see if a blocked causative with this meaning enters the permanent lexi-

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con in the same way that cooker is able to do so through the instrumental slot despite being blocked from the agentive nominal slot by the existence of cook. If we find evidence that a blocked causative verb indeed enters the permanent lexicon, this is an indication that the lexicon has an analytical causative slot into which such a verb can fit, thus licensing its entry into the permanent lexicon. If on the other hand, no such evidence is found, we can conclude that the lexicon lacks the analytical causative slot, so that a blocked causative occurs in the language without ever being registered in the permanent lexicon. I argue that the latter accurately describes the blocked causatives in Japanese. Since all, or virtually all, possible causative forms with -(s)ase occur in the language with the analytical causative interpretation, it would not be possible to distinguish the blocked from the unblocked causative verbs-if indeed such a distinction exists-just by looking at these verbs. In order to empirically test the hypothesis that blocked causatives behave differently from unblocked ones, we must find relevant lexical processes that discriminate between the two. A natural place to look is processes associated solely with lexical items in the permanent lexicon, because the crucial difference between blocked and unblocked causatives is that only the latter successfully receive listing in the permanent lexicon and thus are available for lexical processes in this domain. To seek these permanent-lexicon processes, we should look at relevant lexical items known to exist in the permanent lexicon. The most obvious set of verbs that qualify are verb stems, because verb stems by nature automatically receive a PDS-slot and thus enter the permanent lexicon. If I can demonstrate that the same permanentlexicon processes that apply to verb stems also apply only to unblocked causative verbs, this would constitute strong support for the hypothesis that only unblocked causative verbs enter the permanent lexicon. In what follows, I present three permanent-lexicon processes, idiomatization, nominalization and adversity interpretation, that apply to verb stems and also to unblocked, but not blocked, causative verbs.

4.3.1.1.

IDIOMATIZATION

There are a large number of idioms in Japanese made up of a nominal and a verb. In these idioms, semantic drift has occurred that gives the phrase a nonliteral meaning. For example, the verb stem migak 'polish' has the literal meaning indicated; it is used in describing an act of polishing surfaces usually to obtain a shinier finish. This verb stem has undergone a semantic drift in the idiom ude o migak 'improve one's skill' (lit. 'polish one's arms'); we can see that the semantic drift affects not only the verb but also the nominal ude 'arms'. Other examples of idioms with a verb stem are mimi ni ire 'inform' (lit. 'put [some-

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thing] in the ear'), ude ga nar 'be itching for' (lit. 'one's arm rings'), and seki o aratame 'hold another meeting' (lit. 'renew the chair/seat'). 4 Idioms by nature must be listed in the permanent lexicon with their nonliteral interpretations. In other words, an idiom must be learned as a whole with the idiosyncratic meaning since we cannot derive the idiosyncratic meaning from the parts that constitute the idiom. Because an idiom must be a part of the permanent lexicon, it is reasonable to assume that every part of the idiom must independently be part of the permanent lexicon. That is, idiomatization can only draw from the class of lexical items already available in the permanent lexicon in order to form a larger, "phrasal" permanent-lexicon entry. Verb stems are by far the most common type of verb found in idioms, but there are a fair number of idioms constructed with causative verbs. As demonstrated in Miyagawa (1980, 1984), the causative verbs that have undergone semantic drift correspond precisely to those that can enter the PDS. Example (25) is from Miyagawa (1980). (25)

Taroo ga zisyoku o niow-ase-ta. NOM resignation ACC smell-cause-past 'Taro hinted at resignation (that he might resign).' Lit. 'Taroo caused resignation to smell.'

(26) *Zisyoku ga niou. resignation NOM smells 'Resignation smells.'

The idiomatic nature of the causative verb niow-ase ('hint', lit. 'cause to smell') in (25) is illustrated by the absence of the idiomatic reading for the verb stem alone in (26); the verb stem is solely associated with the literal meaning 'smell'. The idiomatic meaning is therefore associated solely with the causative verb, and the causative verb thus has an entry in the permanent lexicon. As shown in (27), this characterization is in accordance with the assumption about the PDS and the permanent lexicon. (27)

INTR

TR

niow 'smell'

niow-ase 'hint'

DITR

The intransitive verb niow 'smell' lacks a simple transitive counterpart, hence its causative version, niow-ase, is able to fill the transitive slot of the PDS, in turn becoming a member of the permanent lexicon. Zenno ( 1985), using a variety of idioms, has tested the hypothesis that only unblocked causative verbs can appear in an idiom. His findings match precisely the prediction made by the PDS: causative verbs that appear in idioms are the unblocked ones. If a simple verb stem appears, the causative verb that competes

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for the same PDS-slot as the stem never appears in an idiom. The former is illustrated by the idiom in (28) and the latter is exemplified in (29). (28)

kao o aw-ase-ru face ACC put together-cause 'meet' (The intransitive verb aw does not have a simple transitive counterpart.)

(29)

de 'go out', das 'take/put out' ago o dasu/*de-sase-ru chin ACC put out/go out-cause 'be done in'

In (28) the causative verb aw-ase 'put together' is formed from the intransitive stem aw, which lacks a simple transitive counterpart. Aw-ase therefore fits into the transitive slot of the PDS and gains entry into the permanent lexicon, in turn licensing the causative verb to participate in idiomatization. In (29), the idiom ago o das, which has the transitive stem das 'take/put out', cannot alternatively accept the causative verb de-sase 'cause to go out' because the causative verb is blocked by the simple transitive das. The following examples of unblocked causative verbs and idioms are from Zenno (1985; pp. 25-33). (30)

Intransitive Stem a. aw 'become together' (no relevant idiom)

b. her 'lesson hara ga her stomach NOM lesson 'get hungry' c. kagayak 'shine' me ga kagayak eyes NOM shine 'look excited' d. hikar 'shine' me ga hikar eyes NOM shine 'be under a watchful eye' e. kik 'effective' haba ga kik width NOM be effective 'have influence with'

Causative aw-ase tikara o aw-ase power ACC put together 'pull together' her-ase hara o her-ase stomach ACC lesson-cause 'wait for a meal' kagayak-ase me o kagayak-ase eyes ACC shine-cause 'keep a watchful eye on' hikar-ase me o hikar-ase eyes ACC shine-cause 'keep a watchful eye' kik-ase kik-ase haba o width ACC be effective-cause 'influence'

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f. nirami ga

kik glare NOM be effective 'have much authority over' g. sak 'bloom' hana ga sak flower NOM bloom 'be done heatedly' h. sum 'clear' (no relevant idiom)

1.

uk 'float' kosi ga uk waist NOM float 'be restless'

nirami o kik-ase glare ACC be effective-cause 'exercise much authority over' sak-ase hana o sak-ase flower ACC bloom-cause 'engage in heatedly' sum-ase mimi o sum-ase ear ACC clear-cause 'listen intently' uk-ase kosi o uk-ase waist ACC float-cause 'do restlessly'

The examples of blocked causative verbs in (31) are also from Zenno (1985). (31) Intransitive Stem a. de 'come out' sei ga de energy NOM come out 'do diligently' b. hair 'come in' kiai ga hair spirit NOM come out 'be full of spirit' c. kakar 'splash on' hakusya ga kakar spur NOM splash on 'spur on' d. (no relevant idiom)

e. migaki ga

kakar polish NOM splash on 'acquire a polish' f. kaer 'return' (no relevant idiom)

Transitive Stem das 'put out' sei o das energy ACC put out 'do diligently' ire 'put in' kiai o ire spirit ACC put in 'put spirit into' kake 'splash on' hakusya o kake spur ACC splash on 'spur on' kama o kake sickle ACC splash on 'trick someone into (confessing)' migaki o kake polish ACC put on 'give a polish' kaes 'return' tenoura o kaes palm ACC return 'do all at once'

Causative de-sase *sei o de-sase

hair-ase *kiai o hair-ase

kakar-ase * hakusya o kakar-ase

* kama o kak-ase

* migaki o kakar-ase

kaer-ase *tenoura o kaer-ase

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g. kire 'be cut' (no relevant idiom)

h. koe 'become rich' (no relevant idiom)

kuwawar 'join' te ga kuwawar hand NOM join 'be altered' j. itam 'ache' mune ga itam heart NOM ache 'be worried' k. nar 'become' (no relevant idiom) 1.

I. ore 'break' hone ga ore bone NOM break 'require hard work'

kir 'cut' zibara o kir my stomach ACC cut 'pay out of one's own pocket' koyas 'enrich' sihuku o koyas my stomach ACC enrich 'line one's own nest' kuwae 'add' te o kuwae hand ACC add 'alter' itame 'hurt' mune o itame heart ACC hurt 'worry oneself' nas 'make' omoki o nas weight ACC make 'have influence' or 'break' hone o or bone ACC break 'exert oneself'

kire-sase *zibara o kire-sase

koe-sase *sihuku o koe-sase

kuwawar-ase *te o kuwawar-ase

itam-ase *mune o itam-ase

nar-ase *omoki o nar-ase

ore-sase *hone o ore-sase

These data clearly attest that a causative verb participates in idioms only if it is not blocked and hence is able to enter the permanent lexicon [as in (30)]. If it is blocked [as in (31)], it cannot participate in idiomatization or, for that matter, any type of semantic drift on its own. As predicted, the only possible meaning that such a causative verb can have is the compositional (that is, predictable) meaning, which is the analytical causative interpretation.

4.3.1.2.

NOMINALIZATION

There are a large number of nominals that exhibit a simple verb stem in their forms. The nominal can simply be a nominalized verbal infinitive, as in hare 'clear weather' (hare 'to clear up'), tanomi 'request' (tanom 'to request'), and amari 'remainder' (amar 'to remain'), or it can be a compound composed of a verbal infinitive and a noun, as in tabe-mono 'food' (tabe 'to eat'; mono 'thing'), nori-mono (nor 'to ride'), and tate-mono 'building (late 'to build'). Because all

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verb stems have a PDS-slot to fill and enter the permanent lexicon, the existence of these nominals suggests that this process is one reserved for the permanent lexicon. There are also nominals that exhibit the causative form, and, as predicted, the causative verb that participates in nominalization is not blocked by the existence of a simple verb stem. The following are five "causative" nominals and, for each, the PDS of the causative verb. (32)

sir-ase 'notice' (sir 'to know')

INTR

(33)

(34)

(35)

DITR

sir 'know'

sir-ase 'cause to know'

aw-ase 'garment' (aw 'to fit')

DITR

INTR

TR

aw 'fit'

aw-ase 'cause to fit'

asob-ase-uta 'children's song' (asob 'play'; uta 'song')

INTR

TR

asob 'play'

asob-ase 'cause to play'

DITR

kuw-ase-mono 'fake' (kuw 'to receive harm')

INTR

(36)

TR

TR kuw 'receive harm'

DITR kuw-ase 'cause to receive harm'

iya-gar-ase 'harassment' (iya-gar 'to be bothered')

INTR

TR

DITR

iya-gar 'be bothered'

iya-gar-ase 'cause to be bothered'

As shown, the causative verbs that participate in nominalization are those that enter a slot in the PDS.

4.3. 1.3. Adversity Causative Oehrle and Nishio (1981) point out that a simple transitive verb such as presented in (37) has (at least) two interpretations.

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(37)

Taroo ga ie o yaita. NOM house ACC burned 'Taro burned his house (intentionally or otherwise).' 'Taro's house burned, and he was adversely affected by this event (although he did not cause the burning, intentionally or otherwise).'

·oehrle and Nishio call this second interpretation an "adversity causative." They point out that a causative construction can also be associated with this adversity causative interpretation, but there is one condition: a causative construction has this interpretation only if it lacks a simple verb with the corresponding meaning (1981, p. 168). For example, kusar-ase 'cause to rot' can be associated optionally with the adversity interpretation because there is no corresponding simple transitive for kusar 'rot'. (38)

Taroo ga yasai o kusar-ase-ta. NOM vegetable ACC rot-cause 'Taro caused the vegetable to rot.' 'The vegetable rotted on Taro.'

But sizum-ase 'cause to sink', which has the corresponding simple transitive sizume 'sink', only has the analytical causative meaning. (39)

a. Taroo ga

hune o sizumeta. NOM boat ACC sank 'Taro sank the boat.' 'The boat sank on Taro.' hune o sizum-ase-ta. b. Taroo ga NOM boat ACC sink-cause-past 'Taro caused the boat to sink.' * 'The boat sank on Taro.'

We can surmise from these facts that the association of the adversity causative reading is achieved in the permanent lexicon. If a causative verb successfully enters the permanent lexicon, and the meaning and the pragmatics are appropriate (cf. Oehrle and Nishio, 1981), the causative verb optionally takes on this adversity interpretation. Otherwise, it is limited to the straightforward analytical causative interpretation. The following are other examples that further support this correlation between the adversity causative interpretation and blocking [(40) and (41) are from Oehrle and Nishio 1981]: (40)

Unblocked Causative Verbs Taroo ga kaisya o toosans-ase-ta. NOM company ACC bankrupt-cause-past 'Taro caused the company to go bankrupt.' 'The company went bankrupt, and Taro was adversely affected by this event (although he did not intentionally cause this event).'

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INTR

TR

DITR

toosans 'go bankrupt' toosans-ase 'cause to go bankrupt' (41)

(42)

Hahaoya ga kodomo o sin-ase-ta. mother NOM child ACC die-cause-past 'The mother caused the child to die.' 'The child died, and the mother was adversely affected.' INTR

TR

sin 'die'

sin-ase 'cause to die'

DITR

Blocked Causatives a. Boku wa dekinai gakusei o toosita. I TOP poor student ACC passed 'I passed a poor student.' •A poor student passed, and I was adversely affected.' b. Boku wa dekinai gakusei o toor-ase-ta. I TOP poor student ACC pass-cause-past 'I caused a poor student to pass.' *•A poor student passed, and I was adversely affected.'

INTR

TR

toor 'pass'

toos 'pass'

DITR

toor-ase (blocked) (43)

a. Boku wa kodomo o gake kara otosita. I TOP child ACC cliff from dropped 'I dropped the child from the cliff.' 'The child dropped from the cliff, and I was adversely affected.' b. Boku wa kodomo o gake kara oti-sase-ta. I TOP child ACC cliff from drop-cause-past 'I caused the child to drop from the cliff.' * 'The child dropped from the cliff, and I was adversely affected.'

INTR oti 'drop'

TR

DITR

otos 'drop' oti-sase (blocked)

(44)

a. Kotosi wa dekinai gakusei o fuyasita. this year TOP poor students ACC increased 'This year, (we) increased the (number of) poor students.' 'This year, the (number of) poor students increased, and (we) were adversely affected by it.'

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4.3 PDS and Japanese Causatives

b. Kotosi wa dekinai gakusei o hue-sase-ta. this year TOP poor students ACC increase-cause-past 'This year, we caused the (number of) poor students to increase;' * 'This year, the (number of) poor students increased, and (we) were adversely affected by it.' INTR

TR

hue 'increase'

huyas 'increase'

DITR

hue-sase (blocked)

4.3.2. Summary In this section, I showed that the PDS and blocking are pertinent to the Japanese causative despite the fact that virtually all possible causatives occur in the language. Using data from idiomatization, nominalization, and association with adversity causative interpretation, I showed that these phenomena, which are observable in simple verb stems, also apply to causative verbs that are not blocked, suggesting that these, but not the blocked ones, enter the permanent lexicon by entering a PDS slot. The blocked causatives do not undergo any of these permanent-lexicon processes, yet they still occur in the language because the analytical causative interpretation is available to all causatives regardless of blocking. This interpretation is an inherent meaning of the causative morpheme -( s )ase. The fact that the analytical causative interpretation associated with blocked (and unblocked) causatives does not allow the causative to enter the permanent lexicon on the basis of that meaning is an indication that the lexicon does not have semantic slots for analytical causatives. What this suggests in turn is that those causatives that successfully enter the permanent lexicon do so as lexical causatives, very much like simple transitive or ditransitive verbs. The PDS in fact predicts this, because the PDS-slots are set up for simple verbs, including monomorphemic lexical causatives such as age 'raise' and das 'take out'. If instead of a simple lexical causative, we find a morphologically complex causative fitting into one of these slots, it has done so as a lexical, and not an analytical, causative. I further demonstrate this point in the next section. One point to note about the PDS with regard to idiomatization is the ability of this hypothesis to predict which lexical items will participate in idiomatization. The idioms that I listed are actual attested idioms simply because a new idiom cannot be constructed'"on the spot for the sake of a linguistic argument. An idiom is by nature idiosyncratic, hence we cannot predict for some hypothetical idiom what kind of meaning it will acquire. This is a matter that concerns not only the lexical items that constitute an idiom. Contextual and social factors also play a part. Still, with the PDS hypothesis, we are not completely powerless in predicting idiosyncrasies in the lexicon. Although there is no way to predict how a lexical item might become idiosyncratic, the PDS-hypothesis predicts

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which items have the potential of undergoing semantic drift and idiomatization, namely, those that are registered in the permanent lexicon. There is no guarantee, of course, that every item identified by the PDS as registered will eventually appear in an idiom, but at least we know that this set of lexical items is the only set from which idiomatization can draw to form new idioms. In this way, the PDS imposes some order and predictability on a common form of idiosyncrasy in natural language. In the next section, I continue the discussion of blocking with an examination of some causative verbs that fail to occur in Japanese.

4.4. NONOCCURRING CAUSATIVE VERBS AND BLOCKING In the preceding section we saw that a causative verb can occur in the language even if it is blocked. If a causative verb is blocked by the existence of a morphologically simpler form, that causative verb still gets a semantic interpretation, namely, the analytical causative interpretation. This causative interpretation allows the verb to occur, though it is incapable of participating in permanentlexicon processes such as idiomatization and nominalization. In this section, I present cases of causative verbs that do not occur in the language. For example, the intransitive verb wak 'boil' does not give rise to *wakase 'cause to boil', nor does the intransitive verb kawak 'dry' give rise to *kawak-ase 'cause to dry' (Shibatani, 1973). These contrast with intransitive verbs such as kusar 'rot' and niow 'smell', which have the causative counterparts kusar-ase 'cause to rot' and niow-ase 'cause to smell'. I attribute the nonoccurrence of *wak-ase 'cause to boil', *kawak-ase 'cause to dry', and other such forms to blocking. Indeed, *wak-ase and *kawak-ase compete for the same PDS-slot with simple transitives wakas 'boil' and kawakas 'dry', while the intransitive verbs that give rise to possible causative verbs (e.g. kusar 'spoil', niow 'smell') do not have a simple transitive counterpart. 5 At first blush, the unacceptability of blocked causative verbs such as * wak-ase 'cause to boil' appears to contradict our earlier assumption that blocking per se does not entail nonoccurrence. I maintain this assumption, however, and show that the blocking of * wak-ase leads it to semantic incongruity. This incongruity, in relation to the ergative hypothesis defended in chapter 3, is ultimately responsible for the verb's nonoccurrence. In looking at these nonoccurring causative verbs, I shall support the earlier point that the causative morpheme -( s )ase has both lexical and analytical causative interpretations. It has been demonstrated that a blocked causative only has the analytical interpretation. In this section, we shall see that an unblocked causative that successfully enters the permanent lexicon must do so as a lexical causative, though the analytical causative interpretation is also available to each

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of these verbs. An unblocked causative verb has two "existences," one as a lexical causative, which is its "existence" within the permanent lexicon, the other as an analytical causative, which is its existence outside of the permanent lexicon.

4.4.1. The Agent Thematic Role and Causativization In the earliest in-depth study of the Japanese causative construction, Shibatani (1973) notes a number of V-sase verbs that are outright ungrammatical. The following examples are from his work (p. 330): (45) *Taroo ga isu o taore-sase-ta. NOM chair ACC fall down-cause-past 'Taro caused the chair to fall down.' (46)

Taroo ga Ziroo o taore-sase-ta. NOM ACC fall down-cause-past 'Taro caused Jiro to fall down.'

These two examples are identical except in the direct object. In (45), which is ungrammatical, the causee is the inanimate object isu 'chair', while in the grammatical sentence in (46), the causee is the animate object Ziroo. Shibatani uses the contrast between these two examples to argue that "sase requires an animate subject in the embedded sentence ... that [does] something" (p. 330). This is precisely the description of an analytical causative, which has the interpretation that the causee carries out the act of his/her own accord, and the causer somehow licenses this. If taore-sase 'cause to fall' in (45) has only this interpretation, we can easily rule out the sentence because the causee, isu 'chair', being inanimate, cannot "fall on its own accord." There is one problem with this solution. As shown in (47), the noncausative counterpart, taore 'fall', allows either an animate or an inanimate subject. (47)

Ziroolisu ga taoreta. chair NOM fell 'Jiro/the chair fell.'

With the animate subject Ziroo the interpretation here is either that Jiro fell on his own accord or that he fell owing to some external force. If the inanimate subject isu 'chair' occurs, only the second interpretation is possible. Based on this observation, there is no reason why the causative counterpart, taore-sase, should not have both of these possibilities for the causee, but in reality, the causative verb has only the analytical causative interpretation as evidenced by the unacceptability of (45), which has an inanimate causee. The solution is found in the PDS and the phenomenon of blocking. Recall that a blocked causative verb is solely associated with the analytical causative inter-

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pretation. As it turns out, taore-sase competes with a simple transitive stem, taos 'push down', so that the causative verb is blocked. As shown in (48) and (49), taos can take either an animate or an inanimate object because the verb is a lexical, not analytical, causative. (48)

Taroo ga isu o taosi-ta. 'Taro pushed down the chair.'

(49)

Taroo ga Ziroo o taosi-ta. 'Taro pushed down Jiro.'

It is therefore not enough to stipulate that the causee of the causative verb taore-sase must be understood to "do something," as Shibatani has claimed, because taore-sase in itself has the potential to be either an analytical or a lexical causative. To correctly prohibit the latter from being associated with the verb, we must appeal to the PDS and blocking. The simple transitive taos 'push down' is a lexical causative, thus we would expect its object to have the Theme role. But the causee of taore-sase 'cause to fall' has another thematic role, in all probability the Agent, because the verb is strictly an analytical causative. In fact, the "intransitivizing stative" test, introduced in chapter 2, demonstrates the "Themehood" of the object of the simple transitive taos 'push down' and the "nonthemehood" of the causee of taoresase. This test identifies the object of a verb with the Theme role if the object can occur in the subject position of the intransitivizing stative construction -te aru. (50)

a. Ziroo ga taosite aru. NOM push down 'Jiro has been pushed down.' b. lsu ga taosite aru. chair NOM push down 'The chair has been pushed down.'

(51) *Ziroo ga

taore-sase-te aru.

NOM fall down-cause 'Jiro has been caused to fall down.' The fact that the intransitivizing stative examples in (50) are grammatical is witness to the Themehood of the original object of taos 'push down'. Example (50a) may sound slightly awkward to some speakers, but this is due to pragmatic factors. If we imagine that the topic of (50a) has to do with martial arts, a number of contexts come to mind that would make this sentence acceptable. (50a) is certainly in sharp contrast to (51), which is hopeless. This is evidence that the thematic role associated with the object of taore-sase 'cause to fall down' is not a Theme.

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Let us recapitulate what we have seen thus far. The intransitive verb taore 'fall down' can apparently assign either the Agent or the Theme role to its subject, as shown in (47), and repeated here as (52). (52)

Ziroo!isu ga taoreta. chair NOM fell •Jiro/the chair fell.'

If isu 'chair' is the subject, the interpretation is that some external force influenced the action of falling (Theme). If, instead, Ziroo is the subject, there are two possible interpretations, one similar to what we just saw with isu 'chair', the other where Ziroo is the agent of the action. In the former, Ziroo is associated with the thematic role Theme but, in the latter, Ziroo is associated with the thematic role Agent. In the former, the verb is ergative, but, in the latter, it is unergative. Although both of these interpretations exist for the intransitive verb, the causative transitive allows only the Agent for its causee because the causative verb taore-sase is blocked by the existence of the simple transitive taos 'push down', leaving the causative solely with the analytical causative interpretation, which requires Agent for its causee. The following are other examples similar to taore-sase 'cause to fall'. The intransitive verb in each case allows both the Agent and the Theme role for its subject. Also, it has a simple transitive counterpart, so the causative verb made from it is blocked by the transitive stem.

(53)

agaru/ageru 'rise/raise' a. Taroo!fuusen ga tukue no ue ni agatta. balloon NOM desk GEN above rose 'Taro/the balloon rose on the top of the desk.' b. Hanako ga Taroo!*fuusen o tukue no ue ni agar-ase-ta. NOM balloon ACC desk GEN above rise-cause-past 'Hanako caused Taro/*the balloon to rise on the top of the desk.'

(54)

otirulotosu 'drop/drop' a. Taroolisi ga gake kara otita. rock NOM cliff from dropped 'Taro/the rock dropped from the cliff.' b. Hanako ga Taroo!*isi o gake kara oti-sase-ta. NOM rock ACC cliff from drop-cause-past 'Hanako caused Taro/*the rock to drop from the cliff.'

(55)

sizumulsizumeru 'sink/sink' ga puuru no soko made sizunda. rock NOM pool GEN bottom to sank 'Taro/the rock sank to the bottom of the pool.'

a. Taroo!isi

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b. Hanako ga

NOM sizum-ase-ta.

Tarool*isi o puuru no soko made rock ACC pool GEN bottom to

sink-cause-past 'Hanako caused Taro/*the rock to sink to the bottom of the pool.' (56)

arawarerularawasu 'appear/display' a. Taroolmoyoo ga arawareta. pattern NOM appeared 'Taro/a pattern appeared.' b. Hanako ga Tarool*moyoo o araware-sase-ta. NOM pattern ACC appear-cause-past •Hanako caused Taro/* a pattern to appear.'

(57)

tikazukultikazukeru 'approach/make be near' a. Taroolsimekiri ga tikazuita. deadline NOM approached 'Taro/the deadline approached.' b. Hanako ga Tarool* simekiri o tikazuke-sase-ta. NOM deadline ACC approach-cause-past 'Hanako caused Taro/*the deadline to approach.'

Each of the (a) examples has an intransitive verb that has a simple transitive counterpart. The intransitive verb assigns to its subject either the Agent or the Theme role. The (b) examples demonstrate that the causative counterpart of the intransitive verb, which is blocked by the existence of the simple transitive verb, allows only the Agent role on the causee. The (b) examples are grammatical with the animate causee because the causative verb is strictly an analytical causative. An inanimate causee would be incongruous with this interpretation because an inanimate causee cannot be understood to carry out an action on its own accord.

4.4.2. Nonoccurring Causative Verbs I am now ready to deal with those causative verbs such as *wak-ase 'cause to boil' and *kawak-ase 'cause to dry' that do not occur in the language. The following are examples with these causatives and also with *ware-sase 'cause to break'. (58)

waklwakas 'boil/boil' a. Mizu ga waita. water NOM boiled 'Water is boiling.'

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b. *Taroo ga

mizu o wak-ase-ta. NOM water ACC boil-cause-past 'Taro boiled some water.'

(59)

kawakulkawakas 'dry/dry' a. Taoru/*Taroo ga kawaita. towel NOM dried 'The towel/*Taro has dried.' b. *Hanako ga Tarooltaoru o kawak-ase-ta. NOM towel ACC dry-cause-past 'Hanako caused Taro/the towel to dry.'

(60)

wareru/waru 'break/break' a. Saral*Kodomo ga wareta. plate/child NOM broke 'The plate/*the child broke.' b. *Hanako ga sara/ kodomo o ware-sase-ta. NOM plate child ACC break-cause-past 'Hanako caused the child/the plate to break.'

The crucial point to note concerns the (a) examples; as shown, the intransitive verbs wak 'boil', kawak 'dry', and ware 'break' only allow an inanimate subject, indicating that the verb only assigns the Theme role, not the Agent, to its subject. In other words, these are strictly ergative verbs. This contrasts with intransitive verbs such as taore 'fall', which assigns either the Agent or the Theme role. As shown in the (b) examples, the causative verbs are outright ungrammatical regardless of the type of causee. In other words, these causative verbs do not occur. The reason for the nonoccurrence of these causatives has to do with blocking, though blocking per se does not exclude these verbs from the language. These causative verbs are blocked, thus unable to enter the permanent lexicon, by the existence of the simple transitive verbs. This leaves the causative with only one semantic option, that of being an analytical causative, and therein lies the problem. As we saw in the (a) examples, the intransitive verbs are strictly ergative verbs, hence they do not assign the Agent role to its subject but rather only the Theme role. The subject here corresponds to the causee of the causative counterpart; in other words, the causee can only have the Theme role. But in order for the causative to be an analytical causative, which is the only option open for these causatives, its causee must have the Agent role in order to implement the interpretation that the causee "does something on its own accord." Consequently, there is a semantic incongruity between a causee that can only have the Theme role (because of the ergative stem) and the causative verb that requires the Agent role.

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There is no way to resolve this incongruity, hence the causative verb cannot occur in the language. Every nonoccurring causative has these two features: it is blocked, and its verb stem is ergative. I underscore the point that blocking alone is not responsible for the nonoccurrence of these causative verbs. Blocking simply forces the causative to become strictly an analytical causative, which per se is not a problem given that this is an inherent meaning of the causative morpheme -(s)ase. The real villain is the ergative stem, which does not cooperate by assigning the necessary Agent role but instead only assigning the Theme role to the causee. I now look at causatives that are similar to those just discussed but that actually occur in the language. Observe the following examples ((61) and (62)] from Shibatani, 1973, p. 331:

a. Yasai

(61)

ga kusaru. vegetable NOM rot 'The vegetable rots.' b. Taroo ga yasai o kusar-ase-ta. NOM vegetable ACC rot-cause-past 'Taro caused the vegetable to rot.'

(62)

a. Hana ga saku. flower NOM bloom 'The flower blooms.' b. Taroo ga hana o sak-ase-ta. NOM flower ACC bloom-cause-past 'Taro caused the flower to bloom.'

(63)

a. Nanika

ga niou. something NOM smell •Something smells.' b. Taroo ga nanika o niow-ase-ta. NOM something ACC smell-cause-past 'Taro caused something to smell.'

Shibatani attempts to account for these grammatical causative verbs in a way compatible with his assertion, noted earlier, that the causee "does something." He suggests that even though these intransitive verbs are "not action verbs, ... [the causees] have their own 'force' or potential to initiate the process" (1973, p. 331). Take, for example, (62a). Although the subject, hana 'flower', is not an Agent, according to Shibatani it has an inherent "potential" to bring about the process of "blooming." Because of this, the causative counterpart in (62b) is grammatical despite the fact that the causee is not associated with an Agent role. It is possible that these "nonagentive" intransitive verbs that give rise to grammatical causative verbs might form a semantic class, as suggested by Shibatani.

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139

But we still cannot accept Shibatani's account of these grammatical causative constructions. Foremost, it is difficult, if not impossible, to formalize the notion "own force" or "potential"; we cannot, for example, formulate an operational test that would isolate only these verbs. One might say that only those verbs that allow the causative construction belong to this class but that would be blatantly circular. Second, despite Shibatani's attempt to characterize the causee in these causative verbs as Agentlike in having some inherent "force," the intransitivizing stative test reveals that the thematic role associated with the "causee" is an ordinary Theme. (64)

Hana ga sak-ase-te aru. flower NOM bloom-cause 'The flower has been caused to bloom.'

(65)

Yasai ga kusar-ase-te aru. vegetable NOM rot-cause 'The vegetable has been caused to rot.'

(66)

Nanika ga niow-ase-te aru. something NOM smell-cause 'Something has been caused to smell.'

These acceptable intransitivizing stative sentences attest that the causee of the causative verb has the Theme role. Consequently, there is no basis for suggesting that the thematic role here is Agentlike. We can give a straightforward account of these acceptable causative verbs based on the PDS and blocking. Like the nonoccurring causative verbs that we saw earlier, the stems of these verbs are strictly ergative verbs. Unlike the nonoccurring causative verbs, these causative verbs do not compete in each instance with a simple transitive verb, so they are able to fit into a PDS-slot. Because these are not blocked, they are not required to solely take on the analytical causative interpretation. Rather, they can also take on the other possible meaning of the causative morpheme -(s)ase, that of lexical causative. We can in fact make this statement stronger. If a causative verb fits into a PDS-slot and becomes a member of the permanent lexicon, it must take on the lexical causative interpretation since the lexicon has no slots for analytical causatives. Since these acceptable causatives are lexical causatives, the causee must in fact be associated with the Theme role, as opposed to the Agent role. As we saw in (61)-(63), this thematic role is indeed the only role that the causative verb can assign to the causee because the intransitive stem is strictly an ergative verb and not also an unergative verb. The chart in (67) summarizes what we have seen for the occurring and nonoccurring causatives formed from an intransitive stem. It tabulates blocked and unblocked causative verbs and their occurrence in language.

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(67)

4. Paradigmatic Structures; Causatives

Intransitive

Transitive

l sak 'bloom' kusar 'rot' niow 'smell' II wak 'boil' kawak 'dry' ware 'break'

III taore 'fall down' oti 'drop' sizum 'sink'

Causative with the intransitive stem sak-ase 'cause to bloom' kusar-ase 'cause to rot' niow-ase •cause to smell'

wakas 'boil' kawakas •dry' war 'break'

*wak-ase 'cause to boil' *kawak-ase 'cause to dry' *ware-sase 'cause to break'

taos 'push down' otos 'drop' sizume 'sink'

*taore-sase /taore-sase *oti-sase/oti-sase *sizum-sase Isizum-ase

The causative verbs in the right column are formed by attaching the causative morpheme -(s)ase to the intransitive stems in the left column. The causative verbs in group I occur while those in group II do not. If we look at the middle column, which lists the transitive stems, we see a direct correlation between the existence of a transitive stem and the nonoccurrence of the causative verb. If no transitive stem exists, as in I, the corresponding causative verb occurs, but if one exists, as in II, the causative verb cannot occur. The causative verbs in both groups assign the Theme role to the causee because the intransitive stem is strictly ergative, hence it can only assign this thematic role. Although the Theme role on the causee is compatible with the unblocked causative verbs in group I, it becomes incongruous with the blocked causatives in II. Blocking forces these causative verbs to limit their meaning to the analytical causative interpretation, which requires an Agent role on the causee. The causative verbs in group III resemble those in group I in that both groups of causatives occur in the language. Unlike I, however, we see that the causative verbs in III are blocked by the existence of a transitive stem. By this fact alone, we would expect these causatives not to occur in the language, in the same way that the blocked causatives in II do not. What licenses the occurrence of these causatives has to do with the type of intransitive stem. The intransitive stems in III, such as taore 'fall', can function either as unergative or ergative verbs, hence they can assign one of two thematic roles, Agent and Theme. In the causative construction, the causee can receive either of these thematic roles. Because the causative verb is blocked, it is limited to the analytical causative interpretation, which requires the Agent role on its causee. The intransitive stem within the causative verb can furnish this, so the causative verb can occur with the analytical causative interpretation despite being blocked. What blocking prohibits are those instances in which the causative verbs assign the Theme role to the causee. These causative verbs are "lucky" because the intransitive stems within them have the versatility to assign either the Agent or the Theme role to the

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causee. This contrasts with the intransitive verbs in II, which can only assign the Theme role. As a consequence, their causative counterpart cannot occur.

4.4.3. A Problematic Case I now look at verbs that appear to provide counterevidence to the assumption that only one lexical item is allowed for each PDS-slot. The intransitive stem nuke 'come out' is identical to the verbs in group Ill in (67) in that it allows either an Agent or a Theme subject. (68)

a. Taroo ga

retu kara nuketa. NOM line from came out 'Taro left the line.' b. Turne ga nuketa. fingernail NOM came off 'My fingernail came off.'

(68a) has the agentive interpretation, in which Taro left the line on his own accord, while (68b) clearly has a nonagentive reading because the subject, tume 'fingernail', obviously cannot come off on its own accord. Just as we saw for the causative verbs in Ill in (67), nuke 'come out' is blocked by the existence of the simple transitive nuk 'pull out', so the causative form can only have the analytical causative interpretation. (69)

a. Hanako ga Taroo o retu kara nuke-sase-ta. NOM ACC line from come out-cause-past 'Hanako caused Taro to leave the line.' b. *Taroo ga tume o nuke-sase-ta. NOM fingernail ACC come out-cause-past 'Taro caused his fingernail to come off.'

So far, nuke!nuke-sase appears to be simply another example of the verbs in Ill in (67). As Zenno (1985) notes, however, there is a problem with the simple transitive counterpart of nuke 'come out'. The problem potentially undermines our fundamental assumption that only one lexical item can fit into a PDS-slot. As already noted, the transitive stem nuk 'pull out' corresponds to nuke, and, indeed, we find idioms with this transitive stem, indicating that the stem has PDS-status (1985, p. 35). (70)

iki o nuk breath ACC pull out 'relax'

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4. Paradigmatic Structures; Causatives

te o nuk hand ACC pull out 'cut corners'

The problem here is that there is a second transitive stem, nukas 'leave out/pass', that corresponds in meaning and morphological shape to the intransitive nuke 'come out'. This transitive stem also fits into the PDS as indicated by its appearance in idioms (Zenno, 1985, p. 35). (72)

kosi o nukas waist ACC leave out 'be paralyzed with fright'

(73)

ututu o nukas reality ACC leave out 'be addicted to'

Because both of the transitive stems nuk and nukas have permanent-lexicon status, one potential PDS-distribution is the following: (74)

INTR nuke •come out'

TR nuk 'pull out' nukas 'leave out'

DITR

But to allow two items in one slot, as we have done here, would undermine our assumption that only one item is allowed per slot. If more than one item is indeed allowed, it would make our entire hypothesis about PDS highly questionable because there would no longer be any reason why, for example, a transitive stem and a causative made up from the intransitive stem cannot occupy the same transitive PDS-slot. It would, in other words, force us to abandon the PDS-analysis in this chapter for what are otherwise clear "blocking" phenomena. Zenno ( 1985) avoids this problem by proposing that the two transitive stems nuk and nukas occupy two different PDSs; both have the intransitive stem nuke 'come out' in the intransitive slot. (75)

INTR

nuke 'come out' (76)

TR nuk 'pull out'

INTR

TR

nuke 'come out'

nukas •leave out'

DITR

DITR

He justifies the establishment of these two PDSs on the basis of a difference in the meaning of the two transitive stems. Specifically, the transitive stem nuk has the meaning 'pull out', while the other stem nukas has the meaning 'leave out'. This difference is shown in the following pair of forms from his work:

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(77)

Ken ga

daikon o

nuita

143

!*nukasita.

NOM radish ACC pulled out/left out 'Ken pulled out a radish.' This proposal to allow two PDSs is reasonable and, in fact, the intransitivizing resultative test provides support for it. (78)

a.

Ken ga

daikon o

nuita.

NOM radish ACC pulled out 'Ken pulled out a radish.'

b.

Daikon ga

nui-te aru.

radish NOM pulled out 'Radish has been pulled out.' (79)

a.

Taroo ga

Hanako o

nukasita.

NOM ACC left out 'Taro left out Hanako.'

b. ?*Hanako ga nukasi-te aru. NOM leave out 'Hanako has been left out.' The contrast in grammaticality between the intransitivizing resultative sentences in (78b) and (79b) indicates that the original object of the transitive verb nuk 'pull out' receives the Theme role, whereas the object of nukas 'leave out' does not, thus providing further evidence that these two transitive stems have different semantics. Though the actual identity of the thematic role for the object of nukas is not clear, the intransitivizing stative test at least tells us that it is not the Theme. Inoue (1983, pp. 24-25) provides an example of a "double transitive" stem that parallels what I just noted. The intransitive stem toke 'melt' has the two simple transitive counterparts •tok' 'dissolve' and tokas 'melt'. Inoue points out that tok is appropriate if the referent of the object NP is one that must have some external force to melt, whereas tokas is appropriate if the referent of the object NP naturally undergoes the process of melting. (80)

a. koori o

*toku!tokasu ice ACC dissolve/melt 'melt the ice'

b. tamago o toku!*tokasu egg ACC dissolve/melt 'dissolve the egg' According to Inoue, koori 'ice' is something "that melts naturally," thus tokas is appropriate, whereas tamago 'egg' does not "dissolve/ melt on its own," so tok is appropriate.

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If we apply the intransitivizing stative test to these transitive verbs, the result is identical to what we saw for nukulnukas 'pull out/leave out,' namely, tok 'dissolve' assigns the Theme role to its object whereas tokas 'melt' does not. (81)

Tamago ga toi-te aru. egg NOM dissolve 'The egg has been dissolved.'

(82) *Koori ga

tokasi-te aru. ice NOM melt 'The ice has been melted.'

In both of the transitive pairs tokltokas 'dissolve/melt' and nuklnukas 'pull out/leave out', the stem ending in k assigns the Theme role to its object whereas the stem ending in as does not. As my final point in this chapter, I note that the Theme transitive either can be the "shorter" (i.e., the non-as) stem, as in nuk 'pull out' and tok 'dissolve' or it can be the stem ending in as. The intransitive stem hage 'come off' has the two simple transitive stems hag and hagas, both meaning 'to peel off'. As shown by the intransitivizing resultative test, it is hagas that assigns the Theme role to its object. (83) *Kami ga

hai-de aru. paper NOM peel off 'The paper has been peeled off.'

(84)

Kami ga hagasi-te aru. paper NOM peel off 'The paper has been peeled off.'

This pair of examples shows that it is a matter of idiosyncrasy as to which of the two possible transitive verb stems assigns the Theme role. What is important to note is that we do not find both transitive stems assigning this role, thus the two transitive stems always differ in meaning, in turn justifying the establishment of two separate PDSs for the transitive stems. This enables us to maintain the assumption that only one item is allowed for each PDS-slot.

4.5. SUMMARY In this chapter, I dealt with the morphological aspects of the causative verb. In particular, it was shown that a causative verb is sensitive to whether there is a simple verb stem that corresponds to it in meaning. I captured this by the paradigmatic structure, which allows only those complex verbs that do not have such

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Notes

145

corresponding simple verb stems to enter the permanent lexicon. This interaction between causative verbs and simple verb stems can only be accounted for if the causative verbs are present in the lexicon. This, then, is empirical evidence for the lexical approach to the causative. I further utilized the paradigmatic structure to analyze nonoccurring causative verbs such as * wakas-ase-ru 'make boil'. It was shown that nonoccurrence derives from the interaction of the verb stem, which is ergative, and blocking. In this way, I characterized another instance in which the ergative hypothesis is applicable to Japanese.

NOTES 'This constraint against having two (or more) accusative cases in the same clause is called the Double-a Constraint (Harada, 1973; Shibatani, 1973). As noted in Miyagawa (1986a), this constraint is in essence set up for the transitive-stem causative construction, and is not pertinent once one takes the lexical approach. This is because no verb in Japanese assigns more than one accusative case. In the lexical approach, the complex causative verb simply falls into the category of a "verb." 'See Kitagawa (1986) for other phonological arguments for the lexical analysis. Kitagawa extends the lexical analysis by arguing, for example, that the causative verb, which is built in the lexicon, forms a complex structure at logical form through affix raising (cf. Pesetsky, 1985). Kitagawa 's strategy is to allow for the causative verb to be built in the lexicon, thus dealing with the word properties such as those presented in this chapter. To deal with the syntactic properties, such as those pertaining to reflexive and pronominal interpretation (cf. Kuno, 1973; Miyagawa, 1984; Oshima, 1979), he postulates a complex structure at the level of logical form to account for the "complex-structural" properties of the causative. See Miyagawa (1984) for a different approach to the lexical/syntactic split found for causatives. It is clear that a "pure" lexical approach is, by itself, unable to account for all of the relevant properties of the causative verb. What I am presenting in this chapter are properties of the causative verb that most prominently demonstrate its word status. Whatever approach is ultimately adopted, it must deal with the facts presented in this chapter. 'This information about Mitla Zapotec is from Bruce Miller (personal communication). The transcription is Miller's. I have also used data from Briggs (1961). 4 The idioms cited are from Zenno (1985). 'It is possible that as, occurring in verbs such as wakas 'boil (tr)' and kawakas 'dry', is "the other" causative morpheme -(s)as. In Miyagawa (1980, 1981, 1984), 1 argue that V-sase and V-sas are not stylistic variants but are separate morphemes that compete for the same PDS-slot. If, for example, V-sas enters the PDS, thereby becoming a permanentlexicon member, then the corresponding V-sase is blocked. It is possible that in the two verbs just cited, this is precisely what has happened. See Miyagawa (I 980, 1981, I 984) for detailed discussion of the causative morpheme -(s)as.

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5 A UNIFORM APPROACH TO THE PASSIVE

5.1. INTRODUCTION In chapter 2, I argued for a movement analysis of the direct passive along the lines proposed by Chomsky ( 1981) for the English passive. The passive morpheme -( r )are absorbs the case-assigning property of the transitive verb to which it attaches, and it also suppresses the external (subject) thematic role of the transitive verb. By this analysis, the sentence in (Ia) has the surface structure in (I b ). (I)

a. Taroo ga Hanako ni nagur-are-ta. NOM by hit-PASS-past 'Taro was hit by Hanako.' b. [, Taroo, ga [ vr Hanako ni I; nagur-are-ta II NOM by hit-PASS-past

As shown in (lb), the surface subject Taroo originates in the object position where it receives the internal thematic role from the transitive verb; it moves to the subject position by the general rule of Move-a (Chomsky, 1981; Jaeggli, 1986). If the NP fails to move-application of Move-a is always optional-then the sentence is ill-formed because the NP fails to have case, that is, the passive morpheme absorbs the case-assigning feature of the transitive verb. The particular component of the grammar responsible for blocking this sentence is case theory (Chomsky, I 981; Stowell, 1981 ), whose case filter flags down any sentence containing an overt NP that lacks case. If the NP moves to the subject position, then it automatically receives the nominative case marker ga, allowing the sentence to safely pass the case filter. 147

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This movement analysis finds justification in the following sentence: (2)

Yuube, kuruma ga doroboo ni 3-dai nusum-are-ta. last night cars NOM thief by 3-CL steal-PASS-past 'Last night, three cars were stolen by a thief.'

The NQ 3-dai within the VP is able to modify the subject NP despite the fact that they do not mutually c-command each other. We can account for (2) if we assume that the surface subject begins in the object position and moves to the subject position. The trace left by the NP movement fulfills the mutual c-command requirement with the NQ. The structure is given in (3).

s

(3)

NP;

VP

~ NQ V

I

PP

kuruma ga

t;

~

NP

P

doroboo

ni

I

I

I

3-dai

I

nusum-(r)are

The movement of the object NP to the subject position is owing to the inability of the transitive stem to assign case to the NP. This inability results from one feature of the passive morpheme -( r )are, namely, it absorbs the case-assigning feature of the transitive verb. The other feature of the passive morpheme, that it suppresses the external thematic role of the transitive verb, makes the movement to the subject position possible. The surface subject of the passive verb receives the internal thematic role from the transitive verb while occupying the object position. If the transitive verb were also free to provide its external thematic role, the NP would receive this thematic role after moving to the subject position. The NP would end up with two thematic roles, one it acquires while occupying the object position (the internal role) and the other after it moves to the subject position (the external role). For a NP to have more than one thematic role would violate the biuniqueness requirement imposed by the Theta Criterion (Chomsky, 1981 ), which states that an argument must have one and only one thematic role. Another element of our analysis of the direct passive concerns the Agent NP marked by the particle ni [Hanako ni 'by Hanako' in(!)]. The question here is whether the Agent NP is an argument of the passive verb or simply an adjunct phrase. The choice here has an important consequence for the passive morpheme -( r )are, particularly its property vis-a-vis the external argument of the transitive

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5.1 Introduction

verb. If the agentive phrase is an argument, it would receive the Agent role from the passive verb. To make this possible, we must specify that the passive morpheme -( r )are internalizes the original external thematic role (Agent) of the transitive verb instead of simply suppressing this thematic role. Such an analysis has in fact been proposed for the English passive (Williams 1981 ). By this analysis, the particle ni appears simply to provide case to the agentive phrase. On the other hand, if the agentive phrase is an adjunct, its thematic role of Agent is provided not by the passive verb but instead is provided directly by the particle ni. The particle ni provides both case and thematic role (Agent) to the phrase, very much like a normal postposition such as kara 'from'.' I suggested in chapter 2 that the latter analysis is the correct one, thus supporting the assumption that the passive morpheme suppresses the external thematic role without internalizing it. The crucial evidence for this is found in the impossibility of a NQ to modify the NP in the agentive phrase in direct passives.

tomodati ni 2-ri nagur-are-ta. NOM friends by 2-CL hit-PASS-past 'Taro was hit by two friends.' Cf. Taroo ga 2-ri no tomodati ni nagur-are-ta. NOM 2-CL GEN friends by hit-PASS-past 'Taro was hit by two friends.'

(4) *Taroo ga

This fact parallels the inability of a NQ to modify the object NP of a postposition. This inability stems from the fact that mutual c-command can never obtain between a NQ and the object of a postposition. This leads us to conclude that the particle ni in the direct passive is a postposition that takes the agentive phrase as its object. The agentive phrase therefore receives its thematic role not from the verb but directly from this postposition and is therefore an adjunct phrase. Following Miyagawa (1980), I assume that the passive morpheme is attached to its base in the lexicon. Unlike Miyagawa ( 1980), in which I assumed two different passive morphemes (-(r)are), I present here a "uniform" analysis of the passive that reduces the two types of passive, direct and indirect, to a unitary phenomenon. To make this unification possible, two proposals are made about the passive morpheme -(r)are, both concerning its case-absorbing property. First, the passive morpheme must absorb the case-assigning feature of the verb to which it attaches if the verb has this feature. The passive morpheme can attach to a verb that lacks the case-assigning feature, thus it can attach to an intransitive verb to form an indirect passive. If case absorption were mandatory for all instances of the passive, we would expect, under a uniform analysis, to see the passive morpheme only on transitive verbs, because intransitive verbs by definition do not have the case-assigning feature that can be absorbed. Second, once the passive morpheme absorbs the case-assigning property of a verb, the mor-

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pheme can optionally assign this case to an argument. If it takes the option to assign the absorbed case, the result is the indirect passive, but if it chooses to abstain from assigning the absorbed case, it results in the direct passive. Ultimately, these two assumptions allow us to derive all of the features of direct and indirect passive constructions from independently motivated principles of grammar. I begin with a discussion of a well-known phenomenon associated with the direct passive of causative verbs. In section 2, I present a uniform approach to the passive that unites the direct and the indirect passives. In representing the passive verb, I simply use brackets ([tabe[-rare]] 'eat-PASS') unless a syntactic representation is called for.

5.2. THE STATUS OF THE OBJECT NP IN THE CAUSATIVE-PASSIVE CONSTRUCTION In this section, I further examine the feature of the passive morpheme -( r )are that absorbs the case-assigning property of the transitive verb. In particular, the aim is to show that this feature of the passive morpheme, coupled with a general condition on morphological processes, can account for a well-known phenomenon concerning the object NP of the causative construction. Specifically, the object NP in certain causative constructions cannot be moved to the subject position by passivization. Harada (1973), who first noticed this phenomenon, proposed a global constraint on passivization. I show that the solution derives straightforwardly from our assumptions about the passive morpheme, coupled with independently motivated principles, without making a special stipulation on passivization.

5.2. I. Nonpassivization of Causative Object NPs The causative in Japanese is formed with the bound causative morpheme -( s)ase. (5)

Taroo ga Hanako o ik-ase-ta. NOM ACC go-cause-past 'Taro made Hanako go.'

(6) Taroo ga

yob-ase-ta. Hanako ni Ziroo o NOM DAT ACC call-cause-past 'Taro made Hanako call Jiro.'

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5.2 Object NP in Causative-Passive Construction

In (5), the causative morpheme occurs with the intransitive verb stem ik 'go', whereas it occurs with the transitive verb stem yob 'call' in (6). The case array in (5) is that of a typical transitive construction, and the case array in (6) is that of a typical ditransitive construction. In both, the NP immediately preceding the verb is marked by the accusative case marker o, a sign that both are direct objects of the verb. Despite this identity of grammatical function, the two object NPs behave differently under passivization. (7)

Hanako ga Taroo ni ik-ase-rare-ta. NOM by go-cause-PASS-past 'Hanako was made to go by Taro.'

(8) *Ziroo ga

Taroo ni (yotte) Hanako ni yob-ase-rare-ta. NOM by DAT call-cause-PASS-past 'Jiro was made to call Hanako by Taro.'

Example (8) cannot be excluded by stipulating that the object in ditransitive constructions cannot move to the subject position under passivization. As noted by Kuno (I 973), the object in a noncausative ditransitive construction can move to the subject position when passivized.

(9)

Hanako ni kunsyoo o ataeta. Taroo ga DAT medal ACC gave NOM 'Taro gave a medal to Hanako.'

(10)

Kunsyoo ga Taroo ni (yotte) Hanako ni atae-rare-ta. medal NOM by DAT give-PASS-past 'The medal was given to Hanako by Taro.'

Example (9) is a ditransitive construction with the verb ataeru 'give'. Example ( I0) demonstrates that the object of the verb can move to the subject position under passivization.

5.2.1.1.

HARADA'S GLOBAL CONSTRAINT

Harada (1973) assumes a "transformational" approach to the causative construction. In this approach, the causative morpheme -( s )ase is postulated as an independent "higher" verb in the deep structure. The two causative sentences in (5) and (6), repeated here as (11) and (12), have the deep structures in (13) and (14) respectively. 2 (11)

Taroo ga Hanako o ik-ase-ta. NOM ACC go-cause-past 'Taro made Hanako go.'

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(12)

5. A Uniform Approach to the Passive

yob-ase-ta. Taroo ga Hanako ni Ziroo o ACC call-cause-past NOM DAT 'Taro made Hanako call Jiro.'

s

(13)

VP

NP

I

Taroo

NP

S

V

I~

Hanako

NP

VP

Hanako

V

I

I

sase(-ta) cause

I I

ik

go

s

(14)

VP

NP

I

Taroo

NP

S

V

I~

Hanako

NP

I

VP

I~ I I

Hanako

NP

V

Ziroo

yob call

sase(-ta) cause

The first relevant transformational rule is EQUI NP-deletion, which deletes the embedded subject NP Hanako in both (13) and (14) under identity with the matrix phrase Hanako (I ignore details such as case marking). The biclausal deep structure is then "collapsed" into a uniclausal structure by the rule of predicate raising (Kuno, 1973). Predicate raising has not only the effect of raising the embedded verb to the matrix verb position but also the concomitant "tree-pruning" effect of raising the other embedded phrase(s) to the matrix clause. After this operation, (13) and (14) each become a uniclausal structure:

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5.2 Object NP in Causative-Passive Construction

s

(15)

VP

NP

I

Taroo

V

NP

I

I

Hanako

ik-ase-ta go-cause-past

s

(16)

VP

NP

I

Taroo

NP

I

Hanako

NP

I

Ziroo

V

I

vob-ase-ta call-cause-past

Predicate raising and passivization are extrinsically ordered (Kuno, 1973). As such, the rule of passivization applies to the collapsed, uniclausal structures in (15) and (16). The passive rule therefore applies to a "simplex verb," hence we would expect the passivized form of (15) and (l 6) to be the same as the passive form of a simple transitive or ditransitive sentence. In the latter, the object NP can move to the subject position under passivization. As demonstrated earlier in (7) and (8), however, movement of the object NP to the subject position under passivization is grammatical for (15), which has a causative verb containing an intransitive stem, but not for (16), which has a causative verb with a transitive stem. To account for this contrast in grammaticality, Harada (l 973) proposed a global constraint whereby a phrase originating in an embedded clause is prohibited from moving to the subject position under passivization. This constraint allows the object Hanako to move to the subject position in (7) because Hanako here is a matrix phrase throughout the derivation. On the other hand, (8) is excluded because the object NP, Ziroo, originates in the embedded clause. The object NP becomes a member of the matrix clause only after predicate raising. Harada correctly portrays his constraint as "global," since its application to the passive requires "looking back" at the derivational history of the particular string. J Transformational rules such as the passive do not possess this ability to utilize information beyond the immediate string at hand.

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5.2.2. An Alternative Proposal Unlike Harada, I assume a nontransformational approach to the causative construction. To give a simple illustration, look at the following examples:• (17)

Taroo ga waratta. NOM laughed 'Taro laughed.'

(18)

Hanako ga Taroo o waraw-ase-ta. NOM ACC laugh-cause-past 'Hanako made Taro laugh.'

Example (17) is an intransitive construction with the verb warau 'laugh'. As shown, Taroo receives the external thematic role Agent. Example (18) is the causative counterpart of ( 17). The attachment of the causative morpheme -( s )ase internalizes the external argument of warau 'laugh' and adds a new thematic role, Agent, which is assigned to the subject NP (Hanako) of the causative verb. The syntactic representation of (18) is (19).

s

(19)

VP

NP

I

Hanako ga

NP

I

Taroo o

V

I

waraw-( sJase

Turning to the direct passive, let us begin with a simple case involving the passivization of the transitive verb nusumu 'steal'. (20)

Doroboo ga kuruma o nusunda. thief NOM car ACC stole 'The thief stole the car.'

(21)

Kuruma ga (doroboo ni) nusum-are-ta. car NOM thief by steal-PASS-past 'The car was stolen (by the thief).'

As noted earlier, one feature of the passive morpheme is that it absorbs the caseassigning property of the transitive verb, which forces the object NP to move to the subject position. We can informally schematize the case-assigning feature of the transitive verb in (20) and what happens to it in the passivized version in (21) as follows:

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5.2 Object NP in Causative-Passive Construction

(22)

[nusum],

+case 'steal'

[[ nus um)-( r )are]

-case 'steal-PASS'

What is crucial to note for the passive version is that the passive morpheme occurs directly next to the case-assigning verb. In other words, the passive morpheme occurs adjacent to the verb that it affects. This is not a coincidence but rather a general condition on morphological operations. The adjacency condition (Allen, 1978) prohibits a morphological operation from affecting or otherwise making reference to a nonadjacent morpheme. In (22), the passive morpheme occurs adjacent to the [ +case) verb stem nusum 'steal', making it possible for the passive morpheme to absorb the case-assigning property of the transitive verb. Instead of (22), suppose that we have the following structure, where Xis a productive morpheme: (23) [[[nusum) X ]-(r)are]

+case The passive morpheme cannot absorb the case-assigning property of the verb because the verb and the passive morpheme are not adjacent, owing to the intervening productive morpheme X. This X corresponds precisely to the causative morpheme -( s )ase in structures that do not allow the movement of the object NP to the subject position under passivization. Returning to the problem of causative-passive constructions, let us look at the two causative verbs ik-ase 'go-cause', in (5), and yob-ase 'call-cause', in (6). The two sentences are repeated below as (24) and (25). (24)

Taroo ga

Hanako o

ik-ase-ta.

NOM ACC go-cause-past 'Taro made Hanako go.' (25)

Taroo ga

Hanako ni

Ziroo o

NOM DAT 'Taro made Hanako call Jiro.'

yob-ase-ta.

ACC call-cause-past

We begin with ik-ase 'go-cause'. The verb stem ik 'go' is intransitive, hence it is incapable of assigning case. As we see in (25), its causative counterpart ik-ase does assign the accusative case, an indication that the causative morpheme is capable of (optionally) providing the case-assigning property. We can schematize this as follows: (26)

[ ik],

-case

[[ik)-(s)ase]

-case +case

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The accusative case is assigned by the causative morpheme to the internalized external argument of the base verb. If we add the passive morpheme to the causative verb in (26), we have the following: (27)

[[ik]-(s)ase] - [[[ik]-(s)ase]-(r)are] -case +case -case -case

The passive morpheme absorbs the case-assigning property provided by the causative morpheme; this is made possible by the adjacency of the passive morpheme to the causative morpheme that provides the case. As expected, the resulting passive sentence is well formed, as shown in (7), repeated here as (28). (28)

Hanako ga

Taroo ni ik-ase-rare-ta.

NOM by go-cause-PASS-past 'Hanako was made to go by Taro.' Turning to the other causative verb, yob-ase 'call-cause', the causative morpheme here occurs with a transitive verb. Being transitive, the verb stem itself is [ +case], hence the causative morpheme need not provide this feature as shown in (29). (29)

[yob],

+case

[[yob]-( s)ase]

+case

Adding the passive to this causative construction results in (30). (30)

[[yob]-(s)ase],

+case

[[[yob]-( s)ase ]-( r )are] +case

As shown, the passive morpheme is incapable of absorbing the case-assigning property of yob because the two are not adjacent owing to the intervening causative morpheme. We thus predict that an ungrammatical sentence results if the object of the verb moves to the subject position under passivization. This was shown in (8), repeated here as (31). (31) *Ziroo ga Taroo ni (yotte) Hanako ni yob-ase-rare-ta. NOM by DAT call-cause-PASS-past 'Jiro was made to call Hanako by Taro.' This structure is ungrammatical because the verb stem has the [ +case] feature, so an object NP must occur to receive the case from the verb. In (31), what would correspond to the object NP, Taroo, occurs instead in the subject position, leaving the lowest verb without a NP to assign the case to. Our approach has one advantage over Harada's (1973) analysis. While Harada is forced to postulate the global constraint, our analysis accounts for the problem straightforwardly from independently motivated properties of the passive in particular and morphological operations in general. The fact that the passive mor-

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5.2 Object NP in Causative-Passive Construction

pheme -( r )are absorbs the case-assigning property of the verb was demonstrated in chapter 2 on the basis of the behavior of the direct passive vis-a-vis the NQ. The adjacency condition, which is crucial to our analysis, is a well-motivated universal condition on morphological operations. In what follows, the analysis just presented is extended to constructions that involve the verbalizer gar.

5.2.3. The Verbalizer gar and the Passive The morpheme gar attaches to an adjective to form a verb (e.g., Abe, 1981; Miyagawa, 1980; Sugioka, 1984). For the construction adjective-gar to be well formed, the adjective must express some "internal feeling," such as the adjective kanasii 'sad'. (32)

Boku wa kanasii. TOP sad 'I am sad.'

(33)

Taroo wa kanasi-gat-te iru. TOP sad GAR is 'Taroo is sad.'

An "internal feeling" adjective and its verbalized counterpart with gar are in complementary distribution with regard to the type of subject NP that they can have. An "internal feeling" adjective such as kanasii 'sad' can only be used with a first-person subject NP (i.e., the speaker) unless it occurs in an embedded clause. In contrast, the verbalized version kanasi-gar can only be used with a nonfirst-person subject NP (cf. Kuroda, 1973). The verbalizer gar can attach to a simple adjective, as in (33), or to a complex adjective formed by suffixing the adjectival desiderative morpheme ta to a verb. (34)

Boku wa ne-ta-i. I TOP sleep-want 'I want to sleep.'

(35)

Taroo wa ne-ta-gat-te iru. TOP sleep-want-GAR 'Taro wants to sleep.'

In investigating the passivization of these gar verbs, Sugioka (1984) discovered an interesting contrast. The following examples are from her work (I 984, p. 150). (36)

a. Taroo wa Hanako o urayamasi-gat-te iru. TOP ACC envious-GAR 'Taro is envious of Hanako.'

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b. Hanako wa Taroo ni urayamasi-gar-are-te iru. TOP by envious-GAR-PASS 'Hanako is being envied by Taro.'

(37)

sasoi-ta-gat-te iru. a. Taroo wa Hanako o TOP ACC invite-want-GAR 'Taro wants to invite Hanako.' b. *Hanako wa Taroo ni sasoi-ta-gar-are-te iru. TOP by invite-want-GAR-PASS 'Hanako is being wanted by Taro to invite.'

In (36a), gar attaches to the simple adjective urayamasii 'envious'. As shown in (36b), the passive version of this verb is well formed. (37a) is an instance of gar attaching to the complex adjective formed with the desiderative ta. (37b) shows that the passive version of this verb is ill-formed. Sugioka presents this contrast as evidence against a straightforward lexical approach, which fails to distinguish between these two passive verbs in a way that can account for the difference in grammaticality. She accounts for this distinction by claiming that (36a) is a transitive construction but (37a) is not (1984, pp. 150-151). What is crucial to her argument is that the desiderative ta occurs in the latter but not in the former. According to her, the desiderative ta subcategorizes for a V' node, but the verbalizer gar simply attaches to a constituent (I 984, p. 150). Although she does not give the representation for (36a), I assume from her discussion that gar simply attaches to the adjective urayamasi 'envy', so that the entire urayamasigar takes the object NP Hanako. In this way, (36a) is a transitive construction that allows passivization, as shown in (36b). In contrast, according to Sugioka, (37a) with ta 'want' has the following structure: (38)

Taroo wa [[v· Hanako o sasoi lv· ta]-gat-te iru. TOP ACC invite want GAR 'Taro wants to invite Hanako.'

Unlike (36a), here gar attaches to the constituent that includes the desiderative ta, which in turn takes the V' Hanako o sasoi. As such, this is an "intransitive" structure in the sense that the object NP is not the object of the entire verbal complex. Hence the object NP cannot undergo passivization. Let us look at the morphological structure of the two gar verbs in (36a) and (37a), paying attention only to the case-assigning feature. The basic stem of the verb urayamasi-gar in (36a) is a simple adjective, hence it is incapable of assigning case. The fact that the verbalized version does allow the object NP to be marked with the accusative o shows that gar (optionally) provides the caseassigning property. This is schematized as follows: (39)

[urayamasi], -case

[Iurayamasi]-gar] -case

+case

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Once added, the passive morpheme is allowed to absorb the case-assigning feature because gar, which provides this property, and the passive morpheme occur adjacent to each other. (40)

[[[urayamasi]-gar]-(r)are]

-case

-case

The successful absorption of the case-assigning feature makes it possible for the object NP to occur in the subject position, as shown in (36b). Turning to the complex predicate in (37a), sasoi-ta-gar 'invite-want-GAR', the basic stem here is a transitive verb, hence the case-assigning feature is provided by this verb stem and not by the suffixes. (41)

[sasoi],

+case

[[sasoi]-ta],

[[[ sasoi]-ta] gar]

+case

+case

We see immediately that the addition of the passive morpheme to the gar verb will not allow case absorption because the stem with the [+case] feature and the passive morpheme are not adjacent. They are in fact separated by two productive morphemes ta and gar. (42)

[[[[sasoi]-ta ]-gar]-(r )are]

+case This correctly predicts that the passive sentence in (37b) is ill formed because the verb must assign the case to the object NP, but in (36b) the NP corresponding to the object occurs instead in the subject position. The following are other examples of an ungrammatical direct passive caused by a failure to absorb case: (43) *Kodomo ga

titioya ni donari-ta-gar-are-ta.

child NOM father by shout-want-GAR-PASS-past 'The child was wanted by his father to shout.' (44) *Karaa terebi ga

minna

ni kai-ta-gar-are-ta.

color TV NOM everyone by buy-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Color TVs were wanted by everyone to buy.' (45) *Kanozyo ga

Taroo ni erabi-ta-gar-are-ta.

she NOM by choose-want-GAR-PASS-past 'She was wanted by Taro to choose.'

5.3. A UNIFORM LEXICAL APPROACH TO THE PASSIVE

Within the transformational tradition, the major controversy regarding the Japanese passive has been whether to view the direct and the indirect passives as

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two independent constructions, the direct passive always being uniclausal and the indirect passive being biclausal underlyingly. The alternative is to derive them both from essentially the same biclausal source. These two positions have come to be known, respectively, as the "nonuniform" theory and the "uniform" theory of the passive (Howard and Niekawa-Howard, 1976). Kuno's (1973) analysis of the two passives represents the nonuniform theory, while Kuroda's (1965) seminal work on Japanese and Howard and Niekawa-Howard's (1976) work represent the uniform theory. In a recent work, Kuno ( 1983) himself has adopted the uniform approach. In the lexical approach, which assumes that the passive morpheme -(r)are is attached by a morphological process, Miyagawa ( 1980) presents a nonuniform approach whereby two -(r)ares are postulated in the lexicon. One motivation of the nonuniform theory is the semantic function of the passive morpheme seen in the direct and the indirect passives. In supporting the nonuniform theory, Kuno (1973) suggests that the passive morpheme has no semantic content in the direct passive but always has an "adversity" meaning in the indirect passive. He derives this difference by postulating the "adversity" -(r)are in the underlying structure to begin with, while transformationally inserting the "direct passive" -(r)are in the process of deriving a direct passive sentence. Because the "adversity" passive is present in the underlying structure, we would expect it to have semantic content, whereas the "direct passive" -(r)are, being transformationally inserted, is devoid of any semantic content. Howard and Niekawa-Howard (1976) show convincingly, however, that this semantic difference between the two types of passives does not hold. In particular, they give a number of direct passive constructions that clearly exhibit the "adversity" reading. Based on this, they argue that the passive morpheme must be present in the underlying structure in both direct and indirect passives, which opens the way for a uniform theory of the two passives. 5 In this section, I pursue the lexical approach to the passive with the goal of arriving at a uniform approach to the two types of passive. The particular focus is on the two features of the passive morpheme presented earlier, the caseabsorbing feature and the feature that suppresses the external argument of the original verb. So far, both features have been associated only with the direct passive. The argument here is that the indirect passive morphology also has the caseabsorbing feature, thus making the indirect passive -( r )are nondistinct from the direct passive -( r )are. I derive the other characteristics of the indirect passive from the particular way in which this case-absorbing feature interacts with the rest of the grammar. I begin with a problem posed by the indirect passive for the analysis of the passive presented in the previous section.

5.3.1. Indirect Passive and the [ +case] Feature Unlike the direct passive, -(r)are in the indirect passive does not appear to absorb case. Therefore, the passive morpheme in the indirect passive can attach

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to intransitive as well as to transitive verbs, ostensibly allowing transitive verbs to keep their case-assigning property. (46)

a. Taroo ga

waratta. NOM laughed 'Taro laughed.' b. Hanako ga Taroo ni waraw-are-ta. NOM by laugh-PASS-past 'Hanako had Taro laugh at her.'

(47)

a. Doroboo ga kuruma o nusunda. thief NOM car ACC stole 'The thief stole the car.' b. Taroo ga doroboo ni kuruma o nusum-are-ta. NOM thief by car ACC steal-PASS-past 'Taro had the car stolen by the thief.'

The indirect passive -( r )are functions in a way similar to the causative -( s Jase: it internalizes the lower verb's external argument and provides a new external argument. The difference between the two is that whereas -(s)ase provides the Agent role for the new external argument, -(r)are provides the Experiencer role. If we simply assume that the indirect passive -(r)are never absorbs case, it poses a problem for the analysis of the passive presented in the previous section. In particular, this assumption incorrectly predicts that the indirect version of the ungrammatical direct passives presented earlier are grammatical. Two ungrammatical direct passive cases that we discussed are (8) and (37b), repeated here as (48) and (49). (48) *Ziroo ga

Taroo ni (yotte) Hanako ni yob-ase-rare-ta. by DAT call-cause-PASS-past 'Jiro was made to call by Hanako by Taro.'

NOM

(49) *Hanako ga Taroo ni sasoi-ta-gar-are-te iru. NOM by invite-want-GAR-PASS 'Hanako is being wanted by Taro to invite.' In both, the ungrammaticality was reduced to the inability of the passive morphology to absorb case, because the transitive verb stem that provides the caseassigning property and the passive morpheme are not adjacent to each other, as shown in (50). (50)

a. [[[yob]-(s)ase]-(r)are] +case b. [[[[sasoi]-ta]-gar]-(r)are] +case

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The sentences in (48) and (49) are ungrammatical because the verb has the [ +case] feature, therefore an object NP must occur to receive the case, but the NP corresponding to the object NP occurs instead in the subject position. By this reasoning, the sentences should be grammatical if the NP occurs in the object position where it can receive the case. The indirect passive versions of these sentences provide just such a structure in which the object NP occurs in its original position instead of moving to the subject position. Contrary to our expectation, however, the indirect passive sentences are ungrammatical as well, as shown in the following examples: (51) *Hahaoya ga

Taroo ni Hanako ni Ziroo o NOM DAT DAT ACC yob-ase-rare-ta. call-cause-PASS-past 'The mother had Taro make Hanako call (her) Jiro.' Lit: 'The mother was troubled by Taro making Hanako call (her) Jiro.'

Taroo ni Hanako o sasoi-ta-gar-are-ta. (52) *Ziroo ga NOM DAT ACC invite-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Jiro had Taro wanting to invite Hanako.' Lit: 'Jiro was troubled by Taro wanting to invite Hanako.' In both, there is a direct object, Ziroo in (51) and Hanako in (52), that receives the case from the verb, yet both are ungrammatical. As it stands, the analysis presented in the previous section would incorrectly predict that these are grammatical because the object NP occurs to receive the case that the passive morphology fails to absorb. Two points must be noted in relation to the examples in (51) and (52). First, (51) is an instance of the indirect passive -( r )are occurring with a ditransitive verb (yob-ase 'call-cause'), which results in a derived verb that takes four arguments. This alone cannot exclude (51) since the indirect passive morpheme can attach to a ditransitive verb such as atae 'give' that results in a grammatical, "four-argument" structure. (53)

Hahaoya ga sensei ni kodomo ni kunsyoo o atae-rare-ta. mother NOM teacher DAT child to medal ACC give-PASS-past 'The mother had the teacher give a medal to her child.'

Second, although the indirect passive in (52) is ungrammatical, the following indirect passive is acceptable (cf. Sugioka, 1984 ): (54)

Hahaoya ga kodomo ni daigaku ni iki-ta-gar-are-ta. mother NOM child DAT college to go-want-GAR-PASS-past 'The mother was troubled by her child wanting to go to college.'

The difference between (51) and (54) is that whereas the former has a transitive stem (sasoi 'call'), the verb in (54) has an intransitive stem (iki 'go'). In the

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remainder of this chapter, I expand and refine the analysis to account for these and other points about the indirect passive. I deal with (52) in this section; (51) must wait until section 5.4.1, where I discuss absorption that involves the dative case.

5.3.2. Unification of the Direct and the Indirect Passives I now develop a uniform approach to the Japanese passive. So far, I have identified two features of the passive, case absorption and suppression of the original external argument, both associated with the direct passive. These two features will be discussed separately in the context of the passive construction in general. Henceforth I use the terms "direct" and "indirect" only for expository purposes. My assumption is that they are one and the same phenomenon.

5.3.2.1. CASE ABSORPTION AND CASE ASSIGNMENT Let us begin by comparing the causative and the passive constructions with regard to the accusative case. (55)

Taroo ga Hanako o ik-ase-ta. NOM ACC go-cause-past 'Taro made Hanako go.'

(56)

Taroo ga

Hanako ni/*o ik-are-ta. DATIACC go-PASS-past 'Taro had Hanako go.'

NOM

Example (55) is a causative construction in which the causative morpheme -(s)ase occurs with an intransitive verb. The important point to note is that tht; verb stem ik 'go' is intransitive, hence [-case]. The fact that the causative verb ik-ase 'gocause' can assign the accusative case o is an indication that the the causative morpheme -(s)ase itself has the case-assigning feature. In contrast, when the passive morpheme attaches to an intransitive verb, as in (56), the passive verb cannot assign the accusative case, which indicates that the passive morpheme itself is incapable of providing the case-assigning property. A passive verb is capable of assigning the case only if the passive morpheme attaches to a verb that already has this property, as in (57). 0 (57)

Taroo ga Hanako ni kodomo o yob-are-ta. NOM DAT child ACC call-PASS-past 'Taro had Hanako call (his) child.' 'Lit: Taro was troubled by Hanako calling his child.'

The generalization, then, is that the passive verb has the case-assigning ability only if the passive morpheme attaches to a verb with the [+case] feature. There are two ways to capture this generalization. One way is to say that the passive morpheme fails to absorb the case-assigning property of the verb to which it at-

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taches even if the environment (adjacency) allows case absorption. The other way is to state that the passive morpheme, even in "indirect" passives such as in (57), absorbs the case and in turn assigns this absorbed case. For reasons that are soon clarified, I take the second option as characterized in (58). (58)

Characterization of the Passive Morpheme (Tentative) (i) The passive morpheme -(r)are must absorb case, if the caseassigning feature exists; (ii) If -(r )are absorbs the case from the verb that it attaches to, it can optionally assign this absorbed case

According to (58i), a passive morpheme must absorb the case if the verb to which it attaches bears the case-assigning feature. (58ii) states that once the case is absorbed, the passive morpheme can in turn optionally assign this case. By this analysis, the passive verb yob-are 'call-PASS' in (57) is "derived" as follows: (59)

[yob] -

Case absorption -

+case

[[yob]-(r)are] -

-case

[[yob]-(r)are]

+case

As stated in (58ii), the final step in this derivation is optional. That is, once the passive morpheme absorbs the case [the second step in (59)], whether the passive morpheme in turn utilizes this absorbed case to become a case~assigner itself is optional. If it chooses not to assign the absorbed case, the result is the "direct" passive in (60). (60)

Kodomo ga

Hanako ni yob-are-ta.

child NOM by call-PASS-past 'The child was called by Hanako.' The passive verb yob-are here stops at the second stage of derivation in (59). The passive morpheme absorbs the case-assigning feature of the verb yob 'call' without in turn utilizing this absorbed case to become a case-assigner. The "object NP" in (60) must move to the subject position because it is unable to receive case in the object position. In contrast, the object NP in (57) can remain in its original position because the passive morpheme has chosen to assign the case that it absorbed from the transitive stem yob 'call' to the object position. We thus reduce the difference between the "indirect" passive in (57) and the "direct" passive in (60) to the ability of the passive morpheme to optionally assign the case that it absorbs from the [ +case] verb to which the morpheme attaches. I next present evidence that the case-assigning feature in even "indirect" passives is absorbed by the passive morpheme.

5.3.2.2.

OBLIGATORY ABSORPTION OF THE CASE-ASSIGNING FEATURE

Recall that at the end of the last section, I left (52) [repeated here as (61)] as a problem to be solved later.

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(61) *Ziroo ga

Taroo ni Hanako o sasoi-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM DAT ACC invite-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Jiro had Taro want to invite Hanako.' 'Lit: Jiro was troubled by Taro wanting to invite Hanako.'

In this example, the transitive stem sasoi 'invite' is accompanied by the desiderative ta and gar; to this verbal complex the passive morpheme is attached. As shown, the sentence is ungrammatical with the passive morpheme assigning the external role ("indirect" passive). I am now ready to give the analysis for this ungrammatical sentence. I claim that the reason for the ungrammaticality is the failure of the passive morpheme to absorb the case of the transitive stem sasoi 'invite'. In other words, even in "indirect" passives, case must be absorbed if the verb to which the passive morpheme attaches bears the case-assigning feature. We already know that the accusative case cannot be absorbed owing to the intervening -ta-gar. Hence it is impossible to construct a "direct" passive from the same verbal complex, as shown in (62). (62) *Hanako ga

Taroo ni sasoi-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM by invite-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Hanako was wanted by Taro to invite.'

In the ungrammatical sentence in (61 ), case must also be absorbed, but, like the sentence in (62), it cannot be done. The passive morpheme therefore fails to absorb any type of case, and the unabsorbed case remains on the verb stem. This is the reason for the ungrammaticality of (61). The following examples are similar to (61): (63) *Taroo ga

John ni Henry o naguri-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM DAT ACC hit-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Taro had John want to hit Henry.'

(64) *Hanako ga

kodomo ni konpyuutaa o naosi-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM child DAT computer ACC fix-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Hanako had her child want to fix the computer.'

(65) *Taroo ga

musuko ni kane o kari-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM son DAT money ACC borrow-want-GAR-PASS-past

'Taro had his son want to borrow money.' In all of these examples, the available case fails to be absorbed by the passive morpheme owing to a failure of the case-bearing verb stem and the passive morpheme to obtain adjacency. These examples give further credence to the claim that case, if it exists, must always be absorbed. At this point, I should note that there is a systematic exception to the prior analysis. Compared to the ungrammatical sentences in (61) and (63)-(65), the following sentences sound better, though not perfect.

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(66) ??Taroo ga

musuko ni kukkii o tabe-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM son DAT cookie ACC eat-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Taro had his son want to eat cookies.'

(67) ??Taroo ga

musuko ni poruno zassi o NOM son DAT pornography magazine ACC yomi-ta-gar-are-ta. read-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Taro had his son want to read a pornographic magazine.'

(68) ??Hanako ga

musume ni sake o nomi-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM daughter DAT sake ACC drink-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Hanako had her daughter want to drink sake.'

What is shared by these three sentences is a verb stem that can function as either an intransitive or a transitive verb. The verb taberu 'eat', for example, can function as a verb that takes only the subject, or it can take both a subject and an object, just as in the English verb eat. In contrast, if the verb is singularly transitive, the same construction is ungrammatical as we saw in (61) and (63)-(65). A possible explanation for (66)-(68) is that the stem in each is the intransitive version as far as case is concerned; these verbs assign an internal 0-role, but it does not bear the case-assigning feature. In other words, the accusative case does not originate in the stem. Rather, it originates from the verbalizer morpheme gar. We know that gar is capable of assigning the accusative case, as in the following example: (69)

Taroo ga sore o iya-gar-u. NOM that ACC abhor-GAR 'Taro will abhor that.'

In (69), gar attaches to the adjectival nominal iya 'abhor', which does not assign case; the source of the accusative case therefore must be the morpheme gar. By considering the source of the accusative case in (66)-(68) to be gar as well, case absorption can take place, since gar and the passive morpheme are adjacent to each other. In these examples, the absorbed case has been reassigned to the object NP. If the analysis just given is correct, it should also be possible to construct examples in which the accusative case has been absorbed without it in turn being reassigned ("direct" passive). At least two of the three passive verbs in (66)(68) sound marginally grammatical, thus giving further credence to the prior analysis. (70)

?Poruno zassi wa minna ni yomi-ta-gar-are-ta. pornography magazine TOP everyone by read-want-GAR-PASS · Pornographic magazines were wanted to be read by everyone.'

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(71)

?Kono sake wa minna ni nomi-ta-gar-are-ta. this sake TOP everyone by drink-want-GAR-PASS 'Sake was wanted to be drunk by everyone.'

It is not clear why these two sentences sound worse than their "indirect" counterparts in (67) and (68). But compared to the passive sentence built on the "pure transitive" stem sasoi 'invite' in (62), repeated here as (72), the sentences in (70) and (71) sound better. (72) *Hanako ga Taroo ni sasoi-ta-gar-are-ta. NOM by invite-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Hanako was wanted by Taro to invite.'

5.3.3. Variation in the Subject Thematic Role Aside from case, the most obvious difference between the "direct" and the "indirect" passives is in the type of thematic role assigned to the subject NP. In the direct passive, exemplified in (73), the thematic role is the one that the NP has acquired while occupying the object position at D-structure. In the indirect passive, exemplified in (74), it is the Experiencer that is ostensibly assigned by the passive morpheme -(r)are. (73)

Kodomo ga Hanako ni yob-are-ta. child NOM by call-PASS-past 'The child was called by Hanako.'

(74)

Taroo ga Hanako ni kodomo o yob-are-ta. NOM DAT child ACC call-PASS-past 'Taro had Hanako call his child.'

Do we need to stipulate this difference in the thematic roles of the subject NPs? If so, it would considerably weaken our otherwise uniform account of the passive construction. This difference in the thematic roles in fact derives from independently motivated principles of the grammar. Let us begin with the direct passive example in (73). We wish to account for why the surface subject has the internal thematic role of the verb yob 'call', and why the passive morpheme suppresses the original external argument of yob. The relevant principles are case theory and 0-criterion (Chomsky, 1981). We postulate the following underlying structure for (73). (75)

[s

[ vP

kodomo yob-are ]] child call-PASS

The internal argument kodomo receives the thematic role from yob at this point. Now, the passive morpheme takes the option of not assigning the case that it

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absorbed from yob. Hence the passive verb cannot assign case to kodomo 'child'. Case theory requires every overt NP to have case, so if kodomo stays in its original position, the sentence would be ungrammatical because the NP lacks case. The NP therefore moves to the subject position where it automatically receives the nominative case ga. This accounts for why the "surface" subject has the internal argument of the verb yob. The fact that the passive morpheme must suppress the external thematic role of the verb yob is due to the 0-criterion. If the external thematic role were not suppressed, kodomo would end up with two thematic roles. One role is acquired while occupying the VP-internal position, and the other is the external thematic role from yob that is acquired after the NP moves to the subject position. This would violate the biunique condition imposed by the 0-criterion, which stipulates that an argument must have one and only one thematic role. Turning to the indirect passive example in (74), we must account for the appearance of the Experiencer role on the subject NP that is assigned by the passive morpheme. The crucial point is that the passive morpheme in this example has chosen to take the option of assigning the case that it absorbed from yob 'call'. The fact that the passive morpheme must assign an external thematic role derives from Burzio's generalization (Burzio, 1981, 1986), repeated here. (76)

Burzio's Generalization: A verb assigns an external thematic role iff it assigns case.

As noted in (58), repeated here as (77), the passive morpheme must absorb case if there is case to be absorbed. (77)

Characterization of the Passive Morpheme (Tentative) (i) The passive morpheme -(r)are must absorb case, if the caseassigning property exists (ii) If -(r)are absorbs the case from the verb that it attaches to, it can optionally assign this absorbed case

In (74), the verb stem yob 'call' is indeed a [ +case] verb, and the passive morpheme absorbs this case. In turn, the passive morpheme assigns the absorbed case. By Burzio's generalization, this makes it mandatory for the passive morpheme to also assign an external thematic role. The only stipulation we need to make is that the external thematic role here is the Experiencer. Because a verb cannot have more than one external thematic role, the original external thematic role of yob is automatically internalized (cf. Williams, 1981). We thus derive the difference in the thematic roles assigned to the subject NPs in (73) (the direct passive) and (74) (the indirect passive) by the interaction of the passive morpheme-specifically, its optional ability to assign the absorbed case-and independent principles of grammar. The only stipulation that must be made is that the external argument assigned by the passive morpheme is Experiencer.

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Our analysis has one interesting consequence for the agentive phrase marked with the particle ni. In the direct passive, this phrase is an adjunct because the Agent role is assigned not by the verb but directly by the particle itself. But in the indirect passive, it is an argument of the verb because the thematic role is assigned directly by the verb. This thematic role originates as the external argument of yob that is internalized because the passive morpheme provides the Experiencer external argument. The analysis of the numeral quantifier in chapter 2 gave evidence for both the adjunct nature of the agentive phrase in direct passives and the argument status of the agentive phrase in indirect passives. To briefly review the points, a numeral quantifier cannot modify the agentive phrase of the direct passive.

sensei ni 2-ri sikar-are-ta. NOM teachers by 2-CL scold-PASS-past

(78) *Taroo ga

'Taro was scolded by two teachers.' This example is ungrammatical because ni 'by' in the direct passive is a true postposition. As such, it projects the PP node, which blocks the NP in the agentive phrase from c-commanding the numeral quantifier. The NP here receives its thematic role from ni. Consequently, the agentive phrase is an adjunct relative to the verb. In contrast, the following indirect passive example is grammatical: (79)

Hahaoya ga kodomo ni 2-ri sin-are-ta. mother NOM children DAT 2-CL die-PASS-past 'Two children died on their mother.'

The fact that the numeral quantifier can modify the agentive phrase in the indirect passive is evidence that the ni here does not project a PP node, thereby allowing the NP to c-command the numeral quantifier. Ni here is acting purely as a case marker; the thematic role of the NP is assigned by the verb, hence the NP is an argument of the verb. What is the source of the dative ni in (79)? As I noted, it is a case marker, not a postposition. There can be only one source and that is the passive morpheme. I therefore presume that the dative ni, in those passive constructions where the passive morpheme assigns an external role (i.e., the "indirect" passive), is assigned by the passive morpheme.

5.3.3.1.

WHEN THE PASSIVE MORPHEME DOES NOT ABSORB CASE

I have so far illustrated instances in which the passive morpheme absorbs case. As I showed, this case can optionally be assigned by the passive morpheme. But are there instances in which the passive morpheme does not absorb the caseassigning property of the verb to which it attaches? We know already, for example, that the passive morpheme can attach to an intransitive verb stem, as in (80).

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Taroo ga kodomotati ni odor-are-ta. NOM children DAT dance-PASS-past 'Taro had the children dance (to his detriment).'

This is an indication that the passive morpheme need not absorb case if there is no such case to be absorbed. If it were mandatory, we would not expect to find examples such as (80), in which the passive morpheme attaches to a verb stem without the case-assigning property. Note that in (80), the passive morpheme assigns the external role of Experiencer to its subject NP. Is there a way to derive this from independent principles of the grammar? Specifically, we would want to know why the external thematic role of the verb stem odoru 'dance' cannot be suppressed, as in the following example: (81) *odor-are-ta. dance-PASS-past 'It was danced.' This kind of impersonal passive is impossible in Japanese. Burzio's generalization does not help us here because the principle is applicable only if the verb (the passive morpheme) assigns case. In the ungrammatical (81 ), the passive morpheme clearly fails to assign case, hence the generalization cannot exclude the structure. We can exclude (81) by the extended projection principle (Chomsky, I 982). (82)

Extended projection principle: A clause must have a subject.

Let us suppose that the passive morpheme suppresses the external argument of the intransitive verb odoru 'dance', as in (81). This leaves the passive verb odorare without an external thematic role. Because there is no internal argument of odoru 'dance' that can move to the subject position, the resulting structure is devoid of a NP in the subject position. The extended projection principle would therefore rule out this structure. If, on the other hand, the passive morpheme assigns the external role Experiencer, the structure is grammatical because this allows the passive verb to have a subject NP. The original external role of odoru 'dance' is internalized automatically by the presence of the external role Experiencer provided by the passive morpheme. The passive morpheme assigns the dative case to this internalized argument. Although Burzio's generalization does not help us with the "intransitive stem" passive in (80), the fact that the passive morpheme assigns both the dative case and, at the same time, the Experiencer external role means that the construction fulfills the requirement imposed by Burzio's generalization. Hence, although the construction is not motivated by the generalization, it does not violate it. 7 In the next section, I continue the discussion of case absorption. In particular, I deal with examples involving the absorption of the dative case.

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5.4. DATIVE CASE AND CASE ABSORPTION I have so far dealt with constructions in which -(r )are attaches to an intransitive or a transitive verb. I now turn to the attachment of -(r)are to ditransitive verbs. The ditransitive construction in (83) gives rise to three possible passive structures, exemplified in (84)-(86). (83)

Daitooryoo ga gakusei ni kunsyoo o ataeta. president NOM student to medal ACC gave 'The president gave a medal to the student.'

(84)

Kunsyoo ga daitooryoo ni (yotte) gakusei ni atae-rare-ta. medal NOM president by student to give-PASS-past •A medal was given to the student by the president.'

(85)

Gakusei ga daitooryoo ni kunsyoo o atae-rare-ta. student NOM president by medal ACC give-PASS-past 'The student was given a medal by the president.'

(86)

Sensei ga daitooryoo ni gakusei ni kunsyoo o atae-rare-ta. teacher NOM president DAT student to medal ACC give-PASS-past 'The teacher had the president give a medal to (his) student.'

Examples (84) and (85) are direct passives whereas (86) is an indirect passive. Note that in (84) and (85) different internal arguments of the verb ataeru 'give' appear in the subject position: in (84), the Theme NP kunsyoo 'medal' and, in (85), the Goal NP gakusei 'student' are externalized. Let us first compare (84) and (86). By our analysis, the passive morpheme in (84) absorbs the case-assigning property from ataeru 'give' and chooses not to assign this case. The object NP therefore must move to the subject position in order to receive case (the nominative ga). The passive morpheme suppresses the external argument of ataeru 'give' in order that the moved NP can end up with just one thematic role in accordance with the Theta Criterion. In (86), the passive morpheme takes the option of assigning the case that it absorbed from the verb stem; thus the object NP stays in its original position where it receives this case from the passive verb. Because the passive morpheme assigns case, it must also assign an external role by Burzio's generalization. This role is the Experiencer assigned to the subject of the passive verb (sensei 'teacher'). The original external role of the verb ataeru 'give', Agent, is internalized and assigned to daitooryoo 'president'. Turning now to (85), we must first identify the source of the accusative case on kunsyoo 'medal'. One possibility is the passive morpheme, which assigns the case after absorbing the case-assigning property of the verb stem. This would

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make the source of the case identical to that of the indirect passive in (86). But this cannot be correct. If the passive morpheme is indeed the source of the case, then the passive morpheme must also assign the external Experiencer role by Burzio's generalization. In (85), the passive morpheme suppresses the external thematic role of the verb stem instead, allowing the Goal NP to move to the subject position. The only other option is to view the accusative case as having come directly from the verb stem ataeru 'give'. I have shown that the accusative case in the direct passive in (85) is not absorbed but, instead, is assigned directly by the verb stem atae 'give'. Nevertheless, the sentence involves the externalization of an internal argument, the Goal NP. There must be a reason why the Goal NP is forced to move to the subject position. Up to this point, whenever an internal argument is externalized, it is for only one reason: the need to acquire case. To be consistent, I claim that, in (85), the passive morpheme has absorbed the dative case of the ditransitive verb ataeru 'give', which forces the Goal NP to move to the subject position. I thus revise the earlier characterization of the passive morpheme in (77) as follows: (87)

Characterization of the Passive Morpheme (Revision) (i) The passive morpheme -(r)are must absorb case, either accusative or dative, if the case-assigning feature exists (ii) If -(r)are absorbs the case from the verb that it attaches to, it can optionally assign this absorbed case

To make our analysis of the passive possible, I assume that the ditransitive verb has the dual case feature shown in (88). (88)

ataeru 'give' {+dative, +accusative}

The passive verb in (85), which externalizes the Goal NP, has the following "derivation": (89)

[atae]

-

{+dative, +accusative}

[[atae]

-(r)are]

{-dative, +accusative}

As shown, the passive morpheme absorbs the dative case, which satisfies the requirement that case absorption must occur if there is a case-assigning feature. On the other hand, the passive verb in (84), in which the Theme NP is externalized, has the following case feature: (90)

[atae]

-

{+dative, +accusative}

[[atae]

-(r)are]

{+dative, -accusative}

In both derivations, a VP-internal NP at D-structure moves to the subject position at S-structure in order to acquire case.

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5.4 Dative Case and Case Absorption

As shown, by assuming that a ditransitive verb assigns both the dative and the accusative cases, and that the passive morpheme can absorb either of these cases, we have a uniform account of structures that involve externalization of internal NPs: internal NPs are externalized in order to get case. With this assumption, a question arises about the indirect passive in (86), repeated here as (91). (91)

Sensei ga daitooryoo ni gakusei ni kunsyoo o atae-rare-ta. teacher NOM president DAT student to medal ACC give-PASS-past 'The teacher had the president give a medal to (his) student.'

I claimed that the source of the accusative case is the passive morpheme; the passive morpheme absorbed this case from the ditransitive stem. This in turn requires the passive morpheme to assign the external role Experiencer by Burzio's generalization. But now, there is an alternative explanation: the passive morpheme does not absorb the accusative case but rather the dative case. The passive morpheme in turn reassigns the dative case to gakusei 'student'. At this point, there is no way to tell whether the "dative absorption and reassignment" hypothesis is valid. I argue next that the dative case differs from the accusative case in that only the accusative case can be reassigned by the passive morpheme. Thus, in (91 ), the only analysis possible is that the accusative case is absorbed and reassigned by the passive morpheme. 5.4.1. Evidence That the Absorbed Dative Case Cannot Be Reassigned I now return to a problem I left at the end of section 5.3.1. This problem concerns the sentence in (51 ), repeated here as (92).

(92) *Hahaoya ga Taroo ni Hanako ni Ziroo o NOM DAT DAT ACC yob-ase-rare-ta. call-cause-PASS-past 'The mother had Taro make Hanako call (her) Jiro.' Lit: 'The mother was troubled by Taro making Hanako call (her) Jiro.' This sentence is an indirect passive formed from a causative verb. The present argument is that the ungrammaticality of the sentence is owing to the fact that the dative case, once absorbed by the passive morpheme, cannot in turn be reassigned. First of all, I claim that the dative ni on the causee (Hanako) is assigned by the causative morpheme. Thus, before case absorption, the case feature is as given in (93a). Example (93b) gives the case of the verbal complex after absorption. (93)

a. Before case absorption: [[[yob] -( s )ase )-( r )are) {+accusative} {+dative}

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b. After case absorption: [[[yob] -( s )ase ]-( r )are] {+accusative} {-dative} (93b) is possible because the morpheme bearing the dative case feature is adjacent to the verb. With this verb, it is possible to construct a grammatical sentence in which the causee NP is externalized. (94)

Hanako ga Taroo ni Ziroo o yob-ase-rare-ta. NOM by ACC call-cause-PASS-past 'Hanako was made by Taro to call Jiro.'

The problem with the ungrammatical sentence in (92) is that the absorbed dative case is reassigned. This reassignment of an absorbed case is possible only for the accusative case. To make this analysis work, we must establish that the causative morpheme does indeed assign the dative case, which can be absorbed by the passive under the right conditions. This can be shown by passivizing the following desiderativegar sentence: (95)

Taroo ga Hanako ni tegami o kak-ase-ta-gat-ta. NOM DAT letter ACC write-cause-want-GAR-past 'Taro wanted to make Hanako write a letter.'

As shown in (97), it is not possible to construct a passive sentence based on (95) in which either the accusative case or the dative case is absorbed. (96)

a. *Tegami ga Taroo ni (yotte) Hanako ni letter NOM by DAT kak-ase-ta-gar-are-ta. write-cause-want-GAR-PASS-past 'A letter was wanted by Taro to write Hanako.' b. *Hanako ga Taroo ni tegami o NOM by letter ACC kak-ase-ta-gar-are-ta. write-cause-want-GAR-PASS-past 'Hanako was wanted by Taro to write a letter.'

Example (96a) shows that the accusative case of the stem kak 'write' cannot be absorbed owing to the intervehing causative, desiderative, and gar morphemes. Example (96b) likewise shows that the dative case cannot be absorbed owing to the intervening desiderative and gar morphemes. I have established that the causative morpheme assigns the dative case and that this dative case can be absorb~d by the passive morpheme under the right circumstances, that is, when adjacency obtains. Therefore, as already noted, the ungrammaticality of (92), repeated here as (97), is owing to the fact that the dative case, once absorbed, cannot be reassigned.

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5.4 Dative Case and Case Absorption

(97) *Hahaoya ga Taroo ni Hanako ni Ziroo o NOM DAT ACC DAT yob-ase-rare-ta. call-cause-PASS-past 'The mother had Taro make Hanako call (her) Jiro.' Lit: 'The mother was troubled by Taro making Hanako call (her) Jiro.' The dative case in question is the second one, the one assigned to Hanako and the one that we presume originates with the causative morpheme. In (97), this dative case is first absorbed by the passive morpheme, which illicitly assigns the case to H anako. It is possible to construct a minimal pair that demonstrates that the absorbed accusative case, but not the dative case, can be reassigned by the passive morpheme. This is unlike a causative verb formed from an intransitive stem, which allows either the accusative o or the dative ni on the causee. (98)

Taroo ga kodomo olni ik-ase-ta. NOM child ACC/DAT go-cause-past 'Taro caused his child to go.'

Compare the following indirect passives: (99)

Hanako ga Taroo ni kodomo o ik-ase-rare-ta. NOM DAT child ACC go-cause-PASS-past 'Hanako had Taro make her child go.'

(100) *Hanako ga Taroo ni kodomo ni ik-ase-rare-ta. NOM DAT DAT go-cause-PASS-past 'Hanako had Taro make her child go.' Example (99) is the "a-causative." Here, the accusative case is successfully absorbed by the passive morpheme and is reassigned to the causee. In contrast, in the "ni-causative" in ( 100), the dative case is absorbed, but its reassignment is impossible, hence it is ungrammatical. Another pair that demonstrates the same point concerns the verb au 'meet'.• This verb allows two different constructions. (101)

Taroo to Hanako ga au. and NOM meet 'Taro and Hanako will meet.'

( 102)

Taroo ga Hanako ni au. NOM DAT meet 'Taro will meet Hanako.'

In ( 101), the two NPs are conjoined; crucially, the verb does not assign the dative (or any other) case. In (102), the verb assigns the dative case to an internal NP. By our analysis, we predict that (101) should give rise to a grammatical indirect

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5. A Uniform Approach to the Passive

passive because there is no case to be absorbed, whereas (102) should give rise to an ungrammatical indirect passive because the dative case, once absorbed, cannot be reassigned. The prediction is borne out, as shown in the following examples: (103)

Ziroo ga Taroo to Hanako ni aw-are-ta. NOM and DAT meet-PASS-past 'Jiro had Taro and Hanako meet.'

(104)?*Ziroo ga Taroo ni Hanako ni aw-are-ta. DAT DAT meet-PASS-past NOM 'Jiro had Taro meet Hanako.' To claim that the dative ni is assigned by the verb (either a verb stem or a dependent morpheme such as the causative or the passive morpheme) is to say that the dative ni is a case marker, not a pure postposition. Numeral quantifiers provide independent evidence for this. As shown in the following examples, it is possible to modify the dative NP with a numeral quantifier: (105)

Tanaka ga kodomo ni 2-ri kukkii o ageta. NOM children DAT 2-CL cookie ACC gave 'Tanaka gave cookies to two children.'

(106)

Tanaka ga kodomo ni 2-ri ik-ase-ta. NOM children DAT 2-CL go-cause-past 'Tanaka made two children go.'

(I 07)

Tanaka ga gakusya ni 2-ri atta. NOM scholars DAT 2-CL met 'Tanaka met two scholars.'

(108)

Tanaka ga kodomo ni 2-ri sin-are-ta. NOM children DAT 2-CL die-PASS-past 'Tanaka had two children die on him.'

In contrast, it is not possible to modify an adjunct ni-phrase such as the agentive ni of the direct passive. (I 09) *Tanaka ga

kodomo ni 2-ri sasow-are-ta. NOM children by 2-CL invite-PASS-past 'Tanaka was invited by two children.'

5.4.2. Summary I have argued that dative case is assigned by the verb-either a verb stem or a dependent morpheme such as the causative or the passive. Like the accusative case, this dative case can be absorbed by the passive morpheme under adjacency.

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5.5 Summary of Possible Passive Structures

Unlike the accusative case, which can be optionally reassigned, the absorbed dative case cannot be reassigned. Regardless of whether it is dative or accusative, if a case-assigning feature exists in the complex verb, the passive morpheme must absorb a case feature. It can go without absorbing case only if there is no case to be absorbed. In this instance, the passive morpheme attaches to an intransitive verb such as odoru 'dance'.

S.S. SUMMARY OF THE POSSIBLE PASSIVE STRUCTURES

As a way of summarizing the major components of the analysis of the passive presented so far, I list here the possible passive structures together with a brief explanation of each. 5.5.1. Attachment to Intransitive Verb (110)

Taroo ga ame ni fur-are-ta. NOM rain DAT fall-PASS-past 'Taro was rained on.'

If the passive morpheme attaches to an intransitive verb, the choice is clearthe passive morpheme must furnish the external role Experiencer. If, instead, it suppresses the external role of the intransitive verb, the sentence would be devoid of a subject in violation of the extended projection principle.

5.5.2. Attachment to a Transitive Verb If the passive morpheme attaches (directly) to a transitive verb, one of two things happens. The first possibility is identical to English. The passive morpheme absorbs the case of the transitive verb, and suppresses the external 0-role. The object NP moves to the subject position where it receives the nominative case ga. This is the "direct" passive. (111)

Taroo ga

Hanako ni nagur-are-ta. NOM by hit-PASS-past 'Taro was hit by Hanako.'

In the second possibility, the passive morpheme absorbs the case of the transitive verb and in turn assigns this case to the object NP. By Burzio's generalization, the passive morpheme must in turn assign an external thematic role (Experiencer), which causes the original external role of the transitive verb to be internalized. This is the "indirect" passive.

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5. A Uniform Approach to the Passive

Taroo ga Hanako ni kodomo o nagur-are-ta. NOM DAT child ACC hit-PASS-past 'Taro was adversely affected by Hanako hitting his child.'

I have also argued that the dative case in these indirect passives is furnished by the passive morpheme.

5.5.3. Attachment to Ditransitive Verb

If the passive morpheme attaches to a ditransitive verb, one of three possibilities obtains. First, the accusative case of the ditransitive verb is absorbed, and the external role of the verb is suppressed. (113)

Kunsyoo ga Taroo ni (yotte) kodomo ni atae-rare-ta. medal NOM by child to give-PASS-past 'The medal was given by Taro to the child.'

Second, the passive morpheme absorbs the accusative case and in turn assigns this case to the object NP. By Burzio's generalization, the passive morpheme also assigns the external role Experiencer. (114)

Hanako ga Taroo ni kodomo ni kunsyoo o atae-rare-ta. NOM DAT child to medal ACC give-PASS-past Lit. 'Hanako experienced Taro giving a medal to her child.'

Third, the passive morpheme absorbs the dative case of the ditransitive. The absorbed dative case cannot in turn be assigned by the passive morpheme, hence the Goal NP must externalize to acquire case. ( 115)

Kodomo ga Taroo ni kunsyoo o atae-rare-ta. child NOM by medal ACC give-PASS-past 'The child was given a medal by Taro.'

5.6. THE PASSIVE IN JAPANESE AND OTHER LANGUAGES: A LEARNABILITY ISSUE Clearly, the passive construction in Japanese has a wider range of possibilities than in English. What is it about the Japanese passive morphology that makes it unusual and allows such a broad range of possibilities? The one characteristic commonly noted about the Japanese passive as different from the English passive is that the passive morpheme can attach to an intransitive verb. In looking beyond English, however, one realizes quickly that this feature is not really unusual. German and Dutch represent other languages that allow the

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179

passive morpheme to occur with an intransitive stem. This is the so-called impersonal passive (cf. Jaeggli, 1986; Siewierska, 1984). (l 16)

Es wurde getanzt. it was danced 'There was dancing.'

( 117)

Er wordt geftoten. it was whistled 'There was whistling.'

What is striking about the Japanese passive, and serves to differentiate it not only from the English but also from the German and Dutch constructions, is the ability to assign an external 0-role. This external 0-role (Experiencer) allows the passive morpheme to assign the case that it absorbs. Without an external 0-role to assign, Burzio's generalization would prohibit the passive morpheme from assigning the absorbed case. We can predict that in languages such as English, German, and Dutch, in which the passive morphology lacks an external 0-role, the passive morpheme must always suppress the external 0-role of the verb stem. This prediction derives from the 0-criterion. Because the passive morpheme absorbs case without in turn assigning it, an internal NP always externalizes to acquire case. To make this possible, the subject position must be "cleared" by suppressing the external 0-role of the verb stem. Otherwise, the externalized NP would end up with two 0-roles. In contrast to these languages, the Japanese passive morpheme can optionally assign the external 0-role Experiencer. This indicates that the passive morpheme has semantic content-and indeed, as noted by Howard and Niekawa-Howard (1976), passive examples commonly contain the "affected" interpretation. This interpretation is most evident when the external 0-role of the passive morpheme is discharged (the indirect passive). The availability of the external 0-role provides a wider range of options than in English, German, and Dutch. By having this option, we get the class of indirect passives not found in the other languages mentioned. Let us look at the discussion thus far from another perspective, that of language acquisition. The question of interest is whether, as characterized in prior discussion, the passive morphology is learnable for Japanese, on the one hand, and for English, German, and Dutch, on the other? The answer here is an unqualified yes. What exactly does the child need to learn? The Japanese child must learn that the passive morpheme is capable of assigning an external 0-role, whereas children in communities that speak English, German, or Dutch learn that the passive morpheme does not assign an external role. This is strictly knowledge about a particular lexical item. Minimally, every child must learn the function and the meaning of each lexical item in the language, hence learning the property that concerns the external 0-role of the passive is nothing extraordinary.

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And once the child learns the proper characterization, this knowledge interacts with the independent principles of universal grammar to give rise to the grammatical passive constructions of the child's language. This issue of learnability is crucial. No matter how empirically adequate an account may be, if it is implausible from the stand point of acquisition, it becomes highly questionable. The analysis of the passive that I have presented is not only empirically adequate, but, more importantly, it has explanatory power. Cross-linguistic differences among the passive constructions that appear to be great are reduced to a simple lexical fact about the passive morpheme-either the morpheme assigns an external 8-role or it does not. This is a learnable piece of information, and, once learned, virtually everything else about the passive construction derives from the independent principles of universal grammar.

5.7. ASPECTUAL MARKERS AND THE PASSIVE In this section I look at passive constructions that involve an aspectual marker. There are two types of aspectual markers that I deal with. In one, the aspectual marker attaches directly to the stem of the base, as in tabe-tuzukeru 'continue to eat' and tabe-hazimeru 'begin to eat'. In the other, the aspectual marker attaches to the gerundive form of the base, as in tabe-te iru 'eat PROGRESSIVE' and tabe-te simau 'eat PERFECTIVE'. I will refer to the former as "stem" aspectuals and the latter as "gerundive" aspectuals. These two aspectual markers behave differently under passivization, behavior that is consistent with our analysis of the passive. 5. 7. I. Sugioka's Analysis Sugioka (l 984, pp. 220-228) attempts to unify the direct and the indirect passives by stipulating that the passive morpheme -(r)are can attach either to the V' or to the V" node. If it attaches to the V', the result is a direct passive, but if it attaches to the V", the result is an indirect passive. Sugioka exploits the passivization of verbs with aspectual markers to show that the passive morpheme can attach either to the V' or to the V". Take, for example, the progressive aspectual marker -te iru, which turns a simple action verb into the progressive form. (l 18)

Taroo ga piza o tabe-te iru. NOM pizza ACC eat-PROG 'Taro is eating pizza.'

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S. 7 Aspectual Markers and the Passive

As Sugioka demonstrates with the following examples, the passive morpheme -(r)are can occur either before or after the progressive marker, but with different results. ( 119)

a. Taroo wa Hanako o mitume-te i-ta. TOP ACC watch-PROG-past 'Taro was watching Hanako. • b. Hanako wa Taroo ni mitume-rare-te i-ta. TOP by watch-PASS-PROG-past 'Hanako was being watched by Taro.' c. *Hanako wa Taroo ni mitume-te i-rare-ta. TOP by watch-PROG-PASS-past 'Hanako was be-watching-ed by Taro.' (Sugioka, 1984, pp. 223-225)

Example ( 119a) is a declarative sentence with the progressive verb mitume-te 'watching'. (119b) and (119c) are both direct passives as shown by the permutation of the subject and the object NPs. Note that, of the pair, only (119b) is grammatical. In this example, the passive morpheme occurs directly with the verb stem. It is to this passivized verb that the progressive marker -te i(ru) attaches. In contrast, in the ungrammatical (I 19c), the passive morpheme occurs after the progressive marker. In Sugioka's framework, the passive morpheme in the grammatical (119b) attaches to the V', that is, the passive morpheme attaches to the V' dominating the V and its argument NP. In the ungrammatical (119c), the progressive marker attaches to this V', forming a V" phrase. It is to this V" node that the passive morpheme attaches. Sugioka uses this contrast between (I I 9b) and ( 119c) to argue that a grammatical direct passive results only if the passive morpheme attaches to the V' node. Contrast (119) with (120), also from Sugioka (1984, p. 225). i( ru)

(120)

Taroo wa Hanako ni yodoosi oki-te i-rare-ta. TOP DAT all night stay up-PROG-PASS-past 'Hanako stayed up all night (on Taro).'

Unlike the passive sentences in ( 119), this sentence is an example of an indirect passive. Note that the passive morpheme attaches to the progressive form of the verb, which in Sugioka's framework is the V". Consequently, a grammatical indirect passive results if the passive morpheme attaches to the V", as predicted by Sugioka's analysis. I challenge this analysis in the following discussion. Sugioka demonstrates her hypothesis with other aspectual markers. In the following examples from her work, (a) is a grammatical direct passive, (b) is an

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ungrammatical direct passive, and (c) is a grammatical indirect passive in both (121) and (122). (121)

-te simau 'PERFECTIVE' a. Taroo wa Ziroo ni nagur-are-te simat-ta. TOP by hit-PASS-PERF-past 'Taro was hit by Jiro.' b. *Taroo wa Ziroo ni nagut-te simaw-are-ta. TOP by hit-PERF-PASS-past c. Taroo wa Hanako ni tooku e it-te simaw-are-ta. TOP DAT far to go-PERF-PASS-past 'Hanako has gone to far away (to Taro's sorrow).'

( 122)

das 'begin' a. Hanako wa Taroo ni nikum-are-dasi-ta. TOP by hate-PASS-begin-past 'Hanako began to be hated by Taro.' b. *Hanako wa Taroo ni nikumi-das-are-ta. TOP by hate-begin-PASS-past c. Uma ni totuzen hasiri-das-are-ta. horse DAT suddenly run-begin-PASS-past 'The horse suddenly started to run (to my surprise).'

The sentences in (121) contain gerundive aspectuals, whereas those in (122) contain stem aspectuals. Sugioka does not make the distinction between these two aspectual markers but instead assumes that her V' /V" analysis holds for both.

5. 7.2. Stem Aspectual Marker I discuss first the stem aspectual markers. As the name indicates, stem aspectuals attach directly to the stem form of the verb instead of the gerundive form. According to Sugioka (l 984), if the passive morpheme attaches directly to a verb stem, and a stem aspectual marker follows the passive morpheme, the result is the direct passive, because the passive morpheme occurs on the V' node. Her evidence is example (122a). Contrary to Sugioka's judgment, I find (122a) to be extremely awkward, if not ungrammatical. More importantly, I disagree with her judgment about the V" version of this sentence in (122b), which she marks as ungrammatical. In (122b), the passive morpheme attaches to the V" node, according to Sugioka's analysis, so that only the indirect passive should be possible. The analysis therefore predicts that this direct passive example is ungrammatical. I find this example to be much better than (122a), the V' passive which Sugioka marks as grammatical.

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Let us look at passive examples similar to (122b), in which the passive morpheme follows a stem aspectual marker. Contrary to Sugioka's prediction, a direct passive as well as an indirect passive is possible. Her analysis predicts only the latter. In fact, the stem aspectual is "transparent" in that the verb stem and the stem aspectual together behave very much like a simple verb stem, as if the aspectual marker were not there. If the verb stem to which the stem aspectual marker attaches is intransitive, it results in an indirect passive under passivization, just as we saw for simple intransitive stems. (123)

Hahaoya wa

(minna

no

mae de) kodomo ni

mother TOP everyone GEN front in child DAT naki-hazime-rare-ta. cry-begin-PASS-past 'The child began to cry (in front of everyone) to the detriment of the mother.' (124)

Hahaoya wa

(minna

no

mae de) kodomo ni

mother TOP everyone GEN front in child DAT naki-tuzuke-rare-ta. cry-continue-PASS-past 'The child continued to cry (in front of everyone) to the detriment of the mother.' A transitive verb stem with a stem aspectual gives rise to both direct and indirect passives. (125)

a. Taroo ga Hanako ni naguri-hazime-rare-ta. NOM by hit-begin-PASS-past 'Taro had begun to be hit by Hanako.' b. Taroo ga Hanako ni kodomo o naguri-hazime-rare-ta. NOM DAT child ACC hit-begin-PASS-past 'Hanako began to hit the child (to the detriment of Taro).'

(126)

a. Ziroo ga sensei ni ni-zikan mo sikari-tuzuke-rare-ta. NOM teacher by 2-hours scold-continue-PASS-past 'Jiro was scolded by the teacher continuously for two hours.' b. Ziroo ga sensei ni ni-zikan mo kodomo o NOM teacher DAT 2-hours child ACC sikari-tuzuke-rare-ta. scold-continue-PASS-past 'The teacher scolded the child continuously for two hours (to the detriment of J iro).'

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The (a) examples are direct passives, whereas the (b) examples are indirect passives. We saw earlier in the chapter that a simple transitive stem has these two possibilities under passivization. For example, if we take just the transitive verb stem sikar 'scold' in (126) and passivize it, we get both direct and indirect passives. (127)

sensei ni sikar-are-ta. a. Ziroo ga NOM teacher by scold-PASS-past 'Jiro was scolded by the teacher.' b. Ziroo ga sensei ni kodomo o sikar-are-ta. NOM teacher DAT child ACC scold-PASS-past 'The teacher scolded the child to the detriment of Jiro.'

Finally, if we passivize a stem aspectual construction with a ditransitive stem, we see all the possibilities observed earlier for simple ditransitive stems. Example ( 128) is a declarative ditransitive construction with the stem aspectual marker -tuzuke 'continue'. The sentences in (129) give the possible passives constructed from (128). (128)

Taroo ga Hanako ni raburetaa o okuri-tuzuke-ta. NOM to love letter ACC send-continue-past 'Taro continued to send love letters to Hanako.'

( 129)

Taroo ni yotte Hanako ni okuri-tuzuke-rare-ta. a. Raburetaa ga love letter NOM by to send-continue-PASS-past 'Love letters were sent continuously to Hanako from Taro.' b. Hanako ga Taroo ni raburetaa o okuri-tuzuke-rare-ta. NOM by love letter ACC send-continue-PASS-past 'Hanako was sent love letters continuously by Taro.' c. Ziroo ga Taroo ni Hanako ni raburetaa o NOM DAT to love letter ACC okuri-tuzuke-rare-ta. send-continue-PASS-past 'Taro kept sending love letters to Hanako (to Jiro's detriment).'

In (129a), the passive morpheme has absorbed the case-assigning feature of okuri(-tuzuke) and has also suppressed the external thematic role of the base. This causes the object phrase raburetaa 'love letters' to move into the subject position. In (129b), the passive morpheme has absorbed the dative case of the ditransitive stem, which forces the Goal NP to externalize in order to acquire case. In (129c), the passive morpheme has absorbed the case-assigning feature and has in turn assigned this case to the object phrase. By Burzio's generalization, the passive morpheme must assign an external thematic role, which it does, making it possible for the Experiencer Ziroo to occur.

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The important point to note in these grammatical passive sentences is this. Despite the fact that a stem aspectual marker is a productive morpheme, it apparently does not impede adjacency between the verb stem that precedes it and the passive morpheme that follows it. The passive morpheme can readily absorb the case-assigning feature of the verb across a stem aspectual. In this way, the stem aspectual marker is "transparent" for the purpose of adjacency. For example, the direct passive verb in (126a), sikari-tuzuke-rare 'scold-continue-PASS', has the morphological structure in ( 130). (130)

[sikari[-tuzuke[-rare]]] +case

This is the only possible structure given that a stem aspectual marker such as -tuzukeru 'continue' is a productive morpheme that attaches to most verbs. We imposed the same structure earlier for the productive morphemes -(s)ase 'cause' and -garu 'VERBALIZER'. Based on what we observed for the latter morphemes, we would expect the aspectual marker in (130) to impede adjacency between the verb stem sikar 'scold' and the passive morpheme and thus block the passive morpheme from absorbing the case-assigning feature of the verb stem. Instead, we find that the case-assigning feature is successfully absorbed. To the extent that the stem aspectual markers apparently behave differently from productive morphemes, such as the causative -(s)ase and the desiderative and verbalizer -ta-garu that block adjacency, the solution to the "transparency" problem would seem to depend on identifying some property, or the lack thereof, associated solely with the stem aspectual markers. I speculate that the stem aspectual markers lack certain lexical properties associated with productive morphemes that impede adjacency. I suggest the following three relevant properties: change in lexical category, provision of case-assigning feature, and provision of external argument. An aspectual marker does not change the lexical category of the base. It attaches to a verb stem to form another verb. This contrasts with the verbalizer -garu, for example, which turns an adjective into a verb. Aspectual markers also do not provide the case-assigning feature, so that, for example, if an aspectual marker attaches to an intransitive verb, the resulting verb is still intransitive. On the other hand, the causative morpheme and the verbalizer morpheme -garu both provide the case-assigning feature because an intransitive base with -(s)ase or -garu can assign the accusative case. Finally, an aspectual marker does not assign an external thematic role of its own at any time. Its function is simply to characterize the "internal temporal constituency" (Comrie 1976, p. 3) of the action, event, or state described by the verb. This is in contrast to the causative morpheme -(s)ase, which always provides the Agent (=causer) role. The following summarizes the points just mentioned about aspectual markers:

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Characterization of a "Transparent" Morpheme: A productive morpheme is transparent for the purpose of adjacency if it does not alter the fundamental lexical properties of its base (i.e., lexical category, case, and thematic roles).

The apparent generalization here is that a morpheme-in this instance, the stem aspectual-that is incapable of changing the lexical properties of the verb stem is transparent to adjacency. This is an informal conjecture, but the line of future research to derive this phenomenon seems clear enough.

5. 7 .3. Gerundive Aspectual Marker Let us now turn to the passivization of gerundive aspectual markers. Unlike the stem aspectual markers, which attach directly to the stem form of the base, gerundive aspectual markers follow the gerundive form of the base. The basic gerundive form of a verb ends in -te, which is changed to -de in some cases by a phonological adjustment rule (cf. Mccawley, 1968). The two gerundive aspectual markers introduced earlier are the progressive (-te) iru and the perfective (-te) simau. As noted by Sugioka (1984), if the verb stem is transitive, a grammatical direct passive results only if the passive morpheme precedes the aspectual marker. This was shown in examples (119b, c) and (121a, b), repeated here as (132a, b) and (133a, b). (132)

a. Hanako wa Taroo ni mitume-rare-te i-ta. TOP by watch-PASS-PROG-past 'Hanako was being watched by Taro.' b. *Hanako wa Taroo ni mitume-te i-rare-ta. TOP by watch-PROG-PASS-past 'Hanako was be-watching-ed by Taro.'

(133)

a. Taroo wa Ziroo ni nagur-are-te simat-ta. TOP by hit-PASS-PERF-past 'Taro was hit by Jiro.' b. *Taroo wa Ziroo ni nagut-te simaw-are-ta. TOP by hit-PERF-PASS-past

If the passive morpheme follows a gerundive aspectual marker, the only grammatical structure is the indirect passive, as shown in (120) and (121c), repeated here as (134) and (135). (134)

Taroo wa

Hanako ni

yodoosi oki-te i-rare-ta.

TOP DAT all night stay up-PROG-PASS-past 'Hanako stayed up all night (on Taro).'

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(135)

Taroo wa Hanako ni tooku e it-le simaw-are-ta. TOP DAT far to go-PERF-PASS-past 'Hanako has gone to far away (to Taro's sorrow).'

These examples ostensibly support Sugioka's hypothesis that a direct passive results if the passive attaches to the V' node, as in (132a) and (133a), but only an indirect passive is possible if the passive morpheme attaches to the V" node, as shown in (134) and (135).

5.7.3.1.

A PROBLEM WITH SUGIOKA'S ANALYSIS

The examples in (134) and (135) are indeed indirect passives and are grammatical, thus they appear to support Sugioka's hypothesis that the passive morpheme forms an indirect passive when attached to the V" phrase. A close inspection, however, reveals a gap in her data of possible passive verbs of this type. The indirect passive examples she provides are built on intransitive verb stems-oki 'awake' in (134) and ik 'go' in (135). If we look at similar passive verbs, but this time with transitive stems, we see a sharp contrast. The indirect passives of this type are ungrammatical. The (a) sentences in (136)-(139) are the pertinent indirect passive examples. The (b) sentences, which are all grammatical, have the passive morpheme before the aspect marker and are provided for comparison. (136)

-te i(ru) 'PROGRESSIVE' a. *Taroo wa sensei ni ronbun o hihansi-te i-rare-ru. TOP teacher DAT paper ACC criticize PROG-PASS 'As for Taro, his paper is being criticized by the teacher.' b. Taroo wa sensei ni ronbun o hihans-are-te iru. TOP teacher DAT paper ACC criticize-PASS PROG 'As for Taro, his paper is being criticized by the teacher.'

(137)

a. *Hanako wa tomodati ni kodomo o odokasi-te i-rare-ru. TOP friend DAT child ACC threaten PROG-PASS 'As for Hanako, her child is being threatened by a friend.' b. Hanako wa tomodati ni kodomo o odokas-are-te iru. TOP friend DAT child ACC threaten-PASS PROG 'As for Hanako, her child is being threatened by a friend.'

(138)

-te simaw 'PERFECTIVE' a. *Baku wa kodomo ni kukkii o zenbu I TOP child DAT cookies ACC all simat-te simaw-are-ta. put away PERF-PASS-past 'As for me, the cookies were all put away by the child.'

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b. Boku wa kodomo ni kukkii o zenbu tabe-rare-te simat-ta. TOP child DAT cookies ACC all eat-PASS PERF-past 'As for me, the cookies were all eaten by the child.' (139)

a. *Boku wa sensei ni ronbun o hihansi-te simaw-are-ta. TOP teacher DAT paper ACC criticize PERF-PASS-past 'As for me, my paper was criticized by the teacher.' ronbun o hihans-are-te simat-ta. b. Boku wa sensei ni TOP teacher DAT paper ACC criticize-PASS PERF-past 'As for me, my paper was criticized by the teacher.'

5.7.3.2.

AN ALTERNATE ACCOUNT BASED ON CASE ABSORPTION

I now propose an account of these ungrammatical indirect passives based on our "case absorption" analysis of the passive, coupled with a stipulation on the gerundive morphology. As a starting point, let us first see why the (b) examples above are grammatical. The passive morpheme has absorbed the case-assigning feature of the verb stem to which it attaches directly. The passive morpheme in turn assigns this case to the object NP. By Burzio's generalization, a verb that assigns case also assigns an external thematic role. In the (b) examples, the passive morpheme indeed assigns the Experiencer role as required. Turning to the ungrammatical (a) examples, I propose the following stipulation on gerundive morphology: (140)

Stipulation on Gerundive Morphology: The gerundive morphology (-te) is an absolute barrier to adjacency.

This stipulation allows us to straightforwardly account for the ungrammatical (a) examples. To illustrate, take the verb hihansi-te simaw-are 'criticize PERFPASS' in (139a), which has the following morphological structure: (141)

[hihansi-te [simaw[-(r)are]]] +case

As shown, the verb stem and the passive morpheme are separated by the perfective aspectual marker simau. Recall from our discussion of stem aspectual markers that a stem aspectual marker is "transparent" for the purpose of adjacency. If, contrary to the stipulation in (140), the same holds for gerundive aspectual markers, we would expect the passive morpheme in (141) to be able to absorb the case-assigning feature. But this is contrary to fact. First of all, if, unlike a stem aspectual, the gerundive morphology indeed blocks adjacency, it should be impossible to construct a direct passive in which case is absorbed across the ·gerundive morphology. This was shown in examples (132b) and (133b), repeated here as (142) and (143),

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(142) *Hanako wa Taroo ni mitume-te i-rare-ta. TOP by watch-PROG-PASS-past 'Hanako was be-watching-ed by Taro.' (143) *Taroo wa Ziroo ni nagut-te simaw-are-ta. TOP by hit-PERF-PASS-past 'Taro was hit by Jiro.' Second, we would expect the ungrammatical (a) examples in (136)-(139) to be well formed if indeed the passive morpheme can absorb the case-assigning feature across the gerundive aspectual marker. By absorbing case, the passive morpheme can in turn assign it to the object phrase. In turn, the passive morpheme must assign the Experiencer external role as required by Burzio's generalization. This is precisely the structure found in the (a) examples in (136)-(139), which are all indirect passives. The fact that these are ungrammatical attests that the passive morpheme is unable to absorb the case-assigning feature of the verb stem owing to the "absolute barrier" effect of the gerundive morphology. The ungrammaticality is caused by the inability of the passive morpheme to absorb the case-assigning feature that occurs in the verb stem. As I characterized the passive morpheme, it must absorb the case-assigning feature of the verb to which it attaches if such a feature exists. The examples in (144) and (145) give further evidence that the gerundive morphology is an absolute barrier to adjacency, thus case cannot be absorbed across it. In the (a) examples, the intent is for the passive morphology to have absorbed the dative case of the adjacent morpheme-the causative morpheme in (144a) and the verb stem in (145a). As shown, the intervening gerundive morphology blocks this absorption. The (b) examples demonstrate that the dative case absorption can take place if the gerundive morphology does not intervene. (144)

a. *Taroo wa Hanako ni hon o kaw-ase-te i-rare-ru. TOP DAT book ACC buy-cause PROG-PASS 'Taro is being made to buy a book by Hanako.' b. Taroo wa Hanako ni hon o kaw-ase-rare-te iru. TOP DAT book ACC buy-cause-PASS PROG 'Taro is being made to read a book by Hanako.'

(145)

a. *Hanako ga

sensei ni sono sigoto o atae-te NOM teacher DAT that job ACC give simaw-are-ta.

PERF-PASS-past 'Hanako had the teacher give her that job (to her detriment).' b. Hanako ga sensei ni sono sigoto o atae-rare-te simat-ta. NOM teacher DAT that job ACC give-PASS PERF-past 'Hanako had the teacher give her that job (to her detriment).'

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These ungrammatical (a) examples contrast with the following grammatical indirect passives: (146)

yodoosi oki-te i-rare-ta. Taroo wa Hanako ni TOP DAT all night stay up-PROG-PASS-past 'Hanako stayed up all night (on Taro).'

(147)

Taroo wa Hanako ni tooku e it-te simaw-are-ta. TOP DAT far to go-PERF-PASS-past 'Hanako has gone to far away (to Taro's sorrow).'

Unlike the (a) examples in (144) and (145), the verb stems in these examples of indirect passives do not bear a case-assigning feature. Consequently, the requirement that the passive morpheme must absorb case is suspended, making it possible for these sentences to occur. 9

5.7.3.3.

MORE ON THE STIPULATION ON GERUNDIVE MORPHOLOGY

As our final discussion in this section, I briefly examine the gerundive construction in general in order to give further credence to the earlier stipulation on gerundive morphology, which I repeat in (148). (148)

Stipulation on Gerundive Morphology: The gerundive morphology (-te) is an absolute barrier to adjacency.

This stipulation implies that there is a "strong" boundary between the gerundive form and what follows it. This boundary makes it impossible to obtain morphological adjacency. I give two pieces of evidence for this boundary, one from phonology and the other from syntax, both entailing well-known facts about Japanese. As already noted in chapter 4, the accent on verb stems appears on the penultimate mora of the stem in the past tense. The same accent is "attracted" to the final mora of the stem in the present tense (cf. McCawley, 1968). (149)

tabe-ta 'ate' tabe-ru 'eat'

6ti-ta 'dropped' oti-ru 'drop'

sime-ta 'closed' sime-ru 'close'

If a suffix attaches to an accented stem directly, the entire stem-affix behaves as a stem, that is, the accent appears on the penultimate mora of the "stem" in the past tense, and on the final mora in the present tense. (150)

tabe-sase-ta 'caused to eat' tabe-sase-ru 'cause to eat' sime-s