Spatial concepts are central for human language and cognition. They can either be the source or t... more Spatial concepts are central for human language and cognition. They can either be the source or the target of grammaticalizations. In this paper, we compare grammaticalization in Japanese and Korean in four core areas related to space: case particles and related particles, relational nouns, postpositional verbs, and demonstratives. While the two languages are so well-studied that it would be unrealistic to expect any genuinely new findings through such a limited comparison, the area studied here yields a probably fairly representative window on the two languages, which is characterized by the following features: striking similarities in the structure of the grammaticalizations, most likely due to common (genetic or areal) inheritance, and little overlap in the lexical sources, except for core expressions that may represent a particularly old layer.
This article presents a crosslinguistic study of the association of event-oriented modal categori... more This article presents a crosslinguistic study of the association of event-oriented modal categories, particularly the potential and the necessitive, with noncanonical case marking of the subject and voice-related constructions. It is estimated that in at least a quarter of the languages of the world such an association exists. Voice-related constructions are much more strongly associated with the potential than with the necessitive, and the source constructions are overwhelmingly passive and spontaneous voice. Accordingly, a grammaticalization path from passive and spontaneous to potential can be posited. Furthermore, it was found that the expression of modality with non-canonical case marking patterns often originates in, or is associated with, possessive constructions, usually resulting in necessitive constructions. Possible motivations and contexts for the development of the constructions under investigation are suggested.
Abstract This paper has two goals. The first is to develop a cross-linguistically valid model of ... more Abstract This paper has two goals. The first is to develop a cross-linguistically valid model of modality and mood that captures the most important dimensions along which modal expressions vary. I posit a model with two such dimensions, one of volitivity, and one of event-orientation vs. speaker-orientation, mood being placed at the speaker-oriented end relative to modality proper. The second goal is to provide a new perspective on semantic change of modal expressions on the basis of the proposed model. I argue that unidirectional change along the event-oriented / speaker-oriented dimension is the one overarching tendency of semantic change in modals. This stands in contrast to the widespread perception that change from deontic to epistemic is the dominant tendency. The directionality suggested in this new model is also more comprehensive than previously proposed tendencies of change, such as ‘‘from agent-oriented to epistemic’’, ‘‘from agent-oriented to speaker-oriented’’, and ‘‘from participant-internal to participant-external’’, as it better accounts for various kinds of change that have been previously neglected, including change from epistemic to deontic.
Teaching strategies as part of the curriculum are closely connected to teaching goals and learnin... more Teaching strategies as part of the curriculum are closely connected to teaching goals and learning goals on the one hand, and actual teaching conditions on the other hand. In language education, teaching methods are an essential part of teaching strategies. Textbooks as a rule directly reflect teaching methods. In this paper I will introduce the three most common teaching methods in language education and show how they are used in beginner-level German language textbooks. Through the comparison of textbook published in German-speaking countries and in Japan, it becomes obvious that there is a vast gap between how German as a foreign language is taught in German-speaking countries (and presumably internationally) on the one hand and in Japan on the other hand. In brief, most of the textbooks made in Japan do not reflect the results of research in language teaching and learning. An analysis of curricular goals and actual teaching conditions at Hokkaido University shows that much of the problem lies with actual teaching conditions at universities that do not provide for modern language teaching. That is, in order to improve the quality of language teaching, teaching conditions have to be adjusted to modern needs. Furthermore, a flexibilization of the study system is required. The author suggests that experts in the field of language education should be given a vital role in planning language education at universities as well as in teaching itself.
Grammaticalization from a Typological Perspective, 2018
In this chapter, we try to present typical processes of grammaticalization in Japanese and Korean... more In this chapter, we try to present typical processes of grammaticalization in Japanese and Korean, and investigate which processes may particularly contribute to the discussion of theoretical aspects of grammaticalization. The processes introduced in some detail are the grammaticalization of converbs, of deverbal postpositions, and of nouns marking categories in the verb phrase as typical processes. We then discuss the morphological properties of grammaticalization in the two languages, and the high frequency of grammaticalization into interpersonal domains. Both features support extant ideas about grammaticalization rather than contradicting them. In contrast, a third point—that grammaticalizations may enter the language through writing rather than conversation—may be a challenge for ideas about grammaticalization that seek the source of grammaticalizations solely in speaker–hearer interaction.
Hierarchical clause structure is an important feature of most theories of grammar. While it has b... more Hierarchical clause structure is an important feature of most theories of grammar. While it has been an indispensable part of formal syntactic theories, functional theories have more recently discovered for themselves a ‘layered structure of the clause’. A major focus of the current discussion on semanto-syntactic clause structure is the hierarchical ordering of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect and modality. However, there are very few empirical studies yet to provide systematic evidence for presumably universal hierarchical structures. This book presents a systematic corpus-based study of the semantic and morphosyntactic interaction of modality with tense, aspect, negation, and modal markers embedded in subordinate clauses. The results are critically compared with extant theories of hierarchies of grammatical categories, including those in Functional Grammar, Role and Reference Grammar, and the Cartography of Syntactic Structures. Also provided is an extensive description of the expression of modality and related categories in Modern Japanese.
Page 1. STUDIES IN LANGUAGE COMPANION SERIES Ellipsis and Reference Tracking in Japanese : - Sh... more Page 1. STUDIES IN LANGUAGE COMPANION SERIES Ellipsis and Reference Tracking in Japanese : - Shigeko Nariyama Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Page 5. Ellipsis and Reference Tracking in Japanese This One OF32-QSH-1GNB Page 6. ...
Spatial concepts are central for human language and cognition. They can either be the source or t... more Spatial concepts are central for human language and cognition. They can either be the source or the target of grammaticalizations. In this paper, we compare grammaticalization in Japanese and Korean in four core areas related to space: case particles and related particles, relational nouns, postpositional verbs, and demonstratives. While the two languages are so well-studied that it would be unrealistic to expect any genuinely new findings through such a limited comparison, the area studied here yields a probably fairly representative window on the two languages, which is characterized by the following features: striking similarities in the structure of the grammaticalizations, most likely due to common (genetic or areal) inheritance, and little overlap in the lexical sources, except for core expressions that may represent a particularly old layer.
This article presents a crosslinguistic study of the association of event-oriented modal categori... more This article presents a crosslinguistic study of the association of event-oriented modal categories, particularly the potential and the necessitive, with noncanonical case marking of the subject and voice-related constructions. It is estimated that in at least a quarter of the languages of the world such an association exists. Voice-related constructions are much more strongly associated with the potential than with the necessitive, and the source constructions are overwhelmingly passive and spontaneous voice. Accordingly, a grammaticalization path from passive and spontaneous to potential can be posited. Furthermore, it was found that the expression of modality with non-canonical case marking patterns often originates in, or is associated with, possessive constructions, usually resulting in necessitive constructions. Possible motivations and contexts for the development of the constructions under investigation are suggested.
Abstract This paper has two goals. The first is to develop a cross-linguistically valid model of ... more Abstract This paper has two goals. The first is to develop a cross-linguistically valid model of modality and mood that captures the most important dimensions along which modal expressions vary. I posit a model with two such dimensions, one of volitivity, and one of event-orientation vs. speaker-orientation, mood being placed at the speaker-oriented end relative to modality proper. The second goal is to provide a new perspective on semantic change of modal expressions on the basis of the proposed model. I argue that unidirectional change along the event-oriented / speaker-oriented dimension is the one overarching tendency of semantic change in modals. This stands in contrast to the widespread perception that change from deontic to epistemic is the dominant tendency. The directionality suggested in this new model is also more comprehensive than previously proposed tendencies of change, such as ‘‘from agent-oriented to epistemic’’, ‘‘from agent-oriented to speaker-oriented’’, and ‘‘from participant-internal to participant-external’’, as it better accounts for various kinds of change that have been previously neglected, including change from epistemic to deontic.
Teaching strategies as part of the curriculum are closely connected to teaching goals and learnin... more Teaching strategies as part of the curriculum are closely connected to teaching goals and learning goals on the one hand, and actual teaching conditions on the other hand. In language education, teaching methods are an essential part of teaching strategies. Textbooks as a rule directly reflect teaching methods. In this paper I will introduce the three most common teaching methods in language education and show how they are used in beginner-level German language textbooks. Through the comparison of textbook published in German-speaking countries and in Japan, it becomes obvious that there is a vast gap between how German as a foreign language is taught in German-speaking countries (and presumably internationally) on the one hand and in Japan on the other hand. In brief, most of the textbooks made in Japan do not reflect the results of research in language teaching and learning. An analysis of curricular goals and actual teaching conditions at Hokkaido University shows that much of the problem lies with actual teaching conditions at universities that do not provide for modern language teaching. That is, in order to improve the quality of language teaching, teaching conditions have to be adjusted to modern needs. Furthermore, a flexibilization of the study system is required. The author suggests that experts in the field of language education should be given a vital role in planning language education at universities as well as in teaching itself.
Grammaticalization from a Typological Perspective, 2018
In this chapter, we try to present typical processes of grammaticalization in Japanese and Korean... more In this chapter, we try to present typical processes of grammaticalization in Japanese and Korean, and investigate which processes may particularly contribute to the discussion of theoretical aspects of grammaticalization. The processes introduced in some detail are the grammaticalization of converbs, of deverbal postpositions, and of nouns marking categories in the verb phrase as typical processes. We then discuss the morphological properties of grammaticalization in the two languages, and the high frequency of grammaticalization into interpersonal domains. Both features support extant ideas about grammaticalization rather than contradicting them. In contrast, a third point—that grammaticalizations may enter the language through writing rather than conversation—may be a challenge for ideas about grammaticalization that seek the source of grammaticalizations solely in speaker–hearer interaction.
Hierarchical clause structure is an important feature of most theories of grammar. While it has b... more Hierarchical clause structure is an important feature of most theories of grammar. While it has been an indispensable part of formal syntactic theories, functional theories have more recently discovered for themselves a ‘layered structure of the clause’. A major focus of the current discussion on semanto-syntactic clause structure is the hierarchical ordering of grammatical categories such as tense, aspect and modality. However, there are very few empirical studies yet to provide systematic evidence for presumably universal hierarchical structures. This book presents a systematic corpus-based study of the semantic and morphosyntactic interaction of modality with tense, aspect, negation, and modal markers embedded in subordinate clauses. The results are critically compared with extant theories of hierarchies of grammatical categories, including those in Functional Grammar, Role and Reference Grammar, and the Cartography of Syntactic Structures. Also provided is an extensive description of the expression of modality and related categories in Modern Japanese.
Page 1. STUDIES IN LANGUAGE COMPANION SERIES Ellipsis and Reference Tracking in Japanese : - Sh... more Page 1. STUDIES IN LANGUAGE COMPANION SERIES Ellipsis and Reference Tracking in Japanese : - Shigeko Nariyama Page 2. Page 3. Page 4. Page 5. Ellipsis and Reference Tracking in Japanese This One OF32-QSH-1GNB Page 6. ...
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