Table Of ContentLocality and Information Structure
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today (LA)
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today (LA) provides a platform for original monograph
studies into synchronic and diachronic linguistics. Studies in LA confront empirical
and theoretical problems as these are currently discussed in syntax, semantics,
morphology, phonology, and systematic pragmatics with the aim to establish robust
empirical generalizations within a universalistic perspective.
General Editors
Werner Abraham Elly van Gelderen
University of Vienna / Rijksuniversiteit Arizona State University
Groningen
Advisory Editorial Board
Cedric Boeckx Christer Platzack
Harvard University University of Lund
Guglielmo Cinque Ian Roberts
University of Venice Cambridge University
Günther Grewendorf Lisa deMena Travis
J.W. Goethe-University, Frankfurt McGill University
Liliane Haegeman Sten Vikner
University of Lille, France University of Aarhus
Hubert Haider C. Jan-Wouter Zwart
University of Salzburg University of Groningen
Volume 116
Locality and Information Structure. A cartographic approach to Japanese
Yoshio Endo
Locality and Information Structure
A cartographic approach to Japanese
Yoshio Endo
Yokohama National University
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Locality and information structure : a cartographic approach to Japanese / Yoshio Endo.
p. cm. (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, issn 0166-0829 ; v. 116)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Japanese language--Syntax.
PL613.E53 2007
495.6/5--dc22 2007037270
isbn 978 90 272 3380 6 (Hb; alk. paper)
© 2007 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface viii
List of Abbreviations x
CHAPTER 1
Introduction 1
1.1 Generative grammar 1
1.2 Architecture of generative grammar 2
1.3 Cartography of syntactic structures 4
1.4 The syntax of information structure: Left periphery 5
1.5 Locality 6
1.6 Intersection between locality and information structure 11
1.7 Japanese from the cartographic perspective 12
1.8 Organization 18
CHAPTER 2
Evolution of Relativized Minimality 19
2.1 The original RM: Rizzi (1997) 19
2.2 Challenge from Kuno and Takami (1997) 21
2.3 Refinements: Cinque (1990), Roberts (2001) and Starke (2001) 23
2.4 The new Relativized Minimality: Feature-based RM 25
2.5 Further refinements 28
2.6 Cases where X0-elements intervene for A’-chains 33
2.7 Deriving the coordinate structure constraint 34
2.8 Negative islands in Japanese: Argument vs. adjunct asymmetry 38
2.9 Conclusion 43
CHAPTER 3
Topic and Quantifier-Induced Blocking Effects 44
3.1 Previous studies of quantifier-induced blocking effects 44
3.2 Quantifier-induced blocking effects in Japanese/Korean 45
3.3 Two approaches to quantifier-induced blocking effects 48
3.4 Comparison: A view from D-linking 49
3.4.1 Beck and Kim (1997) and Tanaka (2003) 49
3.4.2 Lee and Tomioka (2001) and Tomioka (2004) 53
3.5 Remaining problems: An asymmetry in RM 56
3.6 Conclusion 61
Appendix: A brief history of Japanese intervention effects 61
v i CONTENTS
CHAPTER 4
Are Topics Special? 65
4.1 Issue: Are topics special? 65
4.2 Basic properties of backward binding 68
4.3 Japanese backward binding 69
4.4 Topic-induced RM effects in Tsez 78
4.5 Favoring one of the two ideas of Rizzi (2004) 79
4.6 Topic feature transmission from the CP zone 83
4.7 Refinements 84
4.8 Topicality in backward binding 88
4.9 Conclusion 92
CHAPTER 5
Focus and Case 94
5.1 An extra Case particle induces new focus interpretation 94
5.2 Gricean nature of focus: A representational approach 103
5.3 Implications from Chierchia (2004) 105
5.4 Another argument for representational approaches 106
5.5 Conclusion 108
CHAPTER 6
Focus and Nominative Adverbials 110
6.1 Japanese nominative adverbials and Italian preposed adverbials 110
6.2 Digression: RM-free nature of scrambling 116
6.3 Conditional topics: Tateishi (1991) 120
6.4 Conclusion 124
CHAPTER 7
Ditransitives 125
7.1 Syntactic structures of ditransitives 125
7.2 RM in morpho-syntax: First Sister Principle 130
7.3 Idioms 137
7.4 Digression: Rendaku 150
7.5 Locality in picture nouns 155
7.6 Conclusion 159
CHAPTER 8
On the Nature of the Subject Position 160
8.1 Background 160
8.2 Scrambling into the CP zone 163
CONTENTS vii
8.3 What satisfies the EPP? 168
8.3.1 An implication for Cardinaletti (2004) and Rizzi (2006a) 170
8.3.2 What X0 satisfies the EPP? Sentence final particles 175
8.4 Discussion 186
8.5 Person restrictions 193
8.6 Subject/object asymmetries: Case particle drop 198
8.7 Concluding remarks 202
CHAPTER 9
Informant Surveys 204
9.1 Adverbials and Relativized Minimality 204
9.1.1 General properties of Japanese adverbials 204
9.1.2 Problems 210
9.1.3 Adverbials and information structure 213
9.2 The categorical status of nominative adverbials 214
9.3 Conclusion 216
CHAPTER 10
Concluding Remarks 218
10.1 Summary 218
10.2 Prospect: Eliminating Spell-Out 220
References 222
Subject Index 233
Preface
Several aspects of this book make it unique and go beyond earlier works. First, this
book is currently the only systematic exploration of Japanese syntax within the
cartographic approach that pays special attention to the locality effects induced by
discourse-based features such as topic and focus. Second, unlike previous works on
Japanese generative syntax, the research reported in this book is based partially on
informant surveys, including the distribution of adverbials and the categorical status of
the nominative Case particle on adverbials, as well as an exhaustive survey of
ditransitive predicates in terms of word formation and idioms in Koujien, one of the
largest Japanese dictionaries. Third, a systematic study of the nature of clause-final
particles in Japanese syntax, which has previously only been explored in the framework
of discourse analysis, is presented.
The following provides an overview of the content of the book. Chapter 1 introduces
some basic notions to be exploited in the rest of the book along with some relevant
fundamental properties of Japanese. Chapter 2 discusses negative islands, mainly in
English, to review the historical development of Relativized Minimality (RM). Chapter 3
examines some quantifiers that block wh-movement in Japanese. Chapter 4 takes up the
issue, raised in Rizzi (2004), of why topics are special with respect to RM in Italian and
provides a piece of evidence from Japanese backward binding in favor of one possible
solution. Chapter 5 turns attention to a case where the suffixation of an extra Case
particle induces a new semantic effect of focus interpretation that blocks wh-movement.
Chapter 6 explores the nature of suffixation of the nominative Case particle ga to an
adverbial, which creates a new focus interpretation and blocks overt movement. In
chapter 7, we look at locality seen in the dative construction and the double object
construction in English and Japanese from the perspective of morpho-syntax. Chapter 8
examines the nature of the subject position, and clause-final particles are discussed.
Chapter 9 presents some results from the informant surveys that I conducted to support
some of the points made in the previous chapters. Chapter 10 concludes our discussion.
This book is a revised version of my Ph.D. dissertation, where all chapters have
undergone a number of revisions. The original dissertation was written while I was a
graduate student at the University of Geneva and a visiting scholar at MIT. In the course
of writing this book, I have benefited a lot from various people. First and foremost, I
would like to express my deepest gratitude to Luigi Rizzi for giving me a chance to write
my dissertation under his supervision. His insightful comments broadened my
perspective on theoretical linguistics, which I hope is reflected in this book. My deep
appreciation goes to my other dissertation committee members. Ur Shlonsky always
helped me sharpen my ideas by asking the right questions and pointing out possible
flaws in my argumentation. Shigeru Miyagawa taught me many things through his
lectures, discussion, and collaboration, for which I am very grateful. In addition to my
committee members, I am grateful to the following linguists in Geneva: Christopher
Laenzlinger, Jacques Moeschler, Genoveva Puskas, and Gabriela Soare for discussing
some of the topics of the book with me.
PREFACE ix
Some parts of my dissertation were written during my stay at the Department of
Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT in 2005, which was funded by a fellowship from the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan, to which I
am grateful. Regular appointments with Noam Chomsky were some of my most
precious and exciting moments. Also fruitful were informal discussions with Guglielmo
Cinque, Morris Halle, James Huang, Shinichiro Ishihara, Alec Marantz, Norvin
Richards, Koichi Takezawa, and Dong-Whee Yang. Many thanks go to Cedric Boeckx
for discussing some of my premature ideas and for recommending publication of my
dissertation.
In the linguistics community in Japan, I am grateful to Roger Martin and
Christopher Tancredi for proofreading an earlier version of this book.
As my dissertation evolved into a book, I received helpful suggestions about
organization from Werner Abraham and Elly van Gelderen, to whom I am very grateful.
Kees Vaes from John Benjamins helped me a lot with the layout. I am also grateful to
Lora Beth Bolton for proofreading an earlier version of this book.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my parents, Tadao and
Sadako Endo, for moral support.
Tokyo, Japan
Yoshio Endo
June 2007
