Introduction to Japanese Linguistics

This is the first textbook on the structure of Japanese written in the framework of generative linguistics. It serves both as an introduction to Japanese Linguistics for those who have no prior knowledge of linguistics, and as a reference book on Japanese for linguists in general. The book gives a comprehensive account of Japanese linguistics covering phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, language change, dialect variation, and gender differences. The author introduces linguistic notions and terminology, and discusses theoretical analyses of linguistic phenomena in the language. A major focus is on phonology and syntax, where the formal approach of generative grammar is adopted. To aid the student′s learning, chapters are supported by exercises exploring descriptive and theoretical issues, and by reading lists which introduce students to the research literate. Besides its value to students taking courses in Japanese linguistics, and as a reference on the structure of the language, the book will also be a benefit to instructors of Japanese who wish to enhance their linguistic knowledge of the language.

List of Figures, Tables, and Maps. Preface. Acknowledgements. Part I: Introduction: . 1. Suggested Readings. Part II: Phonetics: . 2. Phonetic Inventory. Place/Manner of Articulation and Voicing. Phonetic Inventory of English – Consonants. Stops. Fricatives. Affricates. Approsimants. Nasals. Phonetic Inventory of Japanese – Consonants. Stops. Fricatives. Affricates. Approximates. Nasals. Phonetic Inventory of English – Vowels. Phonetic Inventory of Japanese – Vowels. Notes. Suggested Readings. Excercises. Part III: Phonology: . 3. Phonological Rules in Japanese. Devoicing of High Vowels. Nasal Assimilation. Alveolar Alternations. [h]/[ø]/[ç] Alternation. Digression on the Phoneme Status of [t, c, š, j, ø, ç]. Verbal Conjugation Rules. Rule Ordering. 4. Sequential Voicing – "Rendaku". 5. Mora vs. Syllable. Speech Errors. English. Japanese. Language Games: "Babibu Language". 6. Accentuation in Japanese. Stress vs. Pitch. Accentuation in Japanese. Accentuation of Long Nominal Compounds. Accentuation of Short Nominal Compounds. Accentuation of Short Nominal Compounds. Accentual Variation Among Endings. 7. Mimetics. 8. Loan Words. 9. Casual Speech and Fast Speech. 10. Length Requirements. Notes. Suggested Readings. Exercises. Part IV: Morphology: . 11. Parts of Speech Categories. Nouns. Verbs. Adjectives. Adverbs. Postpositions. Case Particles. Adjectival Nouns. Verbal Nouns. 12. Morpheme Types. 13. Word Formation. Affixation. Compounding. Reduplication. Clipping. Borrowing. 14. Head. Notes. Suggested Readings. Exercises. Part V: Syntax: . 15. Syntactic Structures. Syntactic Constituency. Phrase Structures. Phrase Structure Rules. The Notion of Head. Subcategorization. Structural Relations. 16. Transformational Rules. Yes–No Question. WH–Movement. 17. Word Order and Scrambling. Scrambling Phenomenon. Configurationality. Evidence for the Movement Analysis. Numeral Quantifiers. Pronominal Reference. Some Restrictions on Scrambling. 18. Null Anaphora. Syntactic Representation of Null Anaphora. Interpretation of Null Anaphora. 19. Reflexives. Zibun. Zibun–Zisin. 20. The Notion of Subject. Reflexivization. Subject Honorification. 21. Passives. Direct Passives. Indirect Passives (Adversative Passives). Ni Yotte–Passives. 22. Causatives. O–Causatives and Ni–Causatives. The Double–o constraint. The Structure of Causatives. Causative Passives. Adversative Causatives. Lexical Causatives. 23. Relatives Clauses (Sentence Modifiers). The Ga/No Conversion. Relative Clauses without Gaps. Internally Headed Relative Clauses. Unaccusativity. 24. The Light Verb Construction. 25. Further Issues on Phrase Structure. X′–Theory. Application to Japanese. Notes. Suggested Readings. Exercises. Part VI: Semantics: . 26. Word Meaning. 27. Truth Conditions. 28. Thematic Roles. 29. Aspectual Properties of Verbs. Verbal Classification in English. Verbal Classification in Japanese. 30. Unaccusativity. 31. Stative Predicates. 32. Verbs of Giving and Receiving. Verbs. Auxiliary Verbs. 33. Negotiation. Notes. Suggested Readings. Exercises. Part VII: Language Variation: . 34. Historical Linguistics. Verbal Conjugation. Sequential Voicing – "Rendaku". Case Particles. 35. Honorification. 36. Dialectal Variation. 37. Gender Differences. Notes. Suggested Readings. Exercises. Bibliography. Index.

Natsuko Tsujimura is Associate Professor in East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Adjunct Associate Professor in Linguistics at Indiana University, USA.

"Teachers and students of Japanese will find the rich set of data and the clear and user–friendly descriptions invaluable in understanding the structure of the Japanese Language." Professor Shigeru Miyagawa, Massachesetts Institute of Technology "This book is an excellent invitation to Japanese Linguistics not only for students of Japanese but also for native speakers who are interested in the structure of their own language. As it includes insightful discussion of the major theoretical issues and detailed bibliographical information, it is also a valuable reference for theoretical linguistics." Mamoru Saito, University of Connecticut