From less personal to more personal: Subjectification of ni -marked NPs in Japanese discourse
-
Misumi Sadler
Abstract
The Japanese ni is a postpositional particle, known for its wide range of semantic and grammatical roles such as a marker of locations, directions, recipients, and dative subjects. Based on an examination of pre-modern and modern Japanese texts, this study documents how the most basic meaning/usage of ni-marked NPs to mark stative locations has attained more subjective meaning/usage over the course of history. As discussed in Heine (1997), the transition from one stage to another is gradual, involving each new stage coexisting with the prior stages. These overlaps create ambiguity in structure and meaning. The study shows the importance of diachronic perspectives to help us better understand the ways in which semantic and pragmatic changes are represented synchronically.
Abstract
The Japanese ni is a postpositional particle, known for its wide range of semantic and grammatical roles such as a marker of locations, directions, recipients, and dative subjects. Based on an examination of pre-modern and modern Japanese texts, this study documents how the most basic meaning/usage of ni-marked NPs to mark stative locations has attained more subjective meaning/usage over the course of history. As discussed in Heine (1997), the transition from one stage to another is gradual, involving each new stage coexisting with the prior stages. These overlaps create ambiguity in structure and meaning. The study shows the importance of diachronic perspectives to help us better understand the ways in which semantic and pragmatic changes are represented synchronically.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction: The role of semantic, pragmatic and discourse factors in the development of case ix
-
Part I. Semantically and aspectually motivated synchronic case variation
- Case variation in Gothic absolute constructions 3
- Some semantic and pragmatic aspects of object alternation in Early Vedic 23
-
Part II. Discourse motivated subject marking
- The case of the shifty ergative marker: A pragmatic shift in the ergative marker of one Australian mixed language 59
- How useful is case morphology? The loss of the Old French two-case system within a theory of Preferred Argument structure 93
-
Part III. Reduction or expansion of case marker distribution
- The development of case in Germanic 123
- A usage-based approach to change: Old Russian possessive constructions 161
- Lacking in Latvian: Case variation from a cognitive and constructional perspective 181
- Verb classes and dative objects in Insular Scandinavian 203
- Transitive adjectives in Japanese 225
-
Part IV. Case syncretism motivated by syntax, semantics or language contact
- Patterns of development, patterns of syncretism of relational morphology in the Bodic languages 261
- The evolution of local cases and their grammatical equivalent in Greek and Latin 283
- Argument structure and alignment variations and changes in Late Latin 307
- Case loss in Texas German: The influence of semantic and pragmatic factors 347
-
Part V. Case splits motivated by pragmatics, metonymy and subjectification
- Semantic role to new information in Meithei 377
- From less personal to more personal: Subjectification of ni -marked NPs in Japanese discourse 401
- Author index 423
- Subject index 427
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction: The role of semantic, pragmatic and discourse factors in the development of case ix
-
Part I. Semantically and aspectually motivated synchronic case variation
- Case variation in Gothic absolute constructions 3
- Some semantic and pragmatic aspects of object alternation in Early Vedic 23
-
Part II. Discourse motivated subject marking
- The case of the shifty ergative marker: A pragmatic shift in the ergative marker of one Australian mixed language 59
- How useful is case morphology? The loss of the Old French two-case system within a theory of Preferred Argument structure 93
-
Part III. Reduction or expansion of case marker distribution
- The development of case in Germanic 123
- A usage-based approach to change: Old Russian possessive constructions 161
- Lacking in Latvian: Case variation from a cognitive and constructional perspective 181
- Verb classes and dative objects in Insular Scandinavian 203
- Transitive adjectives in Japanese 225
-
Part IV. Case syncretism motivated by syntax, semantics or language contact
- Patterns of development, patterns of syncretism of relational morphology in the Bodic languages 261
- The evolution of local cases and their grammatical equivalent in Greek and Latin 283
- Argument structure and alignment variations and changes in Late Latin 307
- Case loss in Texas German: The influence of semantic and pragmatic factors 347
-
Part V. Case splits motivated by pragmatics, metonymy and subjectification
- Semantic role to new information in Meithei 377
- From less personal to more personal: Subjectification of ni -marked NPs in Japanese discourse 401
- Author index 423
- Subject index 427
