The aspect-modality link in Japanese: The case of the evaluating sentence
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Shin Tanaka
Abstract
In this paper we address the Aspect-Modality Link (AML) as it is observed in Japanese. As a direct comparison between verbal expressions, modal verbs and modal paraphrases does not show a pronounced affinity between aspect and modality, we look elsewhere for occurrences of the AML: We will mainly examine the epistemicity expressed through Handan-bun (‘‘evaluating sentence’’), which interests us for two reasons. On one hand, it has a marked affinity with imperfectivity. On the other hand, it seems that the development of Handanbun, the evaluating type of sentence, runs counter to the received sequel of the grammaticalization of modality, namely the development from deontic usages to epistemic usages. Apart from the AML observed in the evaluating sentence, we discuss another A-M Link phenomenon in Japanese, which is found in the core of the verbal paradigm in Japanese. In both cases, the AML in Japanese is not observed explicitly in terms of proper verbal expressions like modals or modal predicatives, but rather, can be found if we expand the scope of comparison beyond the cardinal verbal categories (aspect, tense, and mood or modality) and take a look over other linguistic means.
Abstract
In this paper we address the Aspect-Modality Link (AML) as it is observed in Japanese. As a direct comparison between verbal expressions, modal verbs and modal paraphrases does not show a pronounced affinity between aspect and modality, we look elsewhere for occurrences of the AML: We will mainly examine the epistemicity expressed through Handan-bun (‘‘evaluating sentence’’), which interests us for two reasons. On one hand, it has a marked affinity with imperfectivity. On the other hand, it seems that the development of Handanbun, the evaluating type of sentence, runs counter to the received sequel of the grammaticalization of modality, namely the development from deontic usages to epistemic usages. Apart from the AML observed in the evaluating sentence, we discuss another A-M Link phenomenon in Japanese, which is found in the core of the verbal paradigm in Japanese. In both cases, the AML in Japanese is not observed explicitly in terms of proper verbal expressions like modals or modal predicatives, but rather, can be found if we expand the scope of comparison beyond the cardinal verbal categories (aspect, tense, and mood or modality) and take a look over other linguistic means.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction: Aspect-modality interfaces and interchanges across languages xi
-
General
- On the logic of generalizations about cross-linguistic aspect-modality links 3
- The silent and aspect-driven patterns of deonticity and epistemicity: A chapter in diachronic typology 15
- Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English 43
- Towards an understanding of the progressive form in English: The Imperative as a heuristic tool 81
- Epistemic modality and aspect contingency in Armenian, Russian, and German 97
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Slavic
- Indefiniteness and imperfectivity as micro-grammatical contexts of epistemicity in German-Slovene translations 119
- The connections between modality, aspectuality, and temporality in Modern Russian 147
- Aspectual coercion in Bulgarian negative imperatives 175
- Russian modals možet 'can' and dolžen 'must' selecting the imperfective in negative contexts 197
-
African
- Tense, mood, and aspect in Gungbe (Kwa) 215
- The modal system of the Igbo language 241
-
Asian
- The aspect-modality link in the Japanese verbal complex and beyond 279
- The aspect-modality link in Japanese: The case of the evaluating sentence 309
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Amerindian
- The Lakota aspect/modality markers - kinica and tkhá 331
-
Creole
- A note on modality and aspect in Saramaccan 359
-
Diachronic
- Aspects of a reconstruction of form and function of modal verbs in Germanic and other languages 371
- The autopsy of a modal – insights from the historical development of German 385
- Index of authors 417
- Index of subjects 419
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Preface ix
- Introduction: Aspect-modality interfaces and interchanges across languages xi
-
General
- On the logic of generalizations about cross-linguistic aspect-modality links 3
- The silent and aspect-driven patterns of deonticity and epistemicity: A chapter in diachronic typology 15
- Propositional aspect and the development of modal inferences in English 43
- Towards an understanding of the progressive form in English: The Imperative as a heuristic tool 81
- Epistemic modality and aspect contingency in Armenian, Russian, and German 97
-
Slavic
- Indefiniteness and imperfectivity as micro-grammatical contexts of epistemicity in German-Slovene translations 119
- The connections between modality, aspectuality, and temporality in Modern Russian 147
- Aspectual coercion in Bulgarian negative imperatives 175
- Russian modals možet 'can' and dolžen 'must' selecting the imperfective in negative contexts 197
-
African
- Tense, mood, and aspect in Gungbe (Kwa) 215
- The modal system of the Igbo language 241
-
Asian
- The aspect-modality link in the Japanese verbal complex and beyond 279
- The aspect-modality link in Japanese: The case of the evaluating sentence 309
-
Amerindian
- The Lakota aspect/modality markers - kinica and tkhá 331
-
Creole
- A note on modality and aspect in Saramaccan 359
-
Diachronic
- Aspects of a reconstruction of form and function of modal verbs in Germanic and other languages 371
- The autopsy of a modal – insights from the historical development of German 385
- Index of authors 417
- Index of subjects 419
