On the nature of the complementizer to
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Mamoru Saito
Abstract
This paper proposes that the Japanese complementizer to is not a comp for propositions as is widely assumed, but is a comp for reports of direct discourse. Plann (1982) argues that que in Spanish is ambiguous between a comp for propositions and a comp for reports. I first motivate the proposal by demonstrating the parallelism between to and que. Then, I show that to, unlike que, is employed specifically for reports of direct discourse. I argue that there is a division of labor between to and another complementizer no: the former is for reports and the latter is for propositions. Finally, I discuss the distribution of to in wider contexts, for example in adjunct CPs, and present further evidence for the proposal.
© 2017 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Journal of Japanese Linguistics Vol. 26 (2010). Contents
- Yuki Kuroda, a personal recollection
- Thetic judgment as presentational
- Hypothesis testing in generative grammar: Evaluation of predicted schematic asymmetries
- On the ga-marked subject: Its syntactic and semantic characteristics
- Revisiting the two double-nominative constructions in Japanese
- On the nature of the complementizer to
Articles in the same Issue
- Journal of Japanese Linguistics Vol. 26 (2010). Contents
- Yuki Kuroda, a personal recollection
- Thetic judgment as presentational
- Hypothesis testing in generative grammar: Evaluation of predicted schematic asymmetries
- On the ga-marked subject: Its syntactic and semantic characteristics
- Revisiting the two double-nominative constructions in Japanese
- On the nature of the complementizer to
