Case valuation in Ga/No Conversion in Japanese*

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Published: Dec 31, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22353/am.202401.06
Keywords:
ga/no conversion transitivity restriction (TR) labeling algorithm (LA) Kumamoto Japanese (KJ) multiple nominative construction nominative object construction

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Nobuaki Nishioka
Kyushu University

Abstract

This paper explicates the mechanism of the nominative (ga) and genitive (no) alternation (so-called ga/no conversion) in Japanese, focusing on the fact that the genitive (unlike the nominative) subject cannot be followed by the accusative object (transitivity restriction: TR). It is demonstrated that the TR is derived as labeling failure in the labeling analysis proposed by Chomsky (2013, 2015) with some extensions involving the Case/case valuation mechanism.  The comparison between standard Japanese (SJ) and Kumamoto Japanese (KJ), a dialect spoken in Kyushu reveals that the parametric difference in C with regard to the existence of the nominal feature [+N] can explain the differences of the distribution of the genitive subjects between SJ and KJ, and implies the position of the second nominative subject/object in multiple nominative and nominative object constructions.

Article Details

How to Cite
Nishioka, N. (2024). Case valuation in Ga/No Conversion in Japanese*. Acta Mongolica, 22(606), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.22353/am.202401.06
Issue
Vol. 22 No. 606 (2024): Acta Mongolica
Section
Altaic Formal Linguistics
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Author Biography

Nobuaki Nishioka, Kyushu University

Professor

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