by hkum

Tokyo University Linguistic Papers Vol. 16 : Abstracts

UWANO Zendô, "Accent Rules of Compound Nouns Ending in 2-mora Elements in the Kanazawa Dialect"

Compound nouns with more than 5 morae and ending in 2-mora elements in the Kanazawa dialect of Japanese show three accent patterns: the kernelless pattern; the pre-accented pattern where the kernel falls on the first element; and the general pattern, where the kernel falls on the last element. In principle, the last element determines which pattern a compound noun belongs to.

Related rules can be summarized as follows:

  1. In the kernelless pattern, a small number of native Japanese and Sino-Japanese morphemes can be the last elements. Nouns derived from compound verbs are the large majority of this pattern, but their last elements are irrelevant to the determination of the accent pattern.
  2. In the pre-accented pattern, most of the last elements are Sino-Japanese morphemes. The kernel usually falls on the antepenultimate mora, but falls on the mora before the antepenult if the antepenalt is a special mora. A few native Japanese and very few foreign morphemes can be the last elements of this pattern.
  3. In the general pattern, the position of the kernel is determined by the moraic structure of the last element if it is a native Japanese or Sino-Japanese morpheme, and determined by the moraic structure and accent of the last element if it is a foreign morpheme. Specifically:
    1. If the last element is either 'weak' in the second mora, i.e., OM or ON", or accented on the first mora, i.e., O'O, the kernel falls on the penult.
    2. If the last element is neither 'weak' in the second mora nor accented on the first mora, i.e., OW(') or ON'('), the kernel falls on the ultima.

SUGIURA Shigeko, "The Function and Make-up of the Utterance Type '-nandaa'"

In Japanese, utterances in which a sentence ending in -nda is pronounced with a high peak and a final rapid fall have been attracting attention as a new type of utterance. In this article, this intonation pattern is analyzed as a combination of a high peak indicating prominence and a rapidly-falling sentence-final intonation. It is argued that the newness of this type of utterance derives from the fact that until recently, a sentence ending in -nda could not be uttered with this intonation pattern. I also claim that speakers who use this new utterance type and speakers who do not differ in their perception of who has more knowledge about the proposition in question, the speaker of the hearer.

OHBA Mihoko, "On the Use of the Japanese Verb 'IKU' (go) and 'KURU' (come)"

This paper first describes the way of using the two verbs 'IKU' (go) and 'KURU' (come) in Japanese in terms of deixis, distinguishing clearly between their meanings and constraints on thier use. Next, based on the description, the author claims the following two points:

  1. The constraints on the use of the two verbs can be divided into the following two types, in which the former has priority over the latter:
    1. Those pertaining to the physical position of the speaker
    2. Those pertaining to the empathy of the speaker
  2. Although it has been generally agreed since MIKAMI (1953) that the two verbs can be grouped together with demonstratives and personal pronouns in terms of deixis, the deictic features seen in the two verbs are quite different from those seen in demonstratives and personal pronouns.

IIDA Asako, "Semantic Structures of Classifiers: The Meaning Chain of the Japanese Classifier -hon"

This paper examines the view that the entities referred to with the classifier -hon in Japanese form a group that shares the common semantic property of length. It shows that this view of length does not always account for the wide range of the entities counted with -hon, and explains that the semantic properties which decide the use of the classifier -hon are in a form of a meaning chain.

SHIOHARA Asako, "Applicative Verbs in Balinese of Indonesia"

This paper describes the semantics, morphology and syntax of 'applicative verbs' in Balinese. They are formed by attaching the verbal derivational suffixes -in and -ang to the base.

SAKAMOTO Mayumi, "Two Factors Determining the Position of Comitative Attributes in Estonian"

The author defines the Estonian comitative modifying the head of a noun phrase as "comitative attribute", which can be placed in two different positions: either before of after the head. This paper presents the following two as factors which determine the preference of one over the other of the two possible positions of a comitative attribute: (i) degree of "semantic compatibility" seen in the combination of the referent of a comitative attribute and that of the head; and (ii) the valency inherent in the predicate verb of the whole sentence.

IRIE Kôji, "Possessive Verbs in Modern Icelandic"

This paper deals with three possessive verbs in Modern Icelandic: eiga 'own', hafa 'have' and vera með 'be with'. Semantic relations between the possessor and the possessee as well as modes of possession indicated by the verbs are examined, taking into consideration verb usage based on a possessee type classification.

YOSHIDA Hiromi, "'Impersonal' Expressions with the Auxiliaries du and ditu in the Azpeitia Dialect of Basque"

This paper deals with "impersonal" expressions with the auxiliaries du and ditu in the Azpeitia dialect of Basque. They are used, on the one hand, for meteorological phenomena, and on the other, when something is written, inscribed or embroidered, without regard to the agent who may have caused the state.

YUKAWA Yasutoshi, quot;A Tentative Tonal Analysis of Kwanyama Verbs"

The aim of this paper is to describe in terms of the tone various verbal forms such as the infinitive and indicatives in Kuwanyama (oshikwányama), a Bantu language spoken in the Northern part of Namibia.

OKATA Grace Rie, "On the Meaning of the Portuguese Verbs SABER and CONHECER"

In Portuguese, there are two verbs meaning "to know X": saber and conhecer. More specifically, saber means "to know something about X" and conhecer, in contrast, means "to know X itself" usually through direct experience. Furthermore, saber expresses the state of "not-yet-known" (together with adverbs of negation) and that of "already-known" as opposed to conhecer, which can also express the "process of coming to know". This paper clarifies these differences in meaning between the two verbs and examines how the differences are reflected in syntax.

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