TY - JOUR
T1 - Double-subject and complex-predicate constructions
AU - Kumashiro, Toshiyuki
AU - Langacker, Ronald W.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2003/1
Y1 - 2003/1
N2 - Double-subject constructions in Japanese are analyzed from the standpoint of cognitive grammar. Their characterization in this framework, based on reference-point relationships and other independently attested phenomena, is unproblematic. Several grammatical properties indicate that the expressions in question-consisting of an outer subject juxtaposed with a nuclear clause-actually represent two distinct classes of constructions: double-subject constructions (properly called) and complex-predicate constructions (with just a single subject). It is argued that both types involve the same basic conceptual configuration, from which complex predicates arise in particular circumstances. When the nuclear clause has insufficient conceptual autonomy, inherently invoking the outer subject as a reference point, the nuclear predicate and the reference-point relationship profiled at the higher level of organization collapse into a single, complex predicate.
AB - Double-subject constructions in Japanese are analyzed from the standpoint of cognitive grammar. Their characterization in this framework, based on reference-point relationships and other independently attested phenomena, is unproblematic. Several grammatical properties indicate that the expressions in question-consisting of an outer subject juxtaposed with a nuclear clause-actually represent two distinct classes of constructions: double-subject constructions (properly called) and complex-predicate constructions (with just a single subject). It is argued that both types involve the same basic conceptual configuration, from which complex predicates arise in particular circumstances. When the nuclear clause has insufficient conceptual autonomy, inherently invoking the outer subject as a reference point, the nuclear predicate and the reference-point relationship profiled at the higher level of organization collapse into a single, complex predicate.
KW - Japanese
KW - cognitive grammar
KW - complex predicate
KW - double-subject construction
KW - reference point
KW - topic
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U2 - 10.1515/cogl.2003.001
DO - 10.1515/cogl.2003.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33747088025
VL - 14
SP - 1
EP - 45
JO - Cognitive Linguistics
JF - Cognitive Linguistics
SN - 0936-5907
IS - 1
ER -