3 search hits
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On the meaning of the Japanese passive
(2003)
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Frederik H. H. Kortlandt
- In her discussion of the Japanese adversative passive, Anna Wierzbicka writes (1988: 260): “The problem is extremely interesting and important both for intrinsic reasons and because of its wider methodological implications. It can be formulated like this: if one form can be used in a number of different ways, are we entitled to postulate for it a number of different meanings or should we rather search for one semantic common denominator (regarded as the MEANING of the form in question) and attribute the variety of uses to the interaction between this meaning and the linguistic or extralinguistic context?” Though it “may seem obvious” that the second stand is “methodologically preferable” (261), she takes the first position and concludes that “the Japanese passive has to be recognized as multiply ambiguous” (286). In the following I intend to show that this view is both wrong and fruitful.
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Japanese aru, iru, oru 'to be' : [oru ist bin aru]
(2007)
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Frederik H. H. Kortlandt
- Among the Japanese expressions for 'to be', the verbs aru (unmarked), iru (animate subject) and oru (humble variant of iru) are of special interest (cf. Martin 1975: 194f. for a descriptive account). We may look for cognates of these verbs in the (other) Altaic languages.
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Japanese wa, mo, ga, wo, na, no
(2002)
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Frederik H. H. Kortlandt
- Lone Takeuchi’s stimulating book (1999) has given me an opportunity to reconsider my (unpublished) semiotactic analysis of Japanese particles [...].
