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« Ellen Woolford in Brazil | Main | UMass Amherst Psycholinguistics Experiment Co-op»

Special Lecture: Hideki Kishimoto

Hideki Kishimoto
Kobe University

Possessive Nominals and Possessor-Raising Constructions in Japanese

Thursday, November 6, 4:00 pm, Machmer W-27

[Thanks Tom!]

Abstract

In this presentation, I will closely examine Japanese possessor-raising constructions which have dative-possessor and genitive-possessor variants. It is shown that in the dative-possessor variant, the dative possessor is overtly extracted from the host possessive nominal, so that it takes a somewhat peculiar 'dative-nominative-dative' case pattern. On the other hand, in the genitive-possessor variant, which takes a 'nominative-dative' case pattern, the possessor remains within the possessive nominal on the surface. Nevertheless, the possessor in this variant is argued to undergo covert possessor raising. I will also show that some possessor constructions do not allow possessor raising at all. The discussion shows that in the possessor-raising constructions, the subject position may be vacant throughout the derivation but that when it needs to be filled by a possessor, its raising may be either overt or covert.