In Japanese linguistics, multiple nominative sentences, passives and causatives have been widely discussed both in the fields of traditional grammar and generative grammar. Some arguments, mainly in generative grammar, are overviewed; and some counterarguments are presented. Furthermore, these constructions, which have been treated separately from each other in the grammar, are discussed together. Some interactions of these constructions, which have various types, are shown, with focus on one particular type in each construction. This particular type involves a relationship of two NPs, namely, an NPx -no NP relationship (NP's NP). In addition, with the utilization of bound morphemes such as sase (the causative morpheme), the lexical approach, which is a recent trend in generative grammar, is taken and defended.

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This thesis attempts to explain the functions of the preposing of the direct object in Japanese. Japanese is generally a verb-final language and the basic word order is Subject (S) -> Object (O) -> Verb (V). However, it also has relatively free word order, and a direct object can be preposed to the sentence-initial position forming OSV word order. Although clauses expressed in SOV and OSV word orders are semantically identical, OSV is used much less frequently in comparison to SOV. This thesis examines the motivations behind the preposing of direct objects. As a first step toward understanding the possible functions of OSV word order, this thesis analyzes characteristics of preposed direct objects in its data collected from written materials. The results show that both structural characteristics and the information status of direct objects play roles in preposing. Structural characteristics found in preposed direct objects are that they tend to be lengthy, tend to contain demonstratives, or tend not be a direct object component of idiomatic expressions formed with a direct object and a verb. Preposed direct objects tend to convey information that is either linked to the preceding discourse, is linked to the hearer's knowledge, or is emphasized. The findings also show that the preposing of direct objects is motivated by various reasons depending on what is required to enhance communication in the context. Direct objects that have structurally different characteristics, namely those that contain demonstratives or long direct object phrases, are preposed for easier sentence processing or reference. In order to avoid ambiguity, preposing does not occur when the process would split an idiomatic expression comprised of a direct object and a verb. Preposing of direct objects conveying information linked to either the preceding discourse or the hearer's knowledge creates relevance between the preceding discourse and the present proposition. Preposing direct objects structurally indicates what information is emphasized. In other words, the preposing of direct objects facilitates effective communication.

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This thesis proposes an analysis of the tough construction in Japanese. It is proposed that there are actually two tough constructions, each derived by a different kind of movement. Three kinds of data which support the claim made here are presented: tough constructions with scrambling, tough constructions with reflexives, and nominals derived from tough constructions. It is argued that non-movement analysis is not appropriate and that both tough constructions are derived by movement. It is shown that tough constructions with a 'tend to' reading can also be accommodated by this analysis. The analysis accounts for a wide range of interactions between tough constructions and other phenomena, which have not been previously focused on in the literature.

This thesis is a study of one aspectual construction, the "te-i(ru)" construction, in Japanese. This construction posed a serious problem for the study of Aspect in Semantics. That is, it seems to allow two contradictory interpretations: progressive and perfect of result. We argue that the the two distinct readings are the result of the syntactic interaction of the morpheme "te", the aspectual predicate, and the aspectual auxiliary verb "i-(ru)". Adopting the framework proposed by Travis (1991, 1994), we argue that the semantic operators, "BECOME" and "CAUSE", originally proposed by Dowty (1979), are actually generated in Syntax as the aspectual predicate, Asp$ sp0$, and the higher V$ sp0$ of a double VP structure, respectively. The event argument (Higginbotham 1985) is, we claim, subcategorized for and $ theta$-marked by the aspectual predicate. Further, we demonstrate that a morpheme "te" is an imperfective marker, and show that the two readings, progressive type and perfect type, arise because this morpheme is generated in the higher aspectual category, EP, in Japanese. The auxiliary verb "i-(ru)" connects the embedded event noted by EP to an interval time through the control of the event argument. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that Aspect is a syntactic category.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-224).