This dissertation examines how information structure is represented in the different components of Japanese grammar. Each chapter investigates how topic/comment structure and focus/background structure are manifested in a given component of the grammar; that is, in phonology, syntax, and discourse/semantics. In chapter 2,1 investigate the interaction of syntax and prosody. I introduce the End-based analysis proposed by Selkirk &Tateishi (1988, 91) and propose certain revisions in order to accommodate a broader range of empirical facts than has previously been discussed in the literature. I show that presentational focus and contrastive focus are phonologically distinct and that contrastive focus overrides phonological phrasing. I then demonstrate that the system of focus projection proposed for stress languages such as English and German applies to Japanese. I show that focus projection takes place in the syntactic component, prior to mapping into prosodic structure, from the head of the phrase to its sisters (cf. Rochemont 1996) In chapter 3, I establish the discourse function of wa-marking in Japanese, extending Buring's analysis of sentence topics. I demonstrate that the discourse function of wa-marking parallels that of the L H * contour (B-accent) in English, and claim that wa-marking is equivalent to T-marking in the model of Biiring (1998). As such, wa-marking can be viewed as one of the discourse strategies available in Japanese for ensuring that a given assertion is congruent - that is, appropriate - to the question under discussion. In chapter 4,1 investigate the representation of information structure in syntax. I propose a phrase structure for Japanese based on a universal hierarchy of functional categories. I then divide the syntactic structure of Japanese into two major syntactic domains, which I call the topic domain and the comment domain. I show that both sentence topics and contrastively focused constituents must not be inside IP, which is identified as the comment domain. I further argue that subjects outside IP must be wa-marked unless contrastively focused. I conclude that syntactic structure is discourse-configurationally based. To conclude, I discuss the architecture of the grammar that emerges from the proposal defended in each chapter of this dissertation.

From the middle of the seventeenth century until 1853, the Japanese shogunal government virtually isolated Japan from the rest of the world. Only the Chinese and the Dutch were allowed to maintain a trading post in the harbour of Nagasaki. All dealings with the Dutch traders were subject to strict controls, and the interpreters that were trained to liaise with them had to swear a blood oath to secrecy. Nevertheless, information regarding the scientific and technological advances that were made in the West during this period managed to penetrate this barrier, and eventually grew, to some extent with official sanction, into a popular branch of scholarship known as rengeku, literally 'Dutch learning'. Since nearly all of the academic knowledge that reached Japan from the West arrived in written Dutch, the Dutch language became the language of science in Japan during this period, and a necessary subject of study for allrangaku scholars. This thesis is the first study in English that examines the development of the study of the Dutch language in Japan during the period through an analysis of the textbooks and dictionaries that were produced in Japan. The works selected for this study are those considered to be representative of, or significant to, the development of the study of Dutch and attendant increase of awareness of Western linguistic concepts, many of which were imposed, for better or worse, on the Japanese language. Other, less influential documents, are occasionally also discussed, to demonstrate the false trails and misunderstandings that can emerge when a foreign language is presented to students without the benefit of demonstrated current and practical usage. Initially Dutch language study was restricted to the development of skills among the Dutch interpreters in Nagasaki, who compiled word lists for personal use. These lists developed from primitive and limited glossaries into relatively sophisticated Chinesestyle lexicons and finally evolved into the large-scale Haruma dictionaries of the early nineteenth century. Early attempts at understanding the structures of the Dutch language, both by interpreters and academics, failed to provide practical insights. An important i breakthrough was achieved when retired interpreter Shizuki Tadao (1760-1806) began to produce translations of Nederduytsche Spraakkonst('Dutch Grammar') by William Sewel, and applied Western linguistic concepts to the Japanese language. This new understanding gave rise to a consistent structural approach to the study of Dutch, as a result of which language study became more consistent and translations more sophisticated. Although the end of national isolation in the middle of the nineteenth century meant that the study of Dutch was soon abandoned in favour of other European languages, many words in the Japanese language, particularly in relation to science and technology, are of Dutch origin. More importantly, many of the principles and terminology the Japanese use to define the structures of their language stem from the insights into Western linguistics gained during those final decades of the period of national isolation.

国立情報学研究所で電子化したコンテンツを使用している。

Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-177). / Electronic reproduction. / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xiv, 177 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-196). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-146).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-328).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2006. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: leaves 290-320.

Thesis (doctoral)--Macquarie University, 2002.