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. / Arts, Faculty of / Linguistics, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/9597 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Uechi, Akihiko |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 8326483 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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