Double complement unaccusatives in Japanese: puzzles and implications

Abstract

This article examines the nature of double complement unaccusatives in Japanese, namely, unaccusative constructions having a goal argument as well as a theme argument. It is shown that double complement unaccusatives exhibit puzzling properties with respect to two diagnostics for subjecthood—binding of zibun and subject honorification; specifically, (i) unlike other constructions, where only one argument (i.e., the subject) can antecede zibun, double complement unaccusatives allow both the theme and the goal arguments to antecede zibun and (ii) unlike binding of zibun, subject honorification can be licensed only by the theme argument. It is proposed that these puzzling properties can receive a natural account if (i) in Japanese “subject” is defined as an element that satisfies v’s EPP feature and (ii) the goal argument of Japanese unaccusatives is a PP. It is also shown that this proposal has important implications for the nature of subject orientation, the EPP, and the (dative) Case.