日語「te子句」的句法結構以及語意功能

Abstract

In this paper, we attempt to make a comprehensive and explicit generalization about the syntactic structure and semantic meaning of the te-clause in Japanese from the viewpoint of ”generative grammar”. Our study has led to the following conclusions:1. A te-clause functioning as a subordinate clause is analyzed as an infinite clause, as distinguished from a finite clause functioning as a main clause.2. A te-clause is not only used as a verb phrase (VP); therefore, it contains a subject.3. At the head of a finite phrase which functions as a main clause, ”ru/ta” may be used; meanwhile, at the head of a time phrase (TP), ”te” may be used.4. Under the assumption of the above-mentioned syntactic construct ion, the ”Projection principle”, the ”Extended Projection Principle” and the ”θ-criterion” in generative grammar may be satisfied.5. Under the assumption that all ”te-clauses” are either ”TP” or ”vP, ” the interpretation of the te-clause's semantic content , rather than being linked with ”syntactic construction,” is more likely to be linked with ”semantic interpretation” or ”pragmatic interpretation.”