AN INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE SYNTAX.

IN A PREVIOUS PAPER (PRESENTED AT THE TWELFTH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LINGUISTICS) THE AUTHOR POINTED OUT (1) THE RATIO OF SENTENCES WITH SUBJECTS TO SUBJECTLESS SENTENCES IN ENGLISH IS TWO TO ONE, WHEREAS IN JAPANESE IT IS ONE TO FOUR. (2) IF THE ENGLISH MAJOR SENTENCE TYPE CAN BE SAID TO CONSIST OF SUBJECT AND PREDICATE, THE JAPANESE MAJOR SENTENCE TYPE CAN BE SAID TO CONSIST OF PREDICATE ONLY. (3) BLOCH'S CONCEPT OF THE JAPANESE SENTENCE AS A PAUSE GROUP CONSISTING OF A PREDICATE ONLY IS APPROPRIATE, BUT HIS IDEA OF DIVIDING THE PREDICATES INTO TWO TYPES--FINAL PREDICATE AND NON-FINAL PREDICATE--BASED ON INTONATION IS NOT APPROPRIATE. THE CONCLUSION WAS REACHED THAT SINCE THE MAJOR SENTENCE TYPE OF JAPANESE IS NOT ONLY SUBJECTLESS BUT ALSO FRAGMENTARY OR ELLIPTICAL, IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FIRST TO POSTULATE A KERNEL SENTENCE CONSISTING OF A SUBJECT AND A PREDICATE AND THEN TO DELETE THE SUBJECT. IN THIS PAPER, WHICH CONTINUES THE DISCUSSION, THE AUTHOR CONSIDERS JAPANESE AS BELONGING TO NEITHER THE LATIN-ENGLISH NOR THE CHINESE GROUP, BUT BEING A "BORDERLINE" CASE. ALTHOUGH SOME JAPANESE VERB FORMS (NEUTRAL, HONORIFIC, AND HUMBLE) LOOK LIKE LATIN SENTENCE-WORDS IN WHICH SUBJECT AND PREDICATE ARE FUSSED, THEY DO NOT REGULARLY INCLUDE SUBJECTS. IN DISCUSSING JAPANESE SYNTAX, IT IS USUALLY AGREED THAT A PREDICATE NEED NOT NECESSARILY BE PROVIDED WITH A TOPIC. THE IMPRESSION THAT IN JAPANESE THE SUBJECT IS OPTIONAL IS NOT ACCURATE. THE FACT THAT SOME SUBJECTS ARE OPTIONAL, SOME OTHERS ARE OBLIGATORY, AND STILL OTHERS MUST NOT BE OVERTLY STATED CAN BE COMPARED WITH THE USAGE OF ENGLISH ARTICLES. JAPANESE SYNTAX WOULD BE SENSELESS UNLESS IT IS ANALYZED AND DESCRIBED IN DETAIL FROM THE VIEWPOINT THAT SENTENCES ARE LINGUISTIC UNITS OF A LARGER CONSTRUCTION. THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED MARCH 10, 1968 AT THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LINGUISTICS IN NEW YORK, SPONSORED BY THE LINGUISTIC CIRCLE OF NEW YORK. (AMM)