An Event-Based Interpretation of Japanese Honorific Constructions Using RRG Operators

An Event-Based Interpretation of Japanese Honorific Constructions Using RRG Operators Akira Ishikawa Sophia University, Dept. of English and Studies 7 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 102, Japan ishikawa@sophia.ac.jp Abstract The contemporary Japanese verbal honorific constructions can be motivated in view of the RRG clausal organization and its operator hierarchy. I will present an analysis of the subject honorific construction based on a functional analysis of existential and copulative verbs, and relate it to adjectival verbs. I will also sketch a possible origin of the non-subject honorific construction. 1 Introduction The contemporary subject and non-subject honorific constructions involving the combination of the prefix o or go and the ren'you form of verbs (called the gerundive by Martin), which came to be widely used only in the late 19th century, are relatively latecomers in the history of honorific expressions in Japanese (Tuzimura 1968). The predicates of the two constructions have the following forms: (1) a. The subject honorific predicate o/go-V ni naru b. The non-subject honorific predicate o/go-V suru V in both predicates is the ren'you form of a verb, and o and go are prefixes of honorification of presumably Chinese descent. Ni in (la) is the dative case marker, and naru is a verb which I will argue is a grammaticalized version of the verb naru meaning 'to happen'. Suru in (lb) is a verb which I will also claim to be a grammaticalized version of the verb suru 'to do'. In this paper, I will approach this problem from the viewpoint of the universal operator hierarchy of RRG. I will present an analysis of the subject honorific construction based on a functional analysis of existential and copulative verbs, and relate it to adjectival verbs. I will also sketch a possible origin of the non-subject honorific construction. According to RRG, a clause has a tripartite structure. (2) (((Nucleus ) Core) Periphery) The innermost layer, the nucleus, is composed of the predicate of the clause, while the next layer, the core, is composed of the predicate and its core arguments. The outermost layer, the periphery, is made up of all other constituents of the clause. Each layer is associated with a distinct set of operators, which have the layer as their scope. Traditional grammatical categories such as tense, aspect and mood are among these operators. For example, RRG holds that these three operators belong to different layers, which is seen in the different ordering possibilities of these operators. The following is the universal layered structure of the clause as proposed in RRG. 38 (3) Illocutionary force -< Evidential� Tense -< Status� (Periphery -< Modal� ( Core - Directional -< Aspect -< (Nucleus))) It is also pointed out that voice is a nuclear modification and "there is a complex interaction between voice and aspect." (Foley & van Valin, p. 225) The above clausal structure with op- erators can be functionally interpreted as follows. Suppose we have a report of an event. The type of the event is essentially determined by the nucleus, which is the …

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