A Unified Approach to Tense in Japanese

A UNIFIED APPROACH TO TENSE IN JAPANESE Kei Y oshimoto * Chidori Nakamurat Y oshiki Mori * tGraduate School of International Cultural Studies, TO-hoku University Kawauchi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8576, JAPAN Faculty of Medicine, Keiô University Hiyoshi 4-1-1, KOhoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8521 JAPAN E-mail: *kei©intcul.tohoku.ac.jp, tchidorih@pop16.odn.ne.jp, tmori@hc.cc.keio.ac.jp ABSTRACT In this paper we propose a method to compositionally interpret tenses of Japanese complex sen- tences on the basis of Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar and Discourse Representation The- ory. In this approach, each of the tense-bearing forms such as main verbs and the past auxiliary is given a single temporal meaning independent of its position in the syntactic structure. The `relative tense theory' according to which a tense in a subordinate clause is interpreted in relation to a syntactically higher tense lays a foundation for this formalization. 1 INTRODUCTION Descriptive studies on tenses in Japanese complex sentences have revealed that tenses in the sub- ordinate clause need a different interpretation from those in the matrix sentence (see Suzuki 1976, Teramura 1984, and KudO 1995). This paper proposes an HPSG/DRT version of the traditionally known hypothesis (`relative tense theory') that the criterion for interpreting a syntactically lower tense is established by the immediately higher tense. On the basis of this, we will argue that each of the two tense-bearing forms is given a single temporal meaning, irrespective of its position in the syntactic structure. Tenses in subordinate clauses which this specification seemingly cannot capture are explained away by difference in manners they are adjoined to the matrix sentence. Relative clauses, which call for idiosyncratic tense interpretations, are accounted for semantically by means of ambiguous scopings. 2 TENSE IN JAPANESE The subject of this study is the information provided by the auxiliary verb to and its absence. We will use `ta-form' and 'non-ta-form' to denote these forms standing in opposition. Although a perfect meaning is often assigned to ta-marked sentences, we construe the form as essentially indicating a past tense, for except some peripheral cases its so-called perfect usage is compatible with the past occurrence of the denoted event, while the past tense cannot be conversely reduced to the perfect aspect. It has been pointed out that temporal information in Japanese complex sentences is determined by Aktionsarten of the predicates (stative vs. dynamic) and a four-level hierarchical structure observed in subordinate clauses (see Minami 1974 and Takubo 1987). Minami (1974) draws four levels A, B, C, and D from co-occurrence observed between various constituents such as case NPs, adverbials, subordinate clauses, theme-marking phrases, verbs, auxiliary verbs, and modal particles (`shfijoshi'). Furthermore, he extends the idea of the layered structure to the general structure of the Japanese sentence not limited to subordinate clauses. Minami's Level A is the innermost layer of the sentential hierarchy and is without its own subject or tense marking, allowing only a small set of adverbials and auxiliary verbs. Its tense interpretation depends exclusively on that of the matrix sentence. (1) Taro ga� [Agitä wo hiki] nagara uta wo uta-- ta. NAME NOM …

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