Back to list

Detail of contribution

Auteur: Hideki KISHIMOTO

Titre:
Coordination and Movement of Honorific Heads in Japanese


Abstract/Résumé: In Japanese, one type of disjunctive coordinate structure introduced by the disjunctive ka 'or' conjoins TPs, and accordingly it shows the property that discourse- and judgment-related elements, which can be assumed to be licensed in projections above TP (e.g. topicalized phrases and modal heads), need to be placed outside the coordinate structure. By making use of this disjunctive coordinate structure, I argue that addressee-honorific heads (base-generated below TP) undergo syntactic head raising to the head of a higher projection than TP. I suggest that the addressee honorific-heads are head-raised for the purpose of sanctioning their discourse-related 'speech act' property, filling the head position of SpAP (Speech Act Phrase) located above ForceP. It is also shown that by looking at the relative scope of negation and disjunction, as well as the morphology of heads, the structural position where the addressee-honorific heads are base-generated can be assessed.