Comprehensive Japanese Grammar

A Comprehensive Japanese Grammar

will consist of traditional description of the structures of the Japanese language, as befits a reference grammar, but will also include discussion from a generative linguistics perspective of relevant constructions (e.g., free word order, a phenomenon studied widely in the generative literature). Existing grammars focus exclusively on a traditional, pre-generative way of viewing language. A Comprehensive Japanese Grammar will thus provide students and teachers of Japanese as well as researchers with additional useful information about the language in an updated framework. The comprehensive coverage and authoritative demonstration – including a well-balanced mix of both examples and explanation – intended in the proposed work will be a great improvement on existing competition both in methodology and in presentation.

Tentative Table of Contents

Introduction

Phonology

Phonetic inventory

Writing

Phonological processes

Word categories

The verb

The noun

The adjective

The adjectival noun

The adverb

Determiners, pronouns, and number

Postpositions, case, and sentence-final particles

Verbal nouns

Mimetics

Loan words

Word morphology and Morphological processes

Tense and aspect

Inflection

Derivational processes

The Structure of the Noun Phrase

Modifiers

Number and definiteness

Introduction to the relative clause

The Verb Phrase

Diathesis and argument structure

Verb classes

Modifiers and adjuncts

Auxiliary verbs

Non-Verbal Predicates

The adjective

The copula construction

Sentential Constructions

Main clause structure

Simple sentence types

Passives

Causatives

Causative passives

Complex Sentences: Clausal Complements

Complements with to, koto, and no

Embedded questions

Tense/aspect in clausal complements

Complex Sentences: Dependent Clauses

Conditionals and provisionals

Temporal clauses

Reason clauses

Complex Sentences: Relative Clauses

Basic relative clauses

Gapless relative clauses

Internally-headed relative clauses

Coordination

Nominal coordination

Adjectival coordination

Clausal coordination

Styles

Level of speech

Gender difference

Formality