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Verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis in Japanese

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Abstract

The main aim of this article is to argue that Japanese allows verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis (VVPE). For this purpose, I examine data involving null adjuncts, and propose a new generalization about the distribution of null adjuncts, which can easily be accounted for if VVPE is available in Japanese. Furthermore, I demonstrate that null adjunct sentences with overt objects are subject to the same constraint as pseudogapping sentences in English are. Given that pseudogapping is a particular instance of VP-ellipsis (Jayaseelan, in Linguist Anal 20:64–81, 1990; Lasnik, in Papers on minimalist syntax, MIT working papers in linguistics, 1995, Fragments: Studies in ellipsis and gapping, 1999), this strongly suggests that null adjunct sentences involve VP-ellipsis.

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Acknowledgments

This article is a radically revised version of Chapter 6 of my PhD dissertation that was defended at University of Maryland, College Park. I would like to express my thanks for insightful comments and suggestions by anonymous reviewers of the Journal of East Asian Linguistics. I am also indebted to several other people who contributed to this research at its various stages, including Jun Abe, Tomohiro Fujii, Sayaka Goto, Shintaro Hayashi, Norbert Hornstein, Howard Lasnik, Winfried Lechner, Mamoru Saito, Yuta Sakamoto, Andrew Simpson, Koji Sugisaki, Daiko Takahashi, and Hideaki Yamashita. This work is partially supported by a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (#15K16773). I dedicate this work to the memory of Yuki Ito and Yoshiyuki Shibata.

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  1. National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics, 10-2 Midori-cho, Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan

    Kenshi Funakoshi

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Funakoshi, K. Verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis in Japanese. J East Asian Linguist 25, 113–142 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-016-9143-8

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