Download Japanese - CompoNet

Morbo/Comp – University of Bologna
Remarks on Japanese compounds, Francesca Forza
SOV Language
1. CLASSES
In Japanese there are subordinate, coordinate and attributive/appositive compounds.
The subordinate class includes both endocentric, in most cases, and exocentric
compounds, i.e. [N+V] N , sake nomi, ‘alcohol + to drink’ = ‘drinker’.
2. COMPOUND CATEGORIES
2.1 One of the most important categorial output in Japanese composition is Noun,
above all structure like [N+N]N. Yet, there is another fundamental structure, [N+V]
N, having a verb derived noun as second constituent, Kami tsutsumi, ‘Paper’ +
‘ package’ = ‘a paper parcel package’, which has a Noun as a categorial output,
together with [A+N]N, [N+VN]N, where both N are verb-derived words.. Both
[N+VN] N and [V+VN]N operate a Zero Derivation process in the second
constituent V, so that Verbs are derived in Nouns.
In the Table, verb-derived nouns are translated with the verb alone, such as package,
while real verbs are accompanied by to, to package.
Verbal output structures are also quite spread, though not extensively productive:
[V+V]V. Structures like [N+V] V, e. g. yume miru, ‘dreams’ ‘to see’, meaning ‘to
dream’ are also frequent.
Worth to be mentioned are also structures such as [V+A]A, which is subordinate,
productive but just for semantically restricted instances, meaning ‘easy/difficult to’,
[N+A]A, subordinate, and attributive [V+A] A (although rare).
It is to be noticed that no Adverbs are formed through composition: in fact, the
formation of new Adv is only left to derivation. In exocentric composition the default
category is Noun.
2.2
The lexical categories involved in composition are the major lexical categories, i.e. N,
V, A, except P. Anyway, it has to be remembered that P stands in Japanese for
Postposition and not for Preposition.
3.POSSIBLE STRUCTURES
Besides typical structures made of two lexical categories, some instances of derived
constituents occur, like the already mentioned Zero Derivation. In the Table the
derivational structure is just given if the complex constituent is not in conjunctive
(infinitive) but in –te form.
On the whole, the structures of Japanese compounds are not very complex and
extremely sporadically recursive.
4. HEAD
In Japanese the Head is on the right. It can be said that coordinate compounds have
two semantic heads, yet the constituent located in the head canonical position,
therefore on the right, has syntactic prominence. All other above mentioned kinks of
compound consistently show right-hand head.
Despite this, some exceptions are found.
[N+N] N , sake nomi, ‘alcohol + drink’ = ‘drinker’ is headless. In fact, although this
structure, i.e. [N+VN] N, often creates subordinate endocentric compounds such as
the already reported Kami tsutsumi, ‘Paper’ + ‘package’ = ‘a paper parcel package’,
in several cases the output noun does not share the binary syntactic-semantic features
of what is the head in the latter example. To explain
[[sake] N + [nomi] V->N]N

[-animate]
[-animate]
[+ common]
[+abstract]
sakenomi
[+animate]
[+ common].
5. INFLECTION
5.1 Number
Japanese has no numerical inflection. Just some pluralising suffixes can occur, but
they are linked to particular usage, for example .-tachi in kodomotachi.
5.2 Gender
Japanese also lacks of gender variation. Of course there are feminine or masculine
nouns, like chichi, ‘dad’ or haha, ‘mum’, but no gender inflection is present.
6. LINKING ELEMENTS
There are no linking elements in Japanese. The only mutation a word can undergo in
composition is when it is the second constituent. In fact, right-hand constituents can
undergo a process of voicing if the preceding word ends with a sound requiring this
assimilation. For example:
Hara guroi ‘black’ ‘hearth’, where kuroi is the word for ‘black’.
Denki gaisha, ‘electricity’ ‘company’ where kaisha is the word for ‘company’.
9. PRODUCTIVITY
Japanese composition is productive. Of course, not all kinds of compounds are
equally productive. Largely productive are subordinate endocentric compounds,
above all [N+N] N compounds but also [N+V] V, [N+VN] N. [V+V]V compounds
are in a huge number but not very productive. In fact, while NN compounds are
always formed, in magazines and newspapers more than in everyday language, VV
compounds are more used in normal conversation. However, being generally the first
constituent a modificator adding information about the “manner” of the second
constituent or a sort of adverbial information, restrictions come into play.
[V+A]A are extremely productive in the particular cases they are used for: namely, to
say that something is difficult/easy/etc. to do.
However, [N+N]N coordinate compounds too are very productive.
Also [A+N]N attributive/appositive compounds have a good degree of productivity.
REFERENCES
Bunka Institute of Language, Shin bunka shokyū nihongo, 2000, Libreria editrice
Cafoscarina, 2004
Kageyama T., Word Formation in a Modular Theory of Grammar:Postsyntactic
Compounds in Japanese, co-authored with Masayoshi Shibatani, “Language” 64, The
Linguistic society of America, 1988, pp. 451-484
Kageyama T., Word Formation in Japanese, “Lingua” 57/2-4, 1982, pp. 215-258
Kageyama T., Word Formation, in Natsuko Tsujimura, “The Handbook of Japanese
Linguistics”, Blackwell Publishers, London, 2002, pp. 297-325
Namiki T., Further Evidence in Support of the Righthand Head Rule in Japanese, in
Jeroen van der Weijer and Tetsuo Nishihara, “Issues in Japanese Phonology and
Morphology”, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin-New York, 2001, pp. 277-297
Tsujimura N., An introduction to Japanese Linguistics, Blackwell Textbook in
Linguistics, 1996