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Article published In:
Studies in Language
Vol. 44:4 (2020) ► pp.879–916

Grammatical nominalization in Yoron Ryukyuan

ORCID logo | Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
| University of the Ryukyus

Despite extensive research on Ryukyuan languages, relatively few attempts have been made to describe Ryukyuan nominalization. This paper sets out the agenda for exploring Ryukyuan nominalization with special reference to Yoron Ryukyuan, which, we propose, has four nominalizers: -si, hutu, munu, and Ø (zero). We divide nominalization into GB (Gap-Based) and GL (Gap-Less) nominalization. Firstly, -si is the most productive; it realizes GB/GL nominalization and derives clefts, relatives, and stance constructions. Secondly, hutu is less productive; its use in GB nominalization is restricted, and it derives only stance constructions. Thirdly, munu is viewed as a formal noun in that it encodes the general meaning ‘person, thing’ and usually requires a modifying element. Finally, Ø is the least productive, found only in fixed constructions. Based on these observations, we propose a non-discrete view of nominalizer and formal noun and a cline of their productivity.

Keywords: Ryukyuan, Japanese, relative, cleft, stance construction, nominalizer, formal noun
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Descriptive preliminaries: Yoron Ryukyuan
  • 3.Descriptive preliminaries: Nominalization
    • 3.1Defining nominalization
    • 3.2Shibatani’s view on nominalization
    • 3.3Nominalization in Ryukyuan languages
  • 4.Description of -si
    • 4.1GB nominalization
    • 4.2GL nominalization
    • 4.3Cleft constructions
    • 4.4Relative constructions
    • 4.5Stance constructions
      • 4.5.1Formal issues
      • 4.5.2Semantic issues
      • 4.5.3Yoron-Japanese comparisons
    • 4.6Summary
  • 5.Description of hutu
    • 5.1GB nominalization
    • 5.2GL nominalization
    • 5.3Stance constructions
    • 5.4Summary
  • 6.Description of munu
    • 6.1Alternation patterns
    • 6.2Provisional account
      • 6.2.1Analysis of Table 2
      • 6.2.2Analysis of Table 3
    • 6.3Summary
  • 7.Description of Ø
  • 8.Coda: Cross-category discussion
  • A note on the data
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 4 September 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.19057.ser
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