Cover not available
Part of
Usage-based Approaches to Japanese Grammar: Towards the understanding of human language
Edited by Kaori Kabata and Tsuyoshi Ono
[Studies in Language Companion Series 156] 2014
► pp. 171–192

Interchangeability of so-called interchangeable particles

Corpus analysis of spatial markers, Ni and E

Three different sets of empirical data are compared to examine the usage distributions of ni and e, two particles that have been traditionally considered to be interchangeable in marking allative relations. The data from the speaker’s judgment test are more consistent with the semantic analyses of the two particles, exhibiting interaction between semantic contexts and particle preference. However, the usage distributions in the spoken and written corpora exhibited a strong bias for ni regardless of the semantic environment. The discrepancy between what is generally considered to be ‘acceptable’ in Japanese grammar and the actual usage data stresses the impact of the empirical data in the further understanding of lexical representation.

Published online: 10 June 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.156.13kab
References
Barlow, Michael & Kemmer, Suzanne
2000  Usage Based Models of Language . Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
Bauer, Winifred
1993  Maori . London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hallan, Naomi
2001 Path to prepositions?: A corpus-based study of the acquisition of a lexico-grammatical category. In Frequency and the Emergence of Linguistic Structure [Typological Studies in Language 45], Joan L. Bybee & Paul Hopper (eds), 91-120. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ikegami, Yoshihiko
1986: The goal as agent. Sophia Linguistica 20-21:7-14.Google Scholar
1987 ‘Source’ vs. ‘goal’: A case of linguistic dissymmetry. In Concepts of Case , René Dirven & Günter Radden (eds), 122-146. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar
Kabata, Kaori
1999 On the agent/experiencer continuum: A cognitive approach to the ga/ni alternation in Japanese. In The Twenty-Fifth LACUS Forum , Shin-Ja Hwan & Arle R. Lommel (eds), 375-386. Chapel Hill NC: LACUS.Google Scholar
2000 Japanese Ni: A Cognitive Analysis of a Lexically Complex Particle. PhD dissertation, University of Alberta.Google Scholar
In prep A corpus-based study of child acquisition of Japanese particles.
Kaiser, Stefan, Ichikawa, Yasuko, Kobayashi, Noriko & Yamamoto, Hilofumi
2001  Japanese: A comprehensive Grammar . London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kumashiro, Toshiyuki
1994 On the conceptual definitions of adpositions and case markers: A case for the conceptual basis of syntax. In Papers from the Thirtieth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, Katharine Beals et al. (eds), 236-250. Chicago IL: CLS.Google Scholar
Langacker, Ronald W
1987  Foundations of Cognitive Grammar, Vol. 1: Theoretical Prerequisites . Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
1988 An overview of cognitive grammar. In Topics in Cognitive Linguistics [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 50], Brygida Rudzka-Ostyn (ed.), 3-48. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2000  A dynamic usage-based model . In Barlow & Kemmer (eds), 1-64.Google Scholar
Martin, Samuel Elmo
2004  A Reference Grammar of Japanese . Honolulu HI: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Morita, Yoshiyuki
1989  Nihongogaku to nihongokyooiku (Japanese linguistics and Japanese language teaching). Tokyo: Bonjinsha.Google Scholar
Masuda, Kyoko
2002 A Cognitive Approach to Japanese Locative Postpositions Ni and De: A Case Study of Spoken and Written Discourse. PhD dissertation, University of Arizona.Google Scholar
Newman, John & Rice, Sally
2004 Patterns of usage for English sit, stand, and lie: A cognitively-inspired exploration in corpus linguistics. Cognitive Linguistics 15(3): 352-396. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ono, Tsuyoshi & Suzuki, Ryoko
1992 Word order variability in Japanese conversation: motivations and grammaticization. Text 12(3): 429-445. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ono, Tsuyoshi, Thompson, Sandra A. & Suzuki, Ryoko
2000 The pragmatic nature of the so-called subject marker ga in Japanese: Evidence from conversation. Discourse Studies 2(1): 55-84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quaglio, Paulo & Biber, Douglas
2006 The grammar of conversation. In The Handbook of English Linguistics , Bas Arts & April McMahon (eds). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sandra, Dominiek & Rice, Sally
1995 Network analyses of prepositional meaning: Mirroring whose mind-the linguist's or the language user's? Cognitive Linguistics 6: 89-130. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shibatani, Masayoshi
1978  Nihongo no bunseki (An analysis of Japanese language). Tokyo: Taishukan.Google Scholar
Svorou, Soteria
1994  The Grammar of Space [Typological Studies in Language 25]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tokugawa, Munemasa
1989  Nihon hogen daijiten (A comprehensive dictionary of Japanese dialects). Tokyo: Shogakukan.Google Scholar
Tomasello, Michael
2000 The item-based nature of children’s early syntactic development. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4(4): 156-163. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yamaguchi, Akido & Akimoto, Morihide
2001  Nihongo bunpoo daijiten (A comprehensive dictionary of Japanese grammar]. Tokyo: Meiji Shoin.Google Scholar
Yamazaki, M
2002 From PERSON marker to AFFECT marker: The grammaticization of the Japanese 2nd person singular pronoun omae in conflict talk. Paper presented at the 6th Conference on Conceptual Structure, Discourse, and Language, October 11-14, 2002, Rice University, Houston TX.