Akira Watanabe

Measure Phrases in Japanese
Dr. Akira Watanabe, University of Tokyo

Attention to cross-categorial generalizations is an old theme in theorizing about phrase structure, but its significance is sometimes forgotten. In this talk, I will take up the distribution of measure phrases in Japanese and show that there is a designated position for them which can be defined in a category-neutral fashion. The proposed analysis entails that there is a specific functional projection that hosts a measure phrase in its Spec. Furthermore, I propose that there is in addition a higher projection on top of it that specifies the dimension of the scale to be measured. Crucial for the discussion is the internal structure of the extended projection of PP, within which word order variation with respect to a measure phrase is observed. This word order variation is sensitive to the distinction between spatial and temporal dimensions and will be analyzed as due to leftward movement of a nominal PP within the extended projection.

Suggested readings:

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