Interpreting Null Arguments in Japanese

Abstract

Park, Myung-Kwan. 2015. Interpreting Null Arguments in Japanese. The Journal of Studies in Language 31.1, 47-65. This paper argues, based on the data reported by Abe (2009), that in Japanese the null argument as a referentially dependent NP substitute inherits a reference (or referential index/semantic value) directly from its antecedent under c-command relation, thereby being referentially identical to the latter. However, when the null argument is not c-commanded by its antecedent, the former as an NP substitute has its reference determined independently of the latter, thus the former as a substitute for a quantificational expression being interpreted as referentially distinct from the latter. This asymmetry between c-command-based reference inheritance of the null argument from its antecedent and its reference determination independent of its antecedent is shown to shed new lights on the use of the null argument as a ‘pronoun of laziness’ and as a substitute for the anaphor zibun ‘self’ in Japanese. (Dongguk University)