Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/83309

In Japanese there are three giving and receiving verbs: AGERU, KURERU and MORAU. This study aims to analyze these three verbs from deictic and contextual points of view. In deictic situations, where the speaker and the hearer communicate to each other, only AGERU and KURERU are used. In contextual situations, third person participants are introduced. They are described as Outgroup persons. Acts of giving and receiving between Ingroup persons (speaker and hearer) and Outgroup persons are expressed mainly by AGERU and MORAU. In addition there are _*_TE AGERU and _*_TE KURERU constructions with non-person subjects. These do not carry the meaning of doing benefactive actions, but express the speaker’s feeling or evaluation. Finally I recommend that at the beginner level of Japanese the pair of AGERU and KURERU should be taught first in the context of interaction. The use of MORAU should be introduced later in the context of reporting language use.