Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/90194

In this paper, I will discuss some properties of argument ellipsis (AE) and adjunct ellipsis (AdjE) in Japanese, and argue that they are constrained by syntax as well as information value conditions. The collaboration of syntactic selection property and discourse conditions properly explains ellipsis phenomena in Japanese. I first review that AE is syntactically constrained (Section 1). Then, I argue that ellipsis-resistant arguments do not satisfy Defocusing Requirement, a necessary condition for ellipsis, and that two alternatives trying to account for ellipsis-resistant arguments are not successful (Section 2). I then show that AdjE is possible in Japanese when the adjuncts satisfy Defocusing Requirement in a given context (Section 3). Finally, the ellipsis-tolerance of adjuncts can be explained when we properly take into consideration the selection property of the verb together with discourse conditions (Section 4).