open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/52608

Relative Tense from a Contrastive Linguistics Viewpoint : An Analysis of Subordinate Clauses Using Participles in Japanese and Altaic Languages

日本語

従属節

2013-03-25

Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University

Northern Language Studies

3

175-199

In Japanese both the finite form and the adnominal form of verbs are realized in the same way. The two finite forms, nonpast: -(r)u and past: -(i)ta, can also be used to express time in subordinate clauses. However in subordinate clauses these two forms do not exhibit tense based on the time of a utterance (absolute tense), but rather they show the temporal relationship of the subordinate clause relative to the main clause(relative tense). (1)arosia=ni ik-u toki=ni boosi=o kat-ta. Russia=DAT go-ANF.NONPST time=DAT hat=ACC buy-FNT.PST “When I went to Russia, I bought a hat (beforehand).” ［Sentence as whole is past, subordinate clause is nonpast］ (1)b rosia=ni it-tatoki=ni boosi=o kat-ta. Russia=DAT go-ANF.PST time=DAT hat=ACC buy-FNT.PST “When I went to Russia, I bought a hat (after arriving).” ［Sentence as whole is past, subordinate clause is past］ (2)a namae=o kak-u kami=o mot-te ki-te kudasai. name=ACC write=ANF.NONPST paper=ACC take-ADVF come-ADVF please “Please bring the piece of paper on which you willwrite your name.” ［Sentence as whole is future, adnominal clause isnonpast］ (2)b namae=o ka-ita kami=o mot-te ki-te kudasai. name=ACCwrite=ANF.PSTpaper=ACCtake-ADVFcome-ADVFplease “Please bring the piece of paper with your name written on it.” ［Sentence as whole is future, adnominal clause is past］ As seen above, irrespective of the fact that the event occurredin the past, the -(r)u(nonpast) appears in the subordinate clause ((1)a). Also, irrespective of the fact that the event has yet to occur, we see the -(i)ta(past) appearing in the subordinate clause ((2)b). In Altaic languages, the participle has a wide range offunction: in addition to functioning both nominally and adnominally,it may also function as a sentence final predicate. When used nominally, participles take case(such as dative)directly and can be used to create adverbial phrases. Thus, in Altaic languages also, it may be possible to create expressions of relative tensesimilar to that of Japanese. So, what is the extent of similarity among Altaic-type languages (including Japanese) in this respect? Results of investigation are summarized in the following table. Table 1：Comparison of tense of subordinate clauses (R: Relative tense, A: Absolute tense, N: Neutralized) Aspect Form Jap. Turk. Khalkha Nanai ex. Temporal C. Momentary nonpst in pst R R N R [1] Durative pst in pst A R N A / N [2] Causal C. Durative nonpst/pst in pst A / N A A A / N [3] Adnominal C. pst in nonpst R (R) A (R) [4] (In the following sentences, English is a kind of meta-language.) [1] When I go to Russia, I bought a hat. [2] When I read/was reading the newspaper, I found a picture of my friend. [3] X is/was sleeping during the lesson, so I woke him/her up. [4] Please bring the piece of paper with your name written on it. In this paper, I would like to maintain the following points: (A) The realization of the relative tense shows asymmetry. The nonpast (or imperfect or like that) verb form in the subordinate clause tends to occur in the past sentence more often, but the past form in the present or future sentence harder to occur. (B)The relative tense is realized differently by the kind of adverbial clauses; such as, “when” clause (temporal (simultaneous) clause), “because” clause (causal clause), “though” clause (adversative clause) and “if” clause (conditional clause). The relative tense is realized mostly in the simultaneous clause, because the temporal relationship (before or after) is important in this type of sentence. But the meaning of “after” clause and “when” clause are more often realized by converbs in the Altaic-type languages. On the other hand, the relative tense tend not to be realized in causal or adversative clause, because in these clauses state truths. (C)The relative tense is realized differently along the aspect of the verbs of the subordinate clause(and that of the main clause). The difference between momentary action and durative action influences the realization of the relative tense. The relative tense is realized more in the case of momentary verbs. On the other hand the tense opposition tends to be neutralized in the case of durative verbs. (D)The relative tense occurs more in the Altaic-type languages than the languages of other types. Because in the Altaic-type languages converbs (or adverbial forms or like that) are often used and the tense of the sentence-final predicates have the scope over the whole sentence. On the other hand the predicate in the middle of a sentence tends to express only the temporal (before or after) relationship to the tense of the sentense-final predicate. (E) Furthermore, the realization of the relative tense differs among the Altaic-type languages.

紀要論文

Version of Record

2185-7121

AA12516968