Ellipsis in Japanese discourse

Abstract

n t re fe r ences to th e te n d e n c y o f Japanese to use e llip tic a l expressio n s.1 This p h e n o m e n o n -e llip sis (o r d e le tio n ) -has, likew ise, been a p o p u la r s u b je c t in th e fie ld o f th e o re tic a l Japanese lin g u is tic s .N o m inal e llip sis, in p a r tic u la r, has re c e iv e d th e m a jo rity o f a tte n tio n w hile o th e r types o f e llip sis have been stu d ie d to a re la tiv e ly lesser degree.N o tw ith sta n d in g th e c o n trib u tio n s of p re v i ous studies, m uch re m a in s to be e xplore d in th e re a lm o f e llip s is in Japanese.The p re v a ilin g a ssum ptio n t h a t u n d e rlie s p re vio u s stud ie s is th a t th e fu n c tio n o f e llip s is is to avoid re d u n d a n cy.U n d e r th is a ssum ptio n , e ffo rts have been m a in ly d ire c te d to s y n ta c tic o r (d ic o u rs e -)s tru c tu ra l analyses of e llip sis.(See S e c tio n 1.1.fo r fu r t h e r discussion.)I t is, how ever, e v id e n t t h a t an u n d e rs ta n d in g o f e llip s is c a n n o t be adequate w ith o u t ta k in g in to co n s id e ra tio n its p ra g m a tic aspect.With re s p e c t p a r tic u la rly to th e fu n c tio n s o f ellipsis, a p ra g m a tic a p p ro a ch is indispensable.A re d u n d a n c y th e o ry alone is n o t s u ffic ie n t fo r i t fa ils to f u lly ta k e in to a c c o u n t th e a bo ve -m e n tion e d com m on p e rc e p tio n th a t Japanese lik e to use e llip tic a l expressions.In th e p re s e n t stu d y, I re e xam ine e llip s is in Japanese p rim a rily fro m a p ra g m a tic p e rsp e ctive . 1 co n sid e r th re e typ e s of e llip sis: n o m in a l, ve rb a l, and cla u sa l.The two fo c a l areas o f in v e s tig a tio n are th e fu n c tio n s o f e llip sis and th e in te r p r e ta tio n o f ellipsis.B efore o u tlin in g th e o rg a n iz a tio n o f th e p re s e n t s tu d y , 1 s h a ll c h a ra c te riz e th e n o tio n s o f nom ina l, v e rb a l, and cla u sa l e llip sis t h a t are used in th is stud y.Like m a n y lin g u is tic te rm s, th e te rm 'e llip s is ' is b y no means endowed w ith a c le a r m e a nin g : What is re g a rd e d as e llipsis m ay d iffe r depending on th e th e o ry a n d on th e in d iv id u a l.To avoid co nfu sio n, i t is th e re fo re n ecessary to d is tin g u is h d iffe re n t s tra ta o f ellipsis.In th e b ro a d e st sense, a n y n o n -v e rb a liz a tio n of 1

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