Aktionsart, Semantics, and Function in the Japanese "Passive"

The Japanese "passive" construction with the verb stem formant -(r)are-has dual semantic functions. In some uses it indicates that the action's effects impinge emotively and/or psychologically on the subject, while in other uses the special effective nuance is absent. This distinction of semantic functions is shown to correlate with a distinction in the inherent aspectual character (Aktionsart) of verbally denoted actions, the deed/attribute distinction. A -(r)are- verb denoting a concrete action, or deed, implicates an abrupt change of circumstances having immediate effects on the subject's emotional and/or psychological situation; while processes and other nonconcrete actions, expressed through -(r)are-'s attributive use, implicate less immediate changes of the subject's state. In sum, the manner in which the action proceeds conditions the specific type of affect with which it is associated; both uses of -(r)are- are affective in distinct ways. These findings suggest the need to reconsider prior formal accounts of 'passive' -(r)are- constructions as rule-conditioned alternates of corresponding sentences without -(r)are-.

Published online: 1 January 1987
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.11.2.06kla