How are Events Encoded?: Differences Between Japanese and Korean

This study examines how Japanese and Korean differ in encoding events, using a basic classification of four information types: ENTITIES, HAPPENINGS, RELATIONS, and INCIDENTALS. Focusing on verb predicate sentences in translated American movie dialogues (2015–2023), it identifies three key patterns in Japanese: (1) predicates combining nominals and function verbs; (2) morphosyntactically incomplete predicates where function verbs are replaced or omitted, reducing explicit RELATIONS encoding; and (3) predicates lacking verbs entirely, omitting HAPPENINGS and relying on inference. Japanese translations tend to encode fewer HAPPENINGS and RELATIONS than Korean, favoring noun-based structures that support selective encoding and linguistic economy. In contrast, Korean encodes events more explicitly using fewer nominal constructions and preserving verbal forms. Japanese’s noun-oriented strategy, while less direct, enables prioritization of high-value content. These differences reflect broader tendencies in balancing efficiency and expressiveness and highlight the complexity of event encoding across languages, suggesting the need for further cross-linguistic analysis.