What question did this study set out to answer?

The analysis aims to explore the classification of 'do' sentences in Japanese and the relationship between grammar and pragmatics.

April 3, 2026Open Access

The grammar and pragmatics of Japanese ‘do’

Key Points

The analysis aims to explore the classification of 'do' sentences in Japanese and the relationship between grammar and pragmatics.
Analyzed various types of 'do' sentences in Japanese.
Classified nouns into entities, events, and attributes.
Examined semantic shifts and pragmatic conventionalization.
Explored the complementarity of constructions and compositionality.
Identified three classifications for 'do' sentences: entities, events, and attributes.
Demonstrated semantic shifts among classifications via pragmatic conventionalization.
Provided clarity on the roles of grammar and pragmatics in 'do' sentences.

Abstract

Various types of 'do' sentences in Japanese are analyzed by means of nominal classi cation into entities, events, and attributes.Entities are used in 'do' sentences of wearing, events are used in the so-called light verb constructions, and attributes are used in the so-called blue-eye constructions.Nouns undergo semantic shift between the three types, and this is characterized as pragmatic conventionalization.Conventionalization yields 'constructions,' but our analyses also feature semantic compositionality.Constructions and compositionality work complementarily.The proposed analyses provide a proper division of labor between grammar and pragmatics in 'do' sentences, which has been obscure in previous studies.5, pp.57-94.

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