Complementizer Drop And IP Complementation in Japanese

Abstract

The main purpose of the present paper is to provide a principled account for a phenomenon called "Complementizer Drop" in the dialects of Japanese and its related phenomena in teens of the head-raising approach without recourse to the ECP or GB-type approach, under the assumption that the complement clause without a complementizer is not CP but a smaller projection such as IP. This head-raising operation is triggered to satisfy the licensing condition on non-canonical structural realizations such as a marked IP complement clause. It is also argued that our new analysis can explain the dialectal differences With regard to Complementizer Drop under a theory of markedness.

Keywords

• Japanese language-- Syntax
• Japanese language-- Complement