Table Of ContentTHE 'W'HOLE OF THE DOUGHNU T
ARCHIEF-
EXEMPLAAR
John Benjamins B.V.
SIGLA
STUDIES IN GENERATIV E LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
1
series editors
N. CHOMSKY, J. EMONDS, D.L. GOYVAERTS,
M. KAJITA, H. VAN RIEMSDIJK, C. OTERO, E. SELKIRK
also available :
Vol. 2 . T. WASOW, Anaphora in Generative Grammar, X + 18 1 pp.
in preparation :
Vol. 3 . A.C. QUICOLI, The structure of complementation
Vol. 4. M.L. KEAN, The theory of markedness in generative phonology
This series offers carefully worked out book-length studies or collections of papers in
linguistics that further our understanding of the language faculty of the mind. They should
be finished products in as much as the state of the discipline permits. They are selected
on the basis of their theoretical interest and on how forcefully the evidence presented
supports the analysis. Preference is given to original intensive research within the frame-
work of the thesis that grammar is a generative system with its own structures and
properties (a separable component of the more general system of mind) and that syntax
can be essentially defined without reference to interpretation. The selection of titles for
this series is being made with a view toward including the widest range of languages.
S.-Y. KURODA
THE 'W'HOL E
OF THE
DOUGHNUT
Syntax and its boundaries
1979
E. STORY-SCIENTIA P.V.B.A.
SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHERS
GHENT - ANTWERP - BRUSSELS
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The (w)hole of the doughnut : Syntax and its boundaries / S.-Y. Kuroda.
viii, 255 p. ; 24 cm. (Studies in Generative Linguistic Analysis ; v. 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Grammar, Comparative and general --Syntax. I. Title.
P291 .K87 1979
415--dc22 80512300
isbn 978 90 6439 161 3 (Pb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 7128 0 (Eb)
© 2013 – John Benjamins B.V.
Published 1979 by E. Story-Scientia Ghent
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
To my grandmother
in her 95th year
PREFACE
I onc e facetiousl y stated : "Synta x i s t o semantic s a s th e hol e o f th e
doughnut i s t o th e whol e o f th e doughnut. " Semantic s withou t syntax ,
thus, i s lik e a doughnu t withou t a hole . Thi s wa s i n th e heyda y o f
generative semantics, and having heard tha t my major interes t was syntax ,
someone was able , perhaps als o facetiously , t o respond : "Doe s i t exist? "
Most o f th e papers collected here originated i n thos e day s and previousl y
appeared i n variou s linguisti c journal s an d anthologies . Th e reade r ma y
note tha t th e topic s deal t wit h i n thes e paper s al l hav e thei r root s i n
syntax, but in most cases relate to its boundary areas . The boundary area s
are no t restricte d t o semantics , bu t th e abov e analog y o f th e doughnu t
might still apply to what syntax is to those boundary areas. Hence the titl e
of the book.
The firs t tw o article s reflect my concern wit h th e notio n o f subjec t i n
relation to the Japanese particle wa. Their primary objectives are not so much
to give a syntactic and semantic account of this particle in Japanese grammar
as to place the problem of wa in the historical perspective of Western gram-
matical tradition . Th e firs t article , i n particular , refer s t o Anto n Marty' s
theory of language , an almost forgotte n pag e in th e recent history o f lin -
guistics. My interest in Marty, however, was first arouse d throug h his role
as an antagonist o f Husserl . Th e fourt h articl e deals with a phase o f th e
relationship betwee n thes e tw o philosophers . Thi s articl e may appea r t o
depict Marty' s position , i n compariso n wit h Husserl's , a s unduly clos e t o
transformational grammar . M y compariso n o f Mart y an d Husser l i s o f a
limited an d technical character, based on my interpretation o f Marty' s con-
ception of innere Sprachform an d Synsemantikon i n the third article. How-
ever, this interpretation o f Marty' s wor k migh t b e jus t a s controversial a s
Marty's interpretation of Humboldt's idea of innere Sprachform.
The next three articles belong to syntax. The first of them originates in a
syntactic proble m I encountere d i n my treatmen t o f th e aforementione d
particle wa and certain othe r particles in Japanese grammar, althoug h thi s
article i s itsel f limite d t o Englis h material . Th e articl e assumes , perhap s
erroneously, tha t a simpl e sentenc e i n Englis h may contai n a t mos t on e
occurrence of the word even. But a careful an d sympathetic reader will note
that this assumption is not essential for the main thesis of the article. What
is essential is that an occurence of even does not contain another occurrenc e
VIII PREFACE
within its semantic 'scope,' to use modern terminology. A similar constrain t
for th e question marker, also noted in the article, is completely noncontro -
versial. The other two articles concern English syntax.
The nex t two articles touch on narrative theory. My interest in this area
also has its origin i n problems i n Japanese syntax , but th e problems deal t
with in these articles are of a general character.
The final article, which is of a purely critical nature, concerns presupposi-
tion. Afte r thi s wa s writte n I mad e a preliminar y attemp t t o develo p a
descriptive system of presuppositiona l phenomen a withi n classical , bivalen t
logic. But I feel that presupposition continues to be too hot an issue currently,
and that this research area is still too fluid, fo r a new work on this topic to
be included in an anthology of this type. Incidentally, Professor Geach kindly
advised me that the view ascribed to him in this last article does not represent
his presen t position . I woul d lik e t o tak e thi s opportunit y t o expres s m y
apologies to Professor Geac h for not noting this fact in the original article.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Didier Goyvaerts , Carlo s
Otero, and Joseph Emonds, who planned this collection and took the trouble
to make the necessary arrangements.
S.-Y. K.
Del Mar, California
April, 1976 .
CONTENTS
— The categorical and the thetic judgment 1
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. Terminological preliminaries . . . . . . . 3
III. A descriptive preliminary : specific an d generic . . . . 6
IV. wa and specific sentences . . . . . . . . 8
V. wa an d generi c sentence s . . . . . . . 1 5
VI. Summary of the results in Japanese and their general implications 2 3
VII. Supplementary remarks 2 8
— The concept of subject in grammar and the idea of nominativ e in the
Port-Royal gramma r . . . . . . . . . 3 3
— Anton Marty and the transformational theor y of grammar . . . 4 9
— Edmund Husserl, grammaire generate et raisonnee and Anton Marty . 8 7
— Attachment transformations 11 3
— English relativization an d certain relate d problems . . . . 13 7
— Some remarks on English manner adverbials 16 5
I. Introduction 16 5
II. Adverbs lik e unbelievably . . . . . . .16 8
III. Postalian nouns 17 1
IV. Adverbs like happily . . . . . . . . 175
V. Adverbs lik e elegantly . . . . . . 17 7
VI. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . 17 9
— Where epistemology , styl e an d gramma r meet : a cas e stud y fro m
Japanese 18 7
— Reflections o n th e foundation s o f narrativ e theory , fro m a linguisti c
point o f vie w . . . . . . . . . . . 20 7
I. The communicationa l theor y o f narratio n 20 7
II. Criticisms of the communicational theory of narration . 21 2
III. Towards a n alternative conceptio n o f narratio n . . 21 8
IV. A poetic theory of narration . . . . . 22 3
— Geach an d Kat z o n presuppositio n . . . . . . . 23 5
