The Syntax of Possession in Japanese (Hardcover)

Possession is one of the most widely studied topics in the generative grammar. Recently there has been increasing interest in the syntax and semantics of possession. Although many studies have been conducted on European languages, research on possessive constructions in Japanese has been quite sparse.
This dissertation investigates the syntax of possession in Japanese within the framework of the Minimalist Program. A primary focus is on the question of how possessive semantics is represented in syntax at the sentential level when there seems to be no designated verb of possession - specifically, in possessives with verbs aru 'be.inanimate', iru 'be.animate' and suru 'do'.