Paper short abstract:

In this presentation we examine the sentence qualifications of single-noun utterances in Japanese from pragmatic and phonological perspectives. The conclusion is that single-noun utterances are not sentences from either of these two perspectives, contrary to strong version of sententialism.

Paper long abstract:

In the research contexts of Japanese language studies known as Kokugogaku and Nihongogaku, the strong version of sententialism has traditionally been widely accepted. This view regards human language activity as conducted through sentences and it treats all utterances that appear in discourse, including utterance with only single words, as sentences (ichigobun “one-word sentence,” e.g. Yoshio Nitta Bun to Zitairuikei o Tyushin ni, 2016). Since it takes no account of syntax as its doctrine, we need perspectives other than syntax in order to examine the validity of this view. In this presentation we consider the sentence qualifications of single-noun utterances in Japanese from pragmatic and phonological perspectives. The conclusion is that single-noun utterances are not sentences from either of these two perspectives, contrary to strong version of sententialism.

From the pragmatic perspective, single-noun utterances cannot be sentential utterances. Unlike utterances widely recognized as sentential utterances, they require the support of (i) authority, (ii) an adjacency pair, or (iii) strong feeling. That is, they must meet at least one of the following descriptions: (i) an utterance made by a higher-ranking person to a lower-ranking person (i.e., supported by authority, e.g. Meshi. “Food.”); (ii) an utterance made in response to a precedent utterance by another party in a conversation (i.e., supported by adjacency pair, e.g. Okinawa. as the second repeating utterance in response to the first utterance of Okinawa=ni it=te ki=ta=yo. “I went to Okinawa.”), or (iii) an utterance with strong feeling (e.g. Nezumi! “A mouse!” out of strong surprise or fear).

Single-noun utterances are not sentential utterances from the phonological perspective either. Unlike utterances widely accepted as sentential utterances, they generally cannot bear falling intonation at their end. Single-noun utterance of calling others can exceptionally bear (e.g. Matumotoo! LHHHF), but this is due to final prolongation with strong feeling. Final falling intonation is commonly observed at the end of prolonged utterances with strong feelings, whether they are sentential utterances or not (e.g. Hara=ga tatsuu! “Damn!”, Yukee! “Charge”, Anta=ttaraa! “You!”, and Itsumo soo-na=nda=karaa! “You are always like that!”). Therefore we don’t have to admit single-noun utterances of calling as exceptional sentential utterances.