格の素性分解によるフィンランド語構造格の分析

Abstract

In this paper, I attempt to promote an analysis of Finnish structural cases by feature decomposition as proposed in Kiparsky(1992, 2001), and conclude that the distribution of structural cases, one of the much discussed issues in the literature, is systematically explained in line with Optimality Theory. In Finnish, subjects and objects can bear alternative cases depending on their nominal properties as well as on their syntactic and semantic environments. First, I illustrate a descriptive generalization that each nominal expression (a noun or pronoun) may be potentially assigned more than one (abstract) case, with a sort of realization hierarchy of cases determining which morphological case ending will surface on the given nominal. In his 2001 paper, Kiparsky convincingly shows that the traditional accusative suffix -n of singular common noun should be identified as genitive characterized by the same morph. Furthermore, I argue that, by unifying the traditional nominative/accusative form of plural common noun with the pronominal accusative -t, the supposed hierarchy of case realization can be reformulated to improve its empirical generality. To provide the above generalization with a more explanatory force, the formal definition of the Finnish structural cases by relational features is introduced, which is motivated by Kiparsky and adapted by Wunderlich. The featural definition of abstract, morphological, and newly-assumed syntactic cases enables us to account for the assignment and realization of cases more adequately than the aforementioned descriptive hierarchy. Following Kiparsky(2001) and Wunderlich(2000d), I propose Optimality-theoretic violable constraints imposed on morphologicalization, with their ranks incorporating the idea of case hierarchy. These constraints predict the correct appearances of the Finnish structural cases endowed with different feature specifications from the ones posited in the previous works.