3 TYPES OF NOMINALIZATION IN MODERN JAPANESE - NO, KOTO, AND ZERO

In Modern Japanese, three nominalizers, no, koto, and zero, are used i n overlapping bur slightly differing syntactic and semantic environmen ts This paper will discuss two types of strategy in nominalizer variat ion in Modern Japanese, koto versus no, on the one hand, and no versus zero, on the other. The two types of variation are shown to be very d ifferent in nature. The contrast between koto and no is primarily a se mantic one characterizable in terms of greater versus lesser semantic specificity. Koto nominalization is the most semantically sensitive ty pe of nominalization; if tends to be called for where its semantic con tribution is expected no matter how abstract it is. No nominalization, which generally lacks semantic content, is the most unmarked nominali zation strategy extensively used in Modern Japanese. The contrast betw een no and zero, on the other hand, is primarily a syntactic one with a diachronic dimension. In Old Japanese, which lacked the nominalizer no, a syntactic contrast existed between koto and zero. Zero nominaliz ation, a remnant of Old Japanese, is now generally a nonproductive pro cess limited to lexicalized expressions with varying degrees of archai sm. No nominalization has long competed with zero nominalization and h as successfully replaced it in many syntactic environments including s ome of the lexicalized expressions where zero was traditionally the no rm. However, in spite of the overall dominance of no nominalization, z ero nominalization has continued to be used fairly productively in som e limited syntactic environments and is not expected to disappear from the syntactic inventory of Modern Japanese in the near future.