CLAUSE LINKAGE IN JAPANESE

Lehmann (1988) proposed ''a survey of the most important aspects of co mplex sentence formation in the languages of the world,'' that took th e form of ''generally applicable parameters of clause linkage.'' This article tries to apply such and similar parameters to the patterns sho wn by Japanese, whose situation is interesting because of the great si milarity in structure shown by the majority of its subordinate clause types among each other, and even with coordinate clauses. This fact so metimes causes confusion in classification, as happens for the tempora l V-te form, which is listed as an example of coordination by Hinds (1 986) and Kubota (1989), while Kuno (1973) considers it as a subordinat e construction, and even farther from coordination than, for instance, temporal to constructions. The parameters applied help to a certain e xtent in locating the different kinds of Japanese complex sentences at different levels on a continuum between what Lehmann calls ''maximal elaboration'' and ''maximal compression'' of lexical and grammatical i nformation, corresponding respectively to the coordination of independ ent clauses and the strong embedding of a subordinate nominalized sent ence.