In:Mathematical Modelling in Linguistics and Text Analysis: Theory and applications
Edited by Adam Pawłowski, Sheila Embleton, Jan Mačutek and Aris Xanthos
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 370] 2025
► pp. 70–80
The length and order of grammatical elements in clauses in Japanese
Published online: 13 October 2025
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.370.06san
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.370.06san
Abstract
This research is part of a series of empirical studies on order preferences in Japanese clauses that
verifies the relationship between the length and order of grammatical elements, i.e., complements and adjuncts. We used the
Japanese valency database to obtain 243 clauses with ‘meet’. Statistical tests illustrate that (1) the average length and
position of grammatical elements have a negative correlation, (2) most of the frequency distributions arranged by their length
and positions are not statistically different, and (3) the average length of the predicate is significantly shorter than that
of other elements, and the length of occasion is significantly different if it appears earlier or later than the object. These
characteristics highlight the trend in which the shorter the grammatical element the closer it is to the end of the
clause.
Article outline
- 1.Aim and background
- 2.Description of data and grammatical definitions
- 3.Methodology
- 4.Overall trend in the relationship between the position
and length of the GEs - 5.Frequency distributions of GEs with their length and position
- 6.Difference of average lengths among GEs
- 7.Discussion and conclusion
Note References
References (14)
Čech, Radek & Ludmila, Uhlířová. 2014. Adverbials
in Czech: Models for their frequency distribution. In Gabriel Altmann, Radek Čech, Ján Mačutek & Ludmila Uhlířová (eds.), Empirical
approaches to text and language
analysis, 45–59. Lüdenscheid: RAM-Verlag.
Graduate Schools of Informatics in Kyoto University; NTT Communication
Science Laboratories. 2008. Morphological
analyzer: MeCab, version 0.97.
Maekawa, Kikuo. 1989. Boin no museika [Devoicing of
vowels]. In Miyoko Sugito. (ed.), Koza nihongo to nihongo kyoiku: Nihongo no onsei on’in [Lectures on Japanese language and Japanese language education: Japanese phonetics and
phonology], vol.1, 135–153. Tokyo: Meiji Shoin.
Minami, Fujio. 1974. Gendai Nihongo no Kozo [The structure of the present
Japanese]. Tokyo: Taishukan.
Miyajima, Tatsuo. 1964. Joshi jodoshi no yoho [Usage of postpositions and
auxiliary verbs]. National Language Research Institute ed. 1964,
69239. Tokyo: Shuei Shuppan.
National Institute for Japanese Language and
Linguistics. 2008. Digital dictionary for the natural language
processing: UniDic, version 1.3.9.
National Language Research Institute.
(ed.) 1964. Gendai Zasshi 90shu no Yogo Yoji: Dai3bunsatsu:
Bunseki [Vocabulary and Chinese characters in ninety magazines of today,
vol. 3: analysis of results]. Tokyo: Shuei Shuppan.
Ogino, Takano, Masahiro, Kobayashi & Hitoshi, Isahara. 2003. Nihongo Doshi no Ketsugoka [Verb valency in
Japanese]. Tokyo: Sanseido.
Saeki, Tetsuo. 1960. Gendaibun ni okeru gojun no keiko: iwayuru hogo no baai [Word order trends in modern Japanese sentences: the case of so-called
complements], Gengo Seikatsu [Language
life] 111. 56–63. Tokyo: Chikuma.
Sanada, Haruko. 2010. Distribution
of motives in Japanese texts. In Peter Grzybek, Emmerich Kelih & Ján Mačutek. (eds.), Text
and Language. Structures — Functions — Interrelations — Quantitative
Perspectives, 183–194. Wien: Praesens Verlag.
. 2016. The
Menzerath-Altmann law and sentence structure. Journal of Quantitative
Linguistics 23(3). 256–277.
. 2021. N-grams
of valency types and their significant order in the
clause. In Adam Pawłowski, Ján Mačutek, Sheila Embleton & George Mikros (eds.), Language
and text. Data, models, information and
applications, 69–91. Amsterdam: Benjamins.