Japanese/Korean Linguistics

This paper argues that ellipsis is licensed morphologically as well as syntactically. It focuses on native Japanese verbs related to the main verb su ‘do’ (√DO), including its potential and honorific suppletive forms. Unlike other native Japanese verbs, these verbs permit an adjunct-inclusive interpretation under ellipsis. To account for this asymmetry, I propose that ellipsis is licensed if and only if the licensing head is not adjacent to a phonologically overt Root, assuming that √DO in Japanese lacks a phonological exponent. This condition restricts VP ellipsis involving native Japanese verbs to those derived from √DO. It also correctly licenses particle-attached VP ellipsis and Sino-Japanese VP ellipsis and explains why English permits vP ellipsis rather than VP ellipsis. Furthermore, the analysis supports a PF-deletion approach to ellipsis over a no-insertion analysis.