Mechanisms of productivity in word formation: Transitivity alternations in Japanese

Abstract

The extensive system of Japanese transitivity alternations (TrAlt) has inspired a great number of noteworthy works. This paper, adopting the theoretical apparatus of the Strong Minimalist thesis and focusing on the “in-between voice” (i.e., between the idiosyncratic lexical and the morpho-syntactic) characteristics of the TrAlt, aims to explicate its productivity phenomena. The paper offers detailed and novel analyses of transitivity suffixes -ar (a lexical passive) and -e (which has sometimes been characterized as a “causative-passive” suffix), and delineates the mechanisms of productivity by closely examining the interactive functions of these two suffixes and the verbal roots (R’s) that host them.