ABSTRACT
GLOSSARY OF GRAMMATICAL TERMS Accent-Prominence in a word in the form of loudness, length, pitch, or any combination thereof. In Japanese, accent is realized primarily by manipulating the pitch level. For example, the word くま “bear” in Standard Japanese is said to have first-syllable accent because its first syllable く is marked by a relatively high pitch. Action verb-A verb that denotes an action, e.g. 食
“run.” The subject of an action verb might induce change but does not undergo a change of its own. For example, in the sentence こどもがおもち ゃをこわした “The child broke the toy,” こども “the child” only induces change in おもちゃ “the toy.” (⇔ stative verb, change-of-state verb) Adverb-A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, e.g. ゆっくり “slowly,” よく “well,” すぐに “soon,” and やっと “finally.” An adverb does not conjugate. Adversity passive-A type of passive construction in which the subject is emotionally affected by someone else’s action, e.g. 父
letter from my boyfriend.” Adversity passive sentences do not necessarily have active counterparts. Agent-An active participant who initiates and carries out the action. For example, in both こどもがコップをこなごなにわった “The child broke the cup into pieces” and コップがこどもによってこなごなにわられた “The cup was broken into pieces by the child,” こども “the child” is the agent. Aspect-Characterization of an event in terms of how it flows in time without reference to its position in time. For instance, the endings ～ている and ～てある mark continuative aspect.
