Locative Postpositions and Conceptual Structure in Japanese

This paper proposes two syntax-semantics correspondence rules which consistently account for the distribution of Japanese locative postpositions ni and de. We demonstrate how to adapt the machinery of the occurrence of the postpositions based on the assumption of Conceptual Semantics (Jackendoff, 1983; 1990; 1991) to fit the organization of Japanese grammar. The correspondence rules correlate with semantic distinction of verb classes: the semantic field distinction between Spatial and Temporal with respect to the BE-function encoded in the lexical conceptual structure of several verbs. As a result, this paper elucidates the mechanism of locative alternation of the verb aru ‘be’, which has not been fully explicated.