The Simple Present Tense in Japanese and the Phonetically Empty Universal Quantifier*

In Japanese root clauses, most verbs must be paired with the morpheme -tei to form a complex predicate in order to denote a present state. However, in certain subordinate clauses including the relative clause, the presuppositional clause of a cleft sentence, and the comparative clause, this restriction is exempted. Semantic restrictions are also imposed on verbs, and the verbs which permit the simple present tense in the relevant syntactic environment are limited to those which denote a potentially everlasting state or a potentially everlasting and repeated motion. In this article, I will explain both of these syntactic and semantic restrictions by making a single proposal that the UG accommodates a phonetically empty universal quantifier that quantifies over time, called U-OP. Along with this proposal, I assume that the U-OP is subject to a formal licensing condition which is quite similar to other phonetically empty operators and that the verbs in the simple present tense in Japanese involve an empty position that corresponds to the -tei morpheme and that can function as a variable for the U-OP. We will also argue that the proposed U-OP is similar but different from Chierchia’s (1995) generic operator.