Tense and Aspect in Modern Colloquial Japanese

This book provides a clear definition and distinction of tense andaspect in modern colloquial Japanese, with particular attention to theso-called tense markers '-ru' and '-ta.' Demonstratingthat several earlier analyses of Japanese tense and aspect areinadequate, Soga shows that these systems are far richer semanticallythan previously suggested.

Going beyond what has been previously written on tense and aspect ingeneral and concerning Japanese in particular, this work lays thefoundation for a systematization of aspectual categories on the basisof realized versus unrealized rather than completive and incompletivecategories. Such a systematization can explain why in Japanese aprogressive sentence is often felt to express the same kind ofphenomenon as a resultative sentence.

Clearly presented and substantially documented, the material in thisbook makes a significant and original contribution to the study ofJapanese linguistics. It will be of value not only to those interestedin Japanese but also to those concerned with the general theory oftense and aspect.