On Syntax and Construal of V-kake Constructions

Japanese complex predicate V-kake shows interesting properties with respect to its meanings; some V-kake phrases express an event which is about to happen, while other V-kake phrases express an event which has just begun. These V-kake predicates are called aspectual predicates. There is another type of V-kake phrase which describes an event in which an agent acts on someone. In this reading, -kake somewhat retains its meaning as a main verb. This V-kake is called lexical V-V compound. In this paper, we will assume that the difference between aspectual -kake and lexical V-V compounding -kake lies in the implication of what we call “minimal approved point” (MAP) in the event described by the complement VP which -kake takes. If such a point was not implied, we could not anchor our view just prior to the beginning time, especially of instanteneous achievement V-kake phrases. Based on observations, we will consider the syntactic structures for each -kake phrase, following previous analyses which suggest that the aspectual -kake has raising construction, and we will also consider the various meanings which V-kake describes, assuming the presence of MAP.