{"pk":49055,"title":"Relative Tense in Japanese: The Case of Multiply Embedded Relative Clauses","subtitle":null,"abstract":"<p>Relative tense is a phenomenon where the reference time of a clause is determined based on some context-dependent time, not necessarily the speech time. While relative tense can be observed with Japanese subordinate clauses, most previous studies have focused only on a single level of embedding, leaving cases of multiple embedding underexplored. Against this backdrop, this study investigates the temporal interpretations of multiply embedded relative clauses in Japanese. We report that a multiply embedded relative clause can receive a relative tense interpretation that depends on its nonimmediately higher clauses. We also show that this 'clause skipping' interpretation is constrained by the tense forms of the clauses. Based on these observations, we then develop a formal account of the temporal interpretations of Japanese relative clauses. Our account employs the notion of a time interval list, which enables us to derive the attested interpretations compositionally.</p>","language":"eng","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives  4.0","short_name":"CC BY-NC-ND 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\n\nNonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.\n\nNoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.\n\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0"},"keywords":[],"section":"Poster Presentations","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/35r3r103","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Daiki","middle_name":"","last_name":"Matsuoka","name_suffix":"","institution":"The University of Tokyo","department":"Department of Computer Science, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology"},{"first_name":"Daisuke","middle_name":"","last_name":"Bekki","name_suffix":"","institution":"Ochanomizu University","department":""},{"first_name":"Hitomi","middle_name":"","last_name":"Yanaka","name_suffix":"","institution":"The University of Tokyo","department":""}],"date_submitted":"2025-07-18T12:46:42.502000Z","date_accepted":"2025-07-19T03:01:31.848000Z","date_published":"2025-07-07T03:00:00Z","render_galley":{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/japanesekoreanlinguistics/article/49055/galley/36992/download/"},"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/japanesekoreanlinguistics/article/49055/galley/36992/download/"}]}