An experimental investigation of the Deep Double-<i>o</i> Constraint in Japanese causative constructions

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The Double-<jats:italic>o</jats:italic> Constraint (D<jats:italic>o</jats:italic>C) was proposed to explain the ungrammaticality of having two or more noun phrases (NPs) marked by the accusative case marker -<jats:italic>o</jats:italic> in a single Japanese clause. It has been argued that there are two types of D<jats:italic>o</jats:italic>Cs: the Surface Double-<jats:italic>o</jats:italic> Constraint (SD<jats:italic>o</jats:italic>C) and the Deep Double-<jats:italic>o</jats:italic> Constraint (DD<jats:italic>o</jats:italic>C). The DD<jats:italic>o</jats:italic>C prohibits two accusative arguments in a single argument structure and is not affected by the number of accusative case markers on the surface. The evidence is from Japanese causatives. Our study conducted an experiment to test the DD<jats:italic>o</jats:italic>C and found that it may only apply to some native Japanese speakers.</jats:p>