Extensibility in Japanese Noun Modification

This paper discusses the relationship between the modifying clause and the modified noun in Japanese. In some cases the closeness between them is weaker than in the prototypical case, whereas in others the modification is actually impossible. Within the framework of Matsumoto [I], who applied Frame Semantics to Japanese clausal noun modification, we analyze what conditions make the modification possible. We propose that the degree of linkage between modifier and modified extends from impossibly distant to acceptably close, where the Relational Frame is evoked. This type of phenomenon can be found in various dimensions: space, time, and the cause-and-effect relation. The degree of extensibility is determined by the world-view of the speaker, the tense/aspect choice in the clause, the aspectual character of the noun, and so on.