Japanese rare-constructions and the nature of the passive

In this paper, we argue that the rare-constructions in Japanese are all genuinely passives in the sense that they involve either demotion or removal of an argument in the syntax. For the analysis, we suggest that the rare-constructions are derived with a passive element, Pass(ive), whose essential function is to suppress an argument of its sister predicate. The constant and variable properties across different types of rare-constructions are attributed to the interactions of Pass with the other elements involved in their derivations such as Aff(ect) and T(ense). The paper also discusses the nature of -ni and -niyotte, both of which are often considered to be elements introducing a demoted ‘agent’ argument. We suggest that the different distributions between the two arise because the former is a semantically vacuous argument introducer, whereas the latter is a semantically contentful ‘causer’ introducer. If the analyses presented in this paper are tenable, the paper will constitute a support for the views that passives do not necessarily involve suppression of an ‘external’ argument and that so-called non-canonical passives can also be a true passive to the extent that its derivation involves Pass.