日本語の「タ形」における ＜完了性＞- イタリア語との比較対照 -

Abstract

This study is a contrastive research on the “perfectivity” expressed by some tenses in both Japanese and Italian, but also an explanation about tenses in English will be introduced for further explanations. The aim of this article is to clarify the different points and the similar points between the Japanese “-ta” form and the Italian compound tenses constructed with the past participle. In particular, this article will compare the Japanese “-ta” form to the Italian “Present Perfect (or Perfect tense)”, focusing the analysis first on the “perfectivity” expressed by the “past participle” in the compound tenses and then on its similarities to the “perfectivity” expressed by the Japanese “-ta form”. The main points of this paper are three: a) the necessity of making a distinction between the terms “completion” and “termination”; b) the necessity of a distinction between simple sentences and complex sentences, but also of a further distinction among the several types of compound sentences; c) the function of “-ta” form as adjective, as for the “past participle” in Italian and English. By considering these three points, it becomes clear the multiple function of the “perfectivity” of the “-ta” form, in particular its use and its restrictions as a “future-form”, which means as action that could be “completed in the future”.