The Semantic Relations in Compound Adnominal Phrase - Focusing on the semantic relation of verb phrase and adjective phrase

This paper considers sentences of the type “Verb Phrase+Adjective Phrase+Noun da”, such as “Shigoto ga dekiru subarashii hito da”, in which verb phrases and adjective phrases form adnominal phrases. I focus on the internal structure “Adjective Phrase+Verb Phrase” (compound adnominal phrase) making comparisons with sentences of the type “Adjective Phrase+Verb Phrase+Noun da”, such as “Wakai yaseta josei da”, and describe the nature of the semantic connection between verb phrase and adjective phrase.BR First, from a numerical perspective, the frequency of “Verb Phrase+Adjective Phrase+Noun da” type sentences (95.5%) is overwhelmingly higher than that of “Adjective Phrase+Verb Phrase+Noun da” type sentences (4.5%). Observing the semantic relation between the Verb Phrase and Adjective Phrase forming the adnominal phrase, those describing aspects with similar attributes are more common than those describing aspects with different attributes. In “Verb Phrase+Adjective Phrase+Noun da” type sentences describing aspects with similar attributes, the Verb Phrase expresses an individual and concrete attribute, which is generalized and evaluated by the Adjective Phrase. In “Adjective Phrase+Verb Phrase+Noun da” type sentences, this kind of connection is hardly observed at all. This means of expression is considered the semantics of the form “Verb Phrase+Adjective Phrase”.