The light verb construction in Japanese: The role of the verbal noun

This is a study of the so-called Light Verb Construction (LVC) in Japanese, which consists of the verb suru 'do' and the accusative-marked verbal noun, as exemplified in (1). (1)(a) Taroo ga Tokyo ni ryokoo o suru. NOM to travel ACC do 'Taroo travels to Tokyo.' (b) Taroo ga eigo no benkyoo o suru. NOM English GEN study ACC do 'Taroo studies English.' (c) Taroo ga murabito ni ookami ga kuru to keikoku o suru NOM villagers to wolf NOM come COMP warning ACC do 'Taroo warns the villagers that the wolf will come.';Since Grimshaw and Mester's (1988) seminal work, there have been unresolved debates on the role of suru, whether suru in such forms as in (1) functions as a light verb or not. An observational generalization is that the thematic array of a clause faithfully reflects the argument structure of the VN which heads the accusative phrase. Hence, from the viewpoint of argument structure, suru may be 'light' in the sense that it makes no thematic contribution to the VN-o suru formation. This suru may hence be different from the regular use of suru as a two-place ACTIVITY predicate, as shown in (2). (2)(a) Taroo ga gorufu o suru. NOM golf ACC do 'Taroo plays golf.' (b) Taroo ga tenisu o suru. NOM tennis ACC do 'Taroo plays tennis.'...