A Study on "Directional Noun + を + 見る" in Japanese: Focusing on Its Semantic Functions

This paper focuses on the particularities of the Japanese construction "Directional Noun + を + 見る," and the semantic features of the verb "見る" within this construction. First, the particularities of this construction is analyzed from two perspectives: its semantic distinctiveness and syntactic distinctiveness. Regarding semantics, the paper clarifies how the meaning of "Directional Noun + を + 見る" differs from that of "General Noun + を + 見る," emphasizing that the former primarily indicates the direction of gaze with weak intention to obtain visual information. As for syntactic distinctiveness, a comparison with other world languages reveals that, in Japanese, the verbal phrase remains unchanged while the nominal phrase undergoes modification. Furthermore, this paper elaborates on the event complexity, momentariness and continuity, transitional nature to motion verbs, and event suddenness of the verb "見る" to highlight the semantic features of the construction "Directional Noun + を + 見る."