Japanese/Korean Linguistics 24. Edited by Kenshi Funakoshi, Shigeto Kawahara, and Christpher D. Tancredi Copyright © 2017, CSLI Publications 1 An Applicative Approach to Affected Subject Transitives in Japanese TAKAYUKI AKIMOTO * Chuo University 1 Introduction In Japanese, the subject of transitive or (lexical) causative verbs is sometimes not construed as an agent but as an affectee, as exemplified in (1). (1) a. Ken-ga ziko-de ude-o ot-ta. Ken-NOM accident-OBL arm-ACC break TR -PST ‘Ken broke his arm in an accident.’ b. Ken-ga kyoofuu-de boosi-o tobasi-ta. Ken-NOM strong.wind-OBL cap-ACC fly TR -PST ‘Ken had his cap blown off by a strong wind.’ I will call sentences as in (1) Affected Subject Transitives (ASTs). In (1), the subject Ken is not construed as the one who brought about the events * I would like to thank Kunio Nishiyama, Shigenori Wakabayashi, and Yusuke Yoda for their valuable comments and suggestions on the earlier versions of this paper. My thanks also go to the audience at J/K 24. All remaining errors and inadequacies are my own.