Ph.D., Harvard University
Associate Professor
Director of the Japanese Language Program
Office: Humanities and Social Sciences Building, 2236
Email: narahara@eastasian.ucsb.edu
Phone: (805) 893 7357

Tomiko Narahara is a specialist in formal syntax, functional syntax, language universals and variations, Japanese linguistics, Japanese language pedagogy. She is the author of several articles on the Japanese copula, binding theory, zero-form pronouns, Japanese sentence final particles, multiple pre-nominal modifiers and pitch accent. Narahara's latest book on the Japanese copula, The Japanese Copula: Forms and Functions, (Hampshire, U.K.: Palgrave Macmillan) examines the semantic, syntactic and pragmatic functions of the morphology of the copula. Narahara is currently working on a cross-linguistic investigation of verbal morphology.

Selected Publications

• A Morpho-Syntatic Analysis of the Japanese Copula" in Aspects in Japanese Linguistics (Kurosio Publishers, forthcoming)
• The Japanese Copula: Forms and Functions. Hampshire, England: Palgrave MacMillan (2002).
• "On the Categorial Status of Japanese Zero-Form Pronouns: A View from Referentiality Hierarchy." In Syntactic and Functional Explorations, ed. K. Takami, A. Kamio and J. Whitman, 115-158. Tokyo: Kurosio Publishers, 2000.
• "On Multiple Pre-Nominal Modifiers." In The Fifth Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Workshop Proceedings, ed. S. Makino, 84-94. Princeton, NJ: East Asian Studies, Princeton University, 1997.
• "Syntax of Sentence-Final Particles: Toward an Articulated Grammar of Informal Speech." In The Fourth Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Workshop Proceedings, ed. S. Makino, 72-82. Princeton, NJ: East Asian Studies, Princeton University, 1996.
• "Alternatives to Reflexives in Thai, Vietnamese and English: Binding Theory and Language Variations." In Southeast Asian Linguistics Society III, ed. M. Alves, 157-170. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University, 1995.

Teaching

• First-Year Japanese (Japanese 1)
• First-Year Japanese (Japanese 2)
• Japanese Grammar (Japanese 124)
• Introduction to Japanese Linguistics (Japanese 170/270)
• Topics in Japanese Linguistics (Japanese 171/271)