On the syntax of honorificity with focus on Japanese
Broadly, there are two types of honorifics across languages: (i) argument-oriented honorifics which include honorific pronouns (e.g. German) and subject/object honorific markers (e.g. Japanese), and (ii) utterance-oriented honorifics which include allocutive markers (e.g. Basque) and speech style particles (e.g. Korean). The honorific meaning on both (i) and (ii) is usually agreed to be expressive (Potts 2005, 2007 a.o). However, it is unclear if honorificity on (i) and (ii) can also receive a unified treatment in morphosyntax (Portner et al. 2019). We argue against a consolidated morphosyntax of honorificity by presenting honorific mismatches between 2P pronouns and allocutivity within the same clause in Japanese. Honorific mismatches in the language are not grammatically "special" --- they are neither speech errors nor cases of pragmatic markedness. We demonstrate that while both allocutive marking and pronouns in Japanese encode honorificity via a 'formal' feature in syntax, this honorific feature is distinct. Honorificity on pronouns, labeled as a [Hon] feature is more complex and multi-faceted as compared to the honorific specification called [respect] on the allocutive marker. While the allocutive marker receives its honorific feature via agreement with the clause-peripheral Adr/c, the pronoun receives its honorific specification from the nominal periphery itself, which consists of an interactional structure (à la Ritter & Wiltschko 2018). Distinct sources of honorificity licensing, as motivated by its distinct featural makeup, permit honorific mismatches.
