Lexicalization and morphological activation as criteria for Japanese compound verbs

Japanese complex predicates of the type "Verbal Noun + suru ('to do') may be classified (i) either as lexicalized units or as syntactic constructions, and (ii) as compounds activated either morphologically or syntactically. Suru-predicates appear essentially in two possible forms: VN-suru and VN-o suru (where -o is an accusative marker). Examination of a set of parameters leads to the conclusion that the two constructions both take an intermediate position between compound words and syntactic structures as concerns lexicalization. At the same time, VN-suru constructions are closer to compounds activated morphologically and VN-o suru to compounds activated syntactically.