Table 1.
A list of 72 normal sentences.
| Verb subgroup | Object-Verb (OV) sentence | Subject-Verb (SV) sentence | Translation of SV sentence | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noun-Acc | vt | Noun-Nom | vi | ||
| I | tama-o | at-e-ru | tama-ga | at-ar-u | the bullet hits (someone) |
| II | sor-as-u | sor-e-ru | the bullet misses | ||
| I | huku-o | kim-e-ru | huku-ga | kim-ar-u | clothes get selected |
| II | nur-as-u | nur-e-ru | clothes get wet | ||
| I | shiru-o | maz-e-ru | shiru-ga | maz-ar-u | sauce mixes |
| II | tar-as-u | tar-e-ru | sauce drips off | ||
| I | nuno-o | som-e-ru | nuno-ga | som-ar-u | the cloth gets dyed |
| II | moy-as-u | mo(y)-e-ru | the cloth gets burnt | ||
| I | oyu-o | tam-e-ru | oyu-ga | tam-ar-u | hot water pools |
| II | hiy-as-u | hi-e-ru | hot water cools | ||
| I | iki-o | tom-e-ru | iki-ga | tom-ar-u | the breath ceases |
| II | mor-as-u | mor-e-ru | the breath gets out | ||
| I | ine-o | u(w)-e-ru | ine-ga | uw-ar-u | the rice is planted |
| II | kar-as-u | kar-e-ru | the rice withers | ||
| II | kabe-o | kog-as-u | kabe-ga | kog-e-ru | the wall gets burnt |
| III | nao-s-u | nao-r-u | the wall gets fixed | ||
| II | kome-o | mur-as-u | kome-ga | mur-e-ru | the rice gets steamed |
| III | nok-os-u | nok-or-u | the rice remains | ||
| II | netsu-o | sam-as-u | netsu-ga | sam-e-ru | the fever wanes |
| III | kom-e-ru | kom-or-u | the fever pervades | ||
| II | yuki-o | tok-as-u | yuki-ga | tok-e-ru | snow melts |
| III | ot-os-u | ot-i-ru | snow drops | ||
| II | mado-o | yur-as-u | mado-ga | yur-e-ru | the window shakes |
| III | mi-se-ru | mi-e-ru | the window can be seen | ||
| III | ashi-o | hit-as-u | ashi-ga | hit-ar-u | the legs soak |
| I | mag-e-ru | mag-ar-u | the legs bend | ||
| III | waza-o | ik-as-u | waza-ga | ik-i-ru | techniques get utilized |
| I | kak-e-ru | kak-ar-u | techniques succeed | ||
| III | huta-o | maw-as-u | huta-ga | maw-ar-u | the lid gets screwed |
| I | shim-e-ru | shim-ar-u | the lid gets closed | ||
| III | mizu-o | mit-as-u | mizu-ga | mit-i-ru | water brims in (something) |
| I | tam-e-ru | tam-ar-u | water pools | ||
| III | tabi-o | nob-as-u | tabi-ga | nob-i-ru | the travel gets extended |
| I | o(w)-e-ru | ow-ar-u | the travel ends | ||
| III | boya-o | ok-os-u | boya-ga | ok-i-ru | small fire occurs |
| I | tom-e-ru | tom-ar-u | small fire stops | ||
In every two rows with the same noun, two pairs of a transitive verb (vt) and an intransitive verb (vi) are shown, where each pair in a row is morphologically related and shares the same meanings. For a single trial, a subliminal verb and a target verb were chosen from each of the two vt-vi pairs (see Figure 1A). According to Shibatani (1990), verb pairs of vt and vi can be divided into three verb subgroups in terms of their morphological/phonological regularity: I (vt/vi: -e-ru/-ar-u), II (-as-u/-e-ru), and III (others). Verbs from two different subgroups were selected for each noun.