tower · Japanese · そびえる

Figure, locative Ground, form · Japanese marking · working claim, revisable

そびえる is a lexical verb. デジタル大辞泉 files it as ［動ア下一］, classical そび・ゆ［ヤ下二］. JMdict, on the Weblio page, labels it 動詞一段活用、自動詞, and glosses “to rise (of a building, mountain, etc.); to tower; to soar.” そびえ立つ is the compound. デジタル大辞泉 files 聳え立つ as ［動タ五（四）］, “山などがとりわけ高く立つ.” No を is printed on either verb in the lines cited here.

The Figure is the tall thing, and it is the subject. が and は both occur. デジタル大辞泉 prints 「高層住宅が―・える団地」. 研究社 新英和中辞典 prints 東京の西方に富士がそびえている. 斎藤和英大辞典 prints 富士の高嶺は東京の西に当たってそびえる and 山頂は雲上にそびえる. Wiktionary’s citation from Wakayama Bokusui prints 岩山が眼の前に聳えていた. Tatoeba 10992027 prints 高いビルがそびえ立っている. The subject is the mountain, the peak, the summit, the crag, the housing, or the building. A person is not the Figure in these lines.

The Ground, where the line fills one, is locative に. デジタル大辞泉 prints 「雲に―・える霊峰」. 研究社 新英和中辞典 prints 雲にそびえる, glossed “rise [tower] above the clouds,” and 空にそびえる, glossed “rise to the sky.” The same dictionary’s finite line puts に on the direction: 東京の西方に. Bokusui’s 眼の前に is the place in front of the viewer. デジタル大辞泉’s そびえ立つ line is 「雪野の果てに―・つ雷電峠を」 (Arishima, 生れ出づる悩み). に names where the Figure stands, or the region it rises into. It is not a comparison standard of the shape “taller than X.”

〜の上に is still that locative. 斎藤和英大辞典 prints 山頂は雲上にそびえる, and glosses it “The summit rises above the clouds — towers above the clouds — soars above the clouds.” 雲上 is the locative noun. The English gloss uses above. The Japanese mark is に on a place, the same particle as 雲に and 空に. 〜の向こうに is unprinted on そびえる and on そびえ立つ in the entries and sentences opened here. It would be another place phrase on に. 川の向こうに山がそびえている reuses locative に, the subject が, and finite ている. It is constructed.

〜を見下ろす is a different verb. デジタル大辞泉 files 見下ろす as ［動サ五（四）］. Sense 1 prints 「山頂から平野を―・す」. The lower place is を. Sense 2, “見さげる。あなどる,” prints 「人を―・した横柄な態度」. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 files the same two senses, the first from the 万葉集 and the second from the 太平記. Asahi, 15 February 2007, as quoted by Wu (2017), prints 広告塔が街を見下ろすようにそびえ立っていた. 街を belongs to 見下ろす. そびえ立っていた has no object. English tower over the city can be read as “stand high above, looking down.” Japanese splits that reading across two verbs.

A comparative “over X” Ground is not printed on そびえる. Working claim, revisable. Cambridge’s height frame is “to be very tall in comparison with someone or something else,” with The new hotel towers over the Shanghai skyline and David towers over his mother. The success frame is “to be much bigger and more successful,” with One computer manufacturer towers above all the rest. None of the Japanese lines opened here puts the skyline, the mother, or the rivals in a phrase selected by そびえる. 斎藤和英大辞典 prints the surpassed neighbour on another verb: 一棟巍然として隣家を凌ぎそびゆ, glossed “A single edifice towers above the neighbouring houses,” and 山岳四隣を圧してそびゆ. を is the object of 凌ぐ and of 圧する. そびゆ is the classical form of そびえる, and it takes no object in those lines.

The figurative English tower over (rivals) changes the verb. デジタル大辞泉 files 抜きん出る as ［動ダ下一］. Sense 1, “ひときわ高く出る,” prints 「他に―・でた長身」. Sense 2, “ひときわすぐれる,” prints 「衆に―・でた才能」. The comparison set is に. It is not a locative Ground of そびえる, and the head is not そびえる. 群を抜く prints 「―・くスピード」. 群 is を, the set one stands out from. ずば抜ける prints 「―・けた記憶力」, with no Ground. English keeps one verb and one over/above phrase. Japanese either moves the rivals into a comparison phrase of a different verb, or drops the Ground.

Form. Working claim, revisable. English uses the simple present for the height reading: Cambridge’s towers over and towers above. The Japanese finite main clause that matches that present is ている. 研究社 新英和中辞典 prints 東京の西方に富士がそびえている. Tatoeba 10992027 prints この田舎に場違いと思えるような高いビルがそびえ立っている, translated “Towering high above, there are tall buildings that seem out of place in this countryside.” その高層ビルは街にそびえている reuses the subject は, locative に, and finite ている. It is constructed. Bare そびえる is the form the dictionaries print in prenominal position. デジタル大辞泉 prints 雲にそびえる霊峰 and 高層住宅がそびえる団地, and 雪野の果てにそびえ立つ雷電峠. 街にそびえる高層ビル reuses that prenominal ル-form. It is constructed. Bare finite ル is also printed in written lines. Saito’s gloss is 富士の高嶺は東京の西に当たってそびえる. Asahi, 1 July 1992, as quoted by Wu (2017), prints ハリギリは、墓地の石段の横にそびえ立つ. Wu (2017), note 8, quotes 隣りには朝日新聞社の本社屋がそびえる from 帝都物語. Those bare finite lines are the written register. They are not the finite form this page lines up with English simple present. No telicity claim is made. No lexical-aspect class is assigned beyond these form facts.

No copular frame is printed. そびえる and そびえ立つ stay verbs. デジタル大辞泉 sense 2 of そびえる, “ほっそりしている,” prints the Genji line 「人ざまいとあてに―・えて、心恥づかしきけはひぞしたる」〈源・明石〉. That sense is not the tower frame.

Where this frame diverges from English tower above / tower over. English puts the Figure in the subject and the Ground in above or over, in the simple present, for a building, a mountain, a child, or a firm. Japanese そびえる prints the Figure as が or は, and the place as に. The ordinary finite form that matches the English present is ている. The prenominal form is bare ル. A Ground that is “taller than X” or “more successful than the rivals” is not an argument of そびえる. It moves onto 見下ろす (を), 凌ぐ (を), 抜きん出る (に), or 群を抜く (を), or the Ground is absent, as on ずば抜ける.