There isn't really a problem with this. The problem you see mostly comes from the inability of western names for parts of speech to apply properly. Saying the Japanese sentence order is [Verb] is technically correct, if we consider any word to carry similar properties to the western verb to be a verb. If we use such a definition, Japanese 一段, 五段, and 形容詞 (as well as だ and です clauses) would be included. (For those unfamiliar, those three terms are ru-verbs, u-verbs, and i-adjectives respectively.)
Also, we must make the distinction between what is grammatically correct and what is actually spoken in practice. Quite often, people say things outside of acceptable grammar in formal situations. I can, while reading this comments, mutter 「まったく、その人たちの」under my breath. It may well be a complete thought, but that doesn't mean it's a grammatically complete sentence.
Posted by Anonymous on May 31st, 2010 at 12:25 am.
There isn't really a problem
There isn't really a problem with this. The problem you see mostly comes from the inability of western names for parts of speech to apply properly. Saying the Japanese sentence order is [Verb] is technically correct, if we consider any word to carry similar properties to the western verb to be a verb. If we use such a definition, Japanese 一段, 五段, and 形容詞 (as well as だ and です clauses) would be included. (For those unfamiliar, those three terms are ru-verbs, u-verbs, and i-adjectives respectively.)
Also, we must make the distinction between what is grammatically correct and what is actually spoken in practice. Quite often, people say things outside of acceptable grammar in formal situations. I can, while reading this comments, mutter 「まったく、その人たちの」under my breath. It may well be a complete thought, but that doesn't mean it's a grammatically complete sentence.