Linguistically, there are different theories on whether a Japanese verb is an intransitive or transitive verb

Hi 🙂

u/Moon_Atomizer san, I hope you will allow me to make this thread here.
I felt that it would be too complicated for a Daily Thread and I wanted to bring this topic to more than one person. 😅
If it is not acceptable, please feel free to delete it, of course.

First of all, sorry if I made you confused and annoyed with my statements, u/ACheesyTree san, who was the OP in the Daily Thread and asked about how the particle を works to mark locations that are passed or left, and you all, who read my annoyingly long statements there. 😅

Also, thank you for pointing me out about the definition of を in phrases like バイトを休む and 幸せな時間を過ごす, u/morgawr_ san, and u/Moon_Atomizer san, who kindly described me the argument about the definition of "the object".

It is very difficult for me to write these grammatical/linguistical things in English (I mean, not in my native language), and I am not so sure that my true meaning will be conveyed to you as it is, but I will my best. 💪

I have come to the conclusion that in Japanese, not in English, both of our opinions exist, and both opinions are valid 🙂

I read in an article that the verb 飛ぶ in 風船が飛ぶ is an intransitive verb, and when you say 風船が空を飛ぶ, 空 is just a place where the action of the verb happens and the particle を after 空 just shows that it's a location, and that it's not a object.

However, I found a few opinions below:

【The definition of 他動詞】

https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%BB%96%E5%8B%95%E8%A9%9E-93766

It says:

また、「（空を）飛ぶ」「（門を）出る」のように「を」で経過点を示すような移動を表わす動詞の類は、自他の決定に説が分かれる。〔小学日本文典（1874）〕

自他 there can be replaced with 自動詞か他動詞か.

【yahoo 知恵袋: 「食べる」「飲む」は自動詞なのでしょうか？】 https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1013264780

The best answer and another answer say:

日本語の文法に自動詞、他動詞という区別はありません。

英語などでは目的語をとり、主語・目的語を転換して受け身表現にすることができるなど、 他動詞とはっきり認定することができます。 しかし、日本語では、目的語の表示が必ずしも明らかでなく、 また、目的語をとらない「泣く」が「子供に泣かれる」のように受け身に使われたりして、 自動詞と他動詞の区別を明確にしにくい面があります。

よって、日本語では、文法上での「自動詞」・「他動詞」の区別をしていません。

For example, when I want to say "I jumped" in Japanese, I'd say 私は飛んだ.

However, when someone says "I flied" in Japanese, it would be 私は飛んだ as well, but I feel like asking them, like "Where did you fly?" or " Where did you fly to? ".
It means that the sentence lacks enough information to be complete in one sentence in Japanese.
And I feel like that kind of verb can be considered as a transitive verb.

The same goes with 食べる.

When I feel like 食べる is an intransitive verb, 食べる definitely means 食事をする.

私は食べる、生きるために。/ I eat to survive.

However, when I use 食べる just to mean "eat something" , I feel like I need to refer what I'll eat, like 私は○○を食べる.

I think you can easily consider ○○ is the object of the sentence.

Even in English, I believe "to eat" can be both intransitive and transitive.

I think the same goes with 鳥は飛ぶものだ simply.

When I use 飛ぶ in that sentence as an intransitive verb it definitely means 羽ばたく,or 羽を使って移動する.

However, when I hear 鳥が空を飛んでいる, I'd think it means "Birds are flying in the sky", and that the verb is used as a transitive verb.

However, another answer says:

日本語の他動詞の見分け方は、「～を（～する）」のように目的語の「を」を取れる動詞が他動詞です。 ただし、「を」には目的語以外の「を」もあります。 たとえば、 「空を飛ぶ」「道を歩く」「公園を散歩する」「道路を走る」（移動空間の「を」） 「家を出る」「駅を出発する」「国を離れる」（離脱の「を」） これらは目的語の「を」ではないので、これらの動詞は自動詞です。

And I'm sure that's what u/morgawr_ san told me about 🙂

So, speaking based on Japanese linguistics, both opinions can be equally mixed 🙂

Thank you for reading my thoughts.
Also sorry if my English does no make sense.