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There are a [couple of
posts](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/60953/verbs-
using-%e3%81%8c-to-mark-the-direct-object-subject) suggesting that, with
certain verbs, が can actually mark the _direct object_ of a sentence instead
of the subject. **But it seems to me that, in these cases, we can just
reinterpret the words marked by が as being proper subjects (instead of direct
objects).** The purpose of this post is to see if this model of Japanese is
getting something wrong?

**Example 1: 分かる.** An example of a verb satisfying this is 分かる:

  1. 「ここが分かる」 " _This_ is understandable." ("This" as the sentence's subject)
  2. 「ここを分かる」 "I understand this." ("This" as the sentence's direct object).

**Example 2: Potential verbs.** Then there are the [potential
cases](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/609/the-difference-
between-%e3%81%8c-and-%e3%82%92-with-the-potential-form-of-a-verb), like:

  1. 「新聞が読める」 " _Newspapers_ are readable." ("Newspapers" as the sentence's subject)
  2. 「新聞を読める」 "I can read newspapers.* ("Newspaper" as the sentence's direct object)

This interpretation also seems to preserve the (elsewhere cataloged) nuances
of が vs. を:

  * Using を makes the sentence sound more volitional (since e.g. in the cases above, it forces the subject of the sentence to be a human being, rather than an inanimate object).
  * Using が gives the sentence an exclusionary feel (e.g. " _This_ (as opposed to other things) is understandable" or " _Newspapers_ (as opposed to other things) are readable.).

Is there something wrong/misleading in interpreting が this way (essentially,
insisting that が never indicates direct objects)?
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particle-が
Can が still be modeled as a subject marker in cases where it is sometimes modeled as a direct object marker?
Without any further context, the most reasonable interpretation of 「新聞が読める」 is
that "I am able to read a news paper".

To say, "Newspapers are readable" says absolutely nothing about whether I can
or cannot read a news paper. This construct in English has a somewhat passive
feel to it (how different is from saying "Newpapers can be read").

But the Japanese isn't passive at all.

Is there a reason you're not happy with が marking the subject? This is how
ergative languages can work.
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The reason Japanese, much as Icelandic, is generally regarded as a language
with “quirky cases” and that in “私にこれがわかる”, “私に” is analysed as the, quirky,
dative subject and “これが” as the, quirky, nominative object is because aside
from the cases they behave as subjects and objects do.

There are actually many, many examples but a basic one would be subject
honorrification. “あなたにこれがお分かりです” elevates the status of the subject “あなたに”.
Another case would be that clauses that use “ながら” must share the same subject,
and for that purpose again “それがわかりながら、なぜ私たちはそこへアクセスしてしまうのか？” seems to treat it
as the subject.

There is an endless list of similar arguments that can be made for Icelandic,
Japanese, German, and many other languages with “quirky cases” why these parts
of speech marked with a case one would not expect, are actually what they are
in how they behave grammatically.

<http://roa.rutgers.edu/files/324-0699/roa-324-woolford-1.pdf>
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