Bound Noun swu in Korean, a Nominative Complex Noun Phrase or a Grammaticalized Noun: A Reply to Tchoe (2015)

Abstract

This paper is against Tchoe’s (2015) analysis of the bound noun swu in Korean as a nominative complex noun phrase, and defends a grammaticalization-based analysis in Kim (2014). Tchoe’s (2015) argument that there are ambiguous readings (i.e., an existential reading and a possessive reading) with regard to the bound noun swu does not seem to be related to the number of subjects in a sentence unlike his claim. Also, Tchoe’s (2015) observation that the existential reading disappears in a relativized structure seems to be problematic with additional data. Lastly, Kim’s (2014) analysis is superior in that not only does it explain the behaviors of the bound noun swu, but it also can be extended to other bound nouns (i.e., Kim (2014) provides theoretical uniformity with other bound nouns).