A Study of the Plural Marker ‘-tul’ in Korean

Abstract

This study aims to determine the semantic differences between unmarked and marked plural NPs in Korean, and the possible licensor that allows the plural copying of the marker -tul . First, there are often stated to be two kinds of -tul : the suffix -tul and the auxiliary particle -tul . The former is attached to nominal expressions, and the latter to predicates and adverbial expressions. Second, it is argued that -tul appears when it is necessary to emphasize plurality, and the plural argument licenses plural copying whether it is overt or covert, or its plural suffix marked or unmarked. Finally, it is suggested that plural copying is a syntactic merge that satisfies the locality condition by denoting its hierarchical structure. The claim of previous research that unmarked and marked plural NPs express genericity and individuality, respectively, is disapproved to some extent, and the effort to explain plural copying through an animacy hierarchy of the subject or through event plurality is shown to be ineffectual in this study.