On the nature of the restrictions for Multiple Subject Constructions in Korean

Abstract

Yoon, Jeong-Me. 2018. On the nature of the restrictions for Multiple Subject Constructions in Korean. Linguistic Research 35(3), 415-447. In this paper, I discuss two different approaches to the Characteristic Property Condition for Multiple Subject Constructions in Korean, i.e., the interpretive approach and the processing approach. Assuming that the CPC is the ultimate condition for MSCs, the former claims that the CPC holds due to the special interpretive properties of SpecIP in Korean while according to the latter, the CPC is a processing restriction for filler-gap constructions incurring heavy processing loads. In this paper, I provide four arguments for the latter: (i) the processing approach can better explain the sub-restrictions figuring in the CPC; (ii) the processing approach can better explain the cumulative nature of the sub-restrictions figuring in the CPC; (iii) the processing approach can better explain the fact that the CPC holds for various filler-gap constructions in Korean other than MSCs; (iv) the processing approach can better explain the fact that the CPC also holds for filler-gap constructions in languages like English which lack pro. One syntactic implication of my claim is that simply appealing to the availability of base-generated pro chains cannot be an answer for the absence of island effects observed in many constructions in Korean including MSCs. (Myongji University)