Structures and Semantics of Equatives in Korean

Abstract

Yeom, Jae-Il. 2018. Structures and Semantics of Equatives in Korean. Korean Journal of Linguistics, 43-2, 251-276. In this paper, I discuss equative constructions with mankhum. They are different from comparatives in three ways. First, in a clausal comparison construction, pota is always preceded by a kes-phrase, while mankhum is preceded by an adnominal clause. Second, pota can be used with a differential degree, while mankhum cannot. Third, mankhum can be used with a clause without a gradable verb, still denoting a degree, but pota cannot. These properties are related to the observation that in Korean, when an adnominal clause denotes a property of degrees, a Deg(ree )P(hrase) shows the property of a syntactic movement of an adjunct to the Spec of a CP. This motivates the idea that a degree is related to a situation. I also deal with quantificational DegP. An adnominal clause that denotes a degree with no gradable verb is a case of a coerced relative clause. A coerced relative clause is normally analyzed by inserting a contextually given relation between a situation described by the clause and the denotation of the head noun. This further motivates the adjunct analysis of a DegP. (Hongik University)