• Language and Information
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.129-152
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• 2002

This paper argues for a need to adopt a conceptually radical approach to zero anaphora resolution in Korean. It is shown that a number of apparently conflicting constraints, mostly motivated by lexical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic factors, are involved in determining the referential identity of zero pronouns in Korean. It is also argued that some of the major concepts of Optimality Theory can provide a good theoretical framework to predict the antecedents to zero pronouns in general. A partial formalization of 07-based constraints at the morpho-syntactic and lexico-semantical level is provided. It is argued that the lexico-semantic restrictions on adjacent expressions play the most important role in the anaphora resolution process along with a variant of the binding principle, formulated in semantic terms. Other pragmatically motivated constraints that incorporate some important intuitions of Centering Theory are proposed too.