• Title/Summary/Keyword: Complementizer

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The Complementizer That-Deletion in English

  • Kim, Yangsoon
    • International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.112-116
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    • 2021
  • The aim of this study is to analyze the complementizer that-deletion in embedded complement clauses in English. This paper is concerned with the alternation between the overt that-complementizer and the zero complementizer by the complementizer deletion (C-deletion or that-deletion) in constructions with a nominal complement that-clause, i.e. [VP Verb [CP that-TP]]. In this paper, we compare that-complementation and zero-complementation in a diachronic grammaticalization and corpus, and show that the complementizer that has its origin in pronouns diachronically and finally becomes to form a C-head of the functional category CP. We provide the syntactic and semantic explanation on the optionality of that-deletion while answering the question why and how that-deletion is getting increasing in use especially with the verb, think, in the informal contexts. With the major causes for the currently increasing use of that-deletion, we are concerned with the contexts in which the overt complementizers or the covert complementizers are preferred.

Where a Null C Fails to PF-merge

  • Hong, Sung-Shim
    • Language and Information
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    • v.9 no.2
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    • pp.69-83
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    • 2005
  • This paper discusses the distribution of a null complementizer C, as opposed to an overt counterpart 'that', presenting empirical support both for and against the PF-merge analysis of C proposed by Boscovic and Lasnik (2003, henceafter B&L) who in turn attribute to the proposal in Pesetsky (1992) and Halle & Marantz (1993). In Section I, as a background, I discuss B&L's proposal that a null complementizer C is a PF-affix which undergoes a PF-merger operation at the PF component. In Section 2, after a brief sketch of the distribution of a null C mostly in bare-relatives, I explore the possibility of extending B&L's analysis to accomodate the null C's in the bare-relative constructions. In Section 3, I argue that despite some empirical difficulties, B&L's analysis of a null C as a PF-affix can still be maintained, if Adverb Fronting is an operation to Spec-C position. Furthermore, I propose a rule - PF Spell-Out Constraint - to account for the C-trace (i.e. that-trace) effect in relative constructions. With the PF Spell-Out Constraint and B&L's PF-merge account, the distribution of a null C can better be analyzed.

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English Absolutes, Free Adjuncts, and WITH: A Constructional Analysis

  • Yoo, Eun-Jung
    • Language and Information
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.49-75
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    • 2008
  • English absolutes and free adjuncts, despite their abridged syntactic forms, function as full subordinating adverbial clauses, with their semantic roles varied according to the interpretation of the matrix clauses. This paper investigates how to represent the syntactic structures and semantic variability of absolutes and free adjuncts in a unified way, accounting for overlapping properties among various subtypes of the constructions on the one hand, and differences on the other. In the proposed analysis, the clausal properties of absolutes and free adjuncts are captured by the subject selecting property and the clausal meaning associated with a predicative phrase, thus not calling for a null verb or complementizer. In classifying and defining diverse subtypes of the constructions via type constraints, the present work also provides an account of different uses of with involved in absolutes and free adjuncts.

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The First Language Acquisition of Relative Clauses in Korean: Continuity of the Principles of Universal Grammar in First Language Acquisition (한국(韓國) 아동(兒童)의 관계절 습득 연구 - 보편문법(普遍文法) 언어원리(言語原理)의 지속적(持續的) 언어습득(言語習得) 이론(理論)을 중심으로 -)

  • Lee, Kwee Ock
    • Korean Journal of Child Studies
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.125-138
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    • 1992
  • The purpose of the present study was to examine the development of embedding through relative clause formation in the first language acquisition of Korean. Results are reported from the study of the spantaneous natural speech of 36 young Korean children ranging from 16 months to 45 months in age acquiring Korean as their first language in Chinju, Korea. The results revealed a developmental order in the first language acquisition of Korean relative clause structures. Namely, a free or headless relative clause appears to be acquired first, before lexically headed restrictive relative construction. This order is consistent with one evidenced in English (and also Chinese) first language acquisition, 'free' relatives appear to provide a developmentally early stage in the acquisition of restrictive relative clauses. The Korean data provided additional evidence for an intermediary stage with an overt complementizer as well as an overt lexical head. Implications for the results are disscused with regard to a continuous theory of universal grammar in the first language acquisition.

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Derivational Interpretation of Korean “wh-phrases”

  • Kim, Ae-Ryung
    • Language and Information
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.153-169
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    • 2002
  • In this paper I develop a mechanism of interpreting Korean “wh-phrases”. The phrases have various readings depending on where they occur and they could be ambiguous even in the same structure. Yet their readings are subject to certain restrictions. I assume that the “wh-phrases” behave like variables and that there are three quantifiers to bind the phrases; $COMP_{wh},\;COMP_{conc}$ and derivational $\exists$-quantifier. Based on the assumptions I suggest derivational quantification, which consists of three conditions. 1) A quantifier can bind only when it merges into the derivation; 2) $\exists$-quantifier accompanies 〔-OP〕 complementizer but its activation is optional; 3) an instance of quantification makes the clause opaque to other instances of quantification. Scrambling data support derivational approach and across-the-board interpretation motivates the opacity condition. The opacity condition accounts for ATB- interpretations of reflexive pronouns. It can also explain the island effect of wh-islands without adopting covert wh-movement in Korean.

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On Subject auxiliary inversion in English (주어-조동사 도치에 관한 소고)

  • Suh, Jin-Hee
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • no.6
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    • pp.143-157
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    • 2000
  • It has been one of the puzzles in the English syntax that so called the rule of subject-auxiliary inversion (SAI) is not allowed in subject wh-movement while it is not obligatory in non-subject wh-movement in a root sentence. This asymmetry has been a puzzle since SAI itself was thought to be a part of question construction as we can observe from yes/no questions. The asymmetry gets more complicated in terms of sentence embedding, i.e no SAI is permitted in the embedded context in question. The goal of this paper is to suggest an unified analysis for this unsolved grammatical phenomena on the basis of Rizzi (1997)'s recent work. The main idea is that SAI is not a I-to-C movement but one of I-to-Focus where Focus is a functional category and its phrase is located between CP and IP. The other proposal is that Wh-movement is no more homogeneous in terms of landing site between a root and an embedded sentence: the target for a wh-phrase in the former is the Spec of FocP (Focus Phrase) but the one in the latter is the Spec of CP as the standard theory assumes. Pesetsky (l999)'s analysis is discussed and its theoretical and empirical shortages are pointed out. Its rather radical proposals such as the one that the nominative case is just an uninterpretable tense feature of DP and the other that 'that' is no longer a complementizer but an element of I(nflection) make it less acceptable in spite of the possibility that it can get rid of Case theory entirely, which would be ideal in the spirit of minimalism.

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Against the Asymmetric CP- V2 Analysis of Old English

  • Yoon, Hee-Cheol
    • Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.117-149
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    • 2004
  • The paper is to argue against the asymmetric CP-V2 analysis of Old English, according to which finite verbs invariably undergo movement into a clause-final T within subordinate clauses and reach the functional head C within main clauses. The asymmetric CP-V2 analysis, first of all, faces difficulty in explaining a wide range of post-verbal elements within subordinate clauses. To resolve the problem, the analysis has to abandon the obligatoriness of V-to-T movement or introduce various types of extraposition whose status is dubious as a legitimate syntactic operation. Obligatory V-to-T movement in Old English lacks conceptual justification as well. Crosslinguistic evidence reveals that morphological richness in verbal inflection cannot entail overt verb movement. Moreover, the operation is always string-vacuous under the asymmetric CP- V2 analysis and has no effect at the interfaces, in violation of the principle of economy. The distribution of Old English finite verbs in main clauses also undermines the asymmetric CP-V2 analysis. Conceptually speaking, a proper syntactic trigger cannot be confirmed to motivate obligatory verb movement to C. The operation not only gets little support from nominative Case marking, the distribution of expletives, or complementizer agreement but also requires the unconvincing stipulation that expletives as well as sentence-initial subjects result from string-vacuous topicalization. Finally, textual evidence testifies that Old English sometimes permits non-V2 ordering patterns, many of which remain unexplained under the asymmetric CP-V2 analysis.

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Processing Scrambled Wh-Constructions in Head-Final Languages: Dependency Resolution and Feature Checking

  • Hahn, Hye-ryeong;Hong, Seungjin
    • Language and Information
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.59-79
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    • 2014
  • This paper aims at exploring the processing mechanism of filler-gap dependency resolution and feature checking in Korean wh-constructions. Based on their findings on Japanese sentence processing, Aoshima et al. (2004) have argued that the parser posits a gap in the embedded clause in head-final languages, unlike in head-initial languages, where the parser posits a gap in the matrix clause. In order to verify their findings in the Korean context, and to further explore the mechanisms involved in processing Korean wh-constructions, the present study replicated the study done by Aoshima et al., with some modifications of problematic areas in their original design. Sixty-four Korean native speakers were presented Korean sentences containing a wh-phrase in four conditions, with word order and complementizer type as the two main factors. The participants read sentences segment-by-segment, and the reading times at each segment were measured. The reading time analysis showed that there was no such slowdown at the embedded verb in the scrambled conditions as observed in Aoshima et al. Instead, there was a clear indication of the wh-feature checking process in terms of a major slowdown at the relevant region.

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A statistical analysis of wh-scope responses to embedded wh-phrases in Gyeongsang Korean

  • Weonhee Yun
    • Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 2024
  • This study investigates the fixed and random factors affecting response patterns of wh-scope interpretations in Gyeongsang Korean. It employed logistic mixed-effects regression models to analyze responses from 24 participants who listened to 40 pre-recorded stimuli from 40 different speakers. The stimuli consisted of an embedded wh-phrase and an interrogative ending marker, "-nkiko," thereby forming a wh-question, specifically a matrix wh-scope. Participants repeated the test three times. The study found that the prominence level of a prosodic phrase composed of an embedded verb and a complementizer was inversely related to responses with wh-questions, as demonstrated through multiple regression analysis in Yun. The test trial significantly impacted the number of responses with wh-questions, increasing from 50.3% in the first trial to 58.8% and 61.2% in subsequent trials. Examination of random subject effects revealed two main factors influencing responses: morpho-syntactic constraints and prosodic structural integrity. These two factors demonstrated the potential to be inversely weighted. Analysis of random stimulus effects suggested that the prominence level had limited effects on response patterns with each stimulus primarily eliciting one type of responses across trials.

The Structure and Processing of the Korean functional category (한국어 기능범주의 정보처리)

  • 황유미;문영선;박혜성;남기춘
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society for Cognitive Science Conference
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    • 2000.05a
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    • pp.273-278
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    • 2000
  • 본 연구는 한국어 기능 범주(functional category)의 처리를 살펴보기 위하여 실문법증 환자를 대상으로 실시되었다. 일반적으로 수형도에서 기능 범주는 보문소구(Complementizer Phrase), 시제구(Tenxe Phrase), 일치소구(Agreement Phrase)의 순으로 구성되어 있다. 본 실험은 Grodzinsky(1997)의 수형도 가지치기 가설과 실문법증의 엄밀성 척도를 바탕으로 한국어 기능 범주의 처리에 있어서도 두 가지 가설의 적용이 타당한지 여부를 검증하기 위해 실시되었다. 실험 1은 일치소(Agr)의 처리를 살펴보기 위하여 실시되었는데, 국어의 존칭 선어말 어미를 중심으로 살펴보았다. 국어의 존칭선어말 어미는 크게 '-시-'삽입에 의한 존칭과 다른 어휘로 대체하는 보충법에 의한 존칭으로 구분된다. '-시-'삽입에 의한 존칭은 AgrP의 범주로 보충법에 의한 존칭은 동사구(Verb Phrase)의 범주로 설정하여 문법에 어려움을 보이는 실문법증의 경우 어휘부에 혹하는 보충법에 의한 존칭을 문법범주에 속하는 '-시-'삽입의 존칭보다 더 잘 할 것으로 가정하였다. 실험 2는 AgrP의 범주인 '-시-'선택의 장애가 TPqja주인 시제 선택에 역시 영향을 미칠 것이라는 가정아래 설계되었다. 수형도 상에서 '-시-'는 일치소(Agr)로서 시제(TP)의 아래에 위치하므로 실험 3은 '-시-'삽입 존칭과 시제에서 어려움이 보문소(CP)의 선택에 역시 영향을 미칠 것이라는 가정하에서 실시되었다. 실험 1의 결과 '-시-'삽입에 의한 존칭을 처리하는데 보충법에 의한 존칭보다 어려움을 보였다. 실험 2의 결과 '-시-'삽입 존칭에 어려움을 보인 환자는 시제 선어말 어미를 선택하는데도 어려움을 보임이 확인되었다. 실험 3 역시 실험 1과 실험2에서와 동일하게 처리의 어려움을 보였다. 이러한 실험 결과들은 국어의 존칭과 시제 선어말 어미가 통사부에서 구(XP)와 결합하여 새로운 구를 형성하는 통사적 접사로 해석할 수 있으며 Grodzinsky의 가설을 지지하는 결과를 보여 줌으로서 국어에서도 AgrP, TP, CP 사이의 통사적 위계가 있음을 뒷받침하는 증거가 된다.

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