Double Relativitization of Different Grammatical Functions in Korean

Abstract

Contrary to the claim that only the subject of a clause can undergo double relativization (DR) in Korean (Han 1992), in this paper, I show that it is possible for all GFs to undergo DR but that not all GFs can undergo DR equally easily. I then address the questions (i) what kind of factors determine the DR possibilities of different GFs and (ii) what their nature is and how they can be explained. I claim that one of the important factors determining them is the GFs of the head nouns of the relative clauses from which DR takes place, to be more precise, the GF relations between the higher and the lower head nouns of double relative constructions (DRCs), and that the reason why this is so can be explained in terms of processing. DRCs, in principle, are ambiguous and based on the observation that the interpretation preferences of DRCs are generally determined in the lower relative clauses, I approach the task of explaining the DR possibilities of different GFs by explaining the interpretation preferences of the lower relative clauses. My claims are that they can be explained in terms of ambiguity resolution and that the two major factors figuring importantly in this are (i) the argument vs. adjunct status of the gap and (ii) the distance between gap and filler.