Elliptical Predications in Korean

Abstract

This thesis examines ellipsis phenomena in Korean, with special attention to the case in which a pro-form kuleh 'so' appears in the ellipsis site. The main goal is to identify the distribution of this pro-form and investigate its possibilities in extraction.

This thesis first shows that the pro-form occurs in place of various projections: vP, a Sentential Predication, a Categorical Predication, and a small clause predication. It is concluded that each appearance of the pro-form corresponds to a predication. Based on the observation, this thesis proposes that there exists an anaphoric process, namely Predication Ellipsis, which targets various sizes of predications. The pro-form kuleh appears as a result of this anaphoric process.

This thesis then presents previously unnoticed asymmetry in possibilities in extraction. Recent literatures suggest that extraction is possible (Chung 2013, Park 2013, Park and Yoo 2013, Sohn 2013). However, contrary to previous observations, it is shown in this thesis that only some portion of its appearances allows extraction: extraction from a verbal elliptical site and a small clausal elliptical site is allowed, but extraction from a full clausal elliptical site is strictly barred. I argue that this asymmetry in extraction possibilities in fact receives a principled account by adopting the theory of Derivational Ellipsis (Aelbrecht 2010). The Derivation Ellipsis theory provides a mechanism to relate different possibilities in extraction with differences in structural configuration.

This thesis shows that the structural configuration of verbal Predication Ellipses allows extraction: it provides an escape hatch where an element within the ellipsis site can move to. In contrast, it is shown that the structural configuration of clausal Predication Ellipses disallows extraction: it lacks an escape hatch, and no element can move out of the ellipsis site. In this way, the current proposal explains the peculiar asymmetry in extraction possibilities.