Subjecthood Tests in Korean

Abstract

This paper attempts to find some behavioral properties of unequivocal instances of grammatical subjects in Korean in order to provide some reliable subjecthood tests. I will examine nine tests which have been claimed as diagnostics for subjecthood in Korean. I will review each test and show that only some of them are reliable. Others will be shown not to bear any direct relationship to subjecthood, although they tend to pick up subjects in many cases for various reasons.