Interpreting selo as a variable : the syntax-semantics interface

Abstract

The referentially dependent item, selo, in Korean may be construed as a bound variable. Construed thus, it cannot be anteceded by a coargument, but it is further constrained by the Specified Subject Condition or its binding-theoretic formulation. I attempt to account for this peculiar distribution in terms of Principle A of the binding theory and strategies of the syntax-semantics interface. To this end, I first characterize it as an anaphor that carries the Same Membership Presupposition and the Mutual Influence Presupposition. Observing that the propositions relevant to the validation of the sentence it is a constituent of are put in contrast only when the two presuppositions are met, J deduce the fact that the bound variable selo cannot be bound by its coargument from the Contrastiveness Condition that dictates that the relevant propositions be in contrast and the empirically given fact that an anaphor bound by its coargument yields no contrastiveness whatsoever.