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Partitive descriptions in Korean

Authors :
Keun Young Shin
Source :
Glossa: a journal of general linguistics; Vol 2, No 1 (2017); 5, Glossa, Vol 2, Iss 1 (2017)
Publication Year :
2017
Publisher :
Open Library of the Humanities, 2017.

Abstract

This paper examines Korean partitive constructions to investigate the typology of the partitive structure. In Korean, a quantifier precedes the nominal in a non-partitive, but it follows the nominal in a partitive. The relative order between a quantifier and its associated nominal indicates that a quantifier in Korean partitive does not function as a NP adjunct but takes a DP as its argument. I argue that Korean postnominal (floating) quantifier constructions can be interpreted as partitives or pseudo-partitives/quantitatives because a postnominal (floating) quantifier denoting a part-of relation can occur with a kind-denoting DP as well as a definite DP. I also propose that a quantifier denoting a part-of relation is associated with the argument of a verb via composition with a verbal predicate in the floating quantifier construction. This approach can provide an account for several idiosyncratic properties of floating quantifier constructions, which are difficult to capture under the assumption that a floating quantifier construction is derived by moving a quantifier away from its associated nominal. This article is part of the Special Collection: Partitives

Details

ISSN :
23971835
Volume :
2
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Volume 2
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....f46e8f852665a085543265b9e14dae20
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.143