On wh- and Operator Scope in Korean

Authors: Beck S.; Kim S-S.

Source: Journal of East Asian Linguistics, Volume 6, Number 4, October 1997 , pp. 339-384(46)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

This paper presents an analysis of the interaction of wh-phrases and negation in Korean. We observe that a wh-phrase must not be c-commanded by negative polarity item. This is related to the observation that in German, a wh-phrase must not be c-commanded by negation or a negative quantifier. We suggest that both languages are sensitive to a restriction that prohibits LF movement across negation, the Minimal Negative Structure Constraint MNSC, proposed in Beck (1996). Since a negative polarity item must always be in the scope of negation, the MNSC covers the Korean data as well as the German facts. Our analysis has several interesting implications for LF structures in Korean. One is that negation cannot be interpreted in its S-structure position. Another concerns the semantic effect of scrambling. Contra Saito (1989, 1992), we argue that scrambling serves to identify intended relative scope and is thus by no means vacuous. We propose that short scrambling is never reconstructed.

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft Universität Tübingen Wilhelmstr.113 D-72074 Tübingen Germany E-mail: beck@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de (Beck) shin-sook.kim@uni-tuebingen.de (Kim)

Publication date: 1997-10-01