earticle

영어

It is a well-known fact that a non-head N is interpreted as an argument of the head V in a synthetic compound such as truck driver or cake eating. This paper proposes that the nominalizing suffix can also satisfy an argument of the head. A close examination of Korean synthetic compounds with the structure [N+V+i] reveals that the argument structure of the head plays an important role in determining the interpretations of both the non-head N and the nominalizing suffix -i. In other words, -i is not only a category-changing suffix but also fulfills a semantic argument of the head when a synthetic compound is interpreted as a concrete nominal expressing an entity. Furthermore, it is argued that the synthetic compounding process is regulated by the Theta Criterion and the Projection Principle relevant to syntax. The proposed analysis can account for why an entity reading is not available with a synthetic compound headed by an intransitive verb and how the non-head N affects the interpretation of the suffix in a synthetic compound headed by a transitive or ditransitive verb. It is suggested that a generalization can be drawn about the range of interpretations found inside synthetic compounds. This paper also discusses difficulties in using tensification and the morphological independence of [V+affix] as diagnostics to identify the internal structure of the synthetic compound [N+V+i].