earticle

영어

The semantic contribution of non-nominal tul in Korean is widely known as distributivity. Yet, Kim (2005) observes many examples in which Korean non-nominal tul is compatible with collectivity. To capture the seemingly conflicting properties of non-nominal tul, Kim (2005) claims that the distributivity sense of non-nominal tul is presupposition rather than denotation. However, it is attested that the distributive sense of non-nominal tul cannot survive under negation and this fact tells us that the distributive interpretation of non-nominal tul should not be considered as presupposition. Instead, this paper claims that Korean non-nominal tul is a local Part operator which is intrinsically a distributivity operator but can also allow a collectivity sense to arise. By explaining the core properties of non-nominal tul with a pragmatic operator, this paper also explains that the notorious interpretational fluctuation of non-nominal tul, which has frustrated many researchers working on it, comes from its inherent pragmatic nature.