earticle

영어

I discuss in this paper the distributional properties of adjectives as the prenominal modifiers in relation to the Pronoun-Noun Constructions (PNC) in Korean. Mainly focusing on two domain theory of nominal modification based on Larson’s (1998) analysis, I propose structural properties of two types of adjective that can be realized in the Korean PNC: one type is Reduced Relative Clause (RRC)/DP-modifier and the other type is Attributive Adjective Phrase (AP)/NP-modifier. The main idea is that the pronoun in the Korean PNC plays a crucial role to determine a boundary between DP and NP modifiers. In other words, DP-modifiers are situated in the higher position than the pronoun whereas NP-modifiers are situated in the lower position than the pronoun. This fact is verified by a great deal of empirical evidence drawn from the Korean PNC. I also show the interesting behavior of the Korean color adjectives in relation to its morphology. That is, the domain of modifier of color adjective is flexible depending on its morphological variation. The current analysis provides a principled account of distributional properties of DP and NP modifiers in terms of the pronoun within the PNC in Korean.