University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The role of case-marked noun phrases in clause structure building

Lee, Wooseung

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Lee_Wooseung.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/14749

Description

Title
The role of case-marked noun phrases in clause structure building
Author(s)
Lee, Wooseung
Issue Date
2010-01-06T17:49:13Z
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Yoon, Hye Suk James
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Yoon, Hye Suk James
Committee Member(s)
  • Benmamoun, Elabbas
  • Lasersohn, Peter N.
  • Arregui-Urbina, Karlos
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Linguistics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2010-01-06T17:49:13Z
Keyword(s)
  • Case-marked Noun Phrases
  • Clause Structure Building
  • Null Predicates
  • Null Arguments
  • NP Coordinations
  • Right Node Raising
  • Right- Dislocation
Abstract
The goal of this thesis is to investigate the pervasive role of case-markers in the morpho-syntax of various constructions in heavily dependent-marking languages such as Korean and Japanese. I show that Case plays a special role in Korean, unlike in other languages (e.g. German) by comparing the morphosyntax (and prosody and interpretation) of two types of nominal coordinations that are differentiated by the presence/absence of the case-marker in the initial conjunct. I then develop a novel system, which I call the “Incremental C-selectional Combinatoric Analysis”, in which case markers or other combinatoric markers are crucially implicated in the structure building. I also demonstrate how some of the traditional issues revolving around the so-called null categories – both null arguments and null predicates – are resolved; null predicates are licensed strictly by syntax, while null arguments are not syntactically licensed. Rather, missing arguments mean the structural absence of the arguments. The constructions that I am focusing on in this investigation include different types of Noun Phrase Coordinations, Right Node Raising (RNR) Constructions, Coordination under Right Node Raising (CoRNR) Constructions, Null Argument Constructions and Right-Dislocation Constructions in Korean/Japanese. First, I discuss how the null predicate is licensed and gets interpreted in coordination contexts such as Type A/B nominal coordinations, RNR as well as CoRNR constructions. The null predicate is syntactically licensed by the (combined) case-marked NPs in the initial conjunct. The contents of this null predicate are cataphorically resolved when the overt predicate in the final conjunct is encountered. I then discuss the syntax of Null Argument Constructions. Unlike the proposals made so far, I propose that null arguments mean structural absence of the arguments. Specifically, missing elements are not syntactically projected at all. Finally, I analyze Right-Dislocation Constructions as bi-clausal, which are composed of a host clause and an appendix clause containing a null predicate. The null predicate in the appendix clause receives anaphoric interpretation by being co-indexed with the overt predicate in the host clause. Before closing with some implications of the proposed analysis, I discuss how to handle sentences with some case-drop or without case-markers at all. I propose that they are asyntactically formed.
Graduation Semester
2009-12
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/14749
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2009 Wooseung Lee

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