A comparative study of accusative adverbials: based on Russian and Korean

Abstract

This study aims to provide an account of argument status and case assignment of accusative adverbials in Russian and Korean. First, accusative adverbials can be either arguments or nonarguments. Second, accusative adverbials receive either structural case or inherent case depending on their argument status. However, a question arises regarding how some accusative adverbials can appear to be in the nominative case when the sentence is passivized. One of the suggestions can be based on Sigurdsson’s (2003) analysis of morphological versus abstract case, and Yip, Maling and Jackendoff’s (1987) Case-Tier Hypothesis.<BR> I proposed that Russian and Korean have both a layer of inherent and structural morphological cases, and allow morphologically invisible or visible case morphology. According to Sigurdsson’s (2003) idea of morphologically inherent and structural cases, I assume a case marking process, which is inherently or structurally visible ‘DP<SUB>α</SUB>→DP/C<SUB>inh</SUB>→DP/C<SUB>inh</SUB>-C<SUB>str</SUB>=DP/C<SUB>inh</SUB>-C<SUB>str</SUB>’. In case of accusative adverbials, they can receive the inherent case by the mechanism ‘DP<SUB>α</SUB>→DP/C<SUB>inh</SUB>→┐=DP/C<SUB>inh</SUB>’. Also they can receive the structural case by the mechanism ‘DP<SUB>α</SUB>→┐ →DP/C<SUB>str</SUB>=DP/C<SUB>str</SUB>’.