A Semantics of Korean Predicates Denoting Spontaneous Vertical Motion

Abstract

This paper aims to provide compositional analyses of Korean serial verb constructions comprised of a verb of vertical motion and a deictic verb. To identify the roles of verbs of vertical motion, Hay, Kennedy, and Levin’s (1999) approach to so-called degree achievement verbs is adopted, where they are defined in terms of “difference value.” Specifically, oluta ‘rise’ and naylita ‘fall’ denote the differential obtained through vertical motion, and do not encode any internal phases of progression constituting the motion. This characterization is compatible with the variable telicity that the Korean vertical motion verbs exhibit. On the other hand, the deictic verb kata ‘go’ is taken to be an atelic process verb. Hence, simplex oluta and naylita denote a difference value resulting from a vertical movement, while serial verb constructions ollakata ‘go up’ and naylyekata ‘go down’ describe the process as well as the result of the motion.