In the Middle of Korean Middles

Abstract

This paper proposes a Distributed Morphology account of middle sentences in Korean. In the middle of Korean middles lie the functional head Voice bearing [-ACT] and the generic operator GEN, interacting with each other to produce the morphosyntactic and semantic properties of Korean middles. VoiceSUB[-ACT]/SUB is responsible for the demotion of an external argument of eventive verbs, characteristic of middle sentences where a theme occupies the grammatical subject position. This functional head also figures prominently in passives, where the same range of verbalizing suffixes of middle sentences also appear. This functional head is responsible for the external argument demotion and the sharing of the same verbal suffixes with passives. The generic operator unselectively binds the event variable e and consequently ascribes a disposition to the theme occupying the grammatical subject position. This binding prevents Existentential Closure from binding this variable which would result in an episodic reading of the event that middles sentence are incapable of yielding. Unlike English middles which employ VoiceSUB[+ACT]/SUB, Korean middles are generic passives.