Korean Specificational Pseudoclefts as Caseless Focus Nominal Extraction*

Abstract

AbstractKorean specificational pseudoclefts exhibit a paradox. On the one hand, anaphor binding facts indicate that the pivot (or an element co‐indexed with it) must originate in a position located within the presupposition CP. Nonetheless, specificational pseudoclefts appear to be island‐insensitive. To resolve this paradox, I propose an extraction analysis whereby only caseless focus nominals base‐generated in the complement position of verbs or in the left‐periphery of the presupposition CP may function as pivots, and reach their surface position. This proposal has several implications. First, caseless nominals are structurally reduced, when compared to case‐marked nominals containing a case projection. Second, caseless nominals base‐generated in the left‐periphery of CPs can be foci conveying contrastive (exhaustive) new information. Third, anaphor connectivity effects are tied to syntactic movement of focus phrases and reconstruction. Lastly, specificational pseudoclefts and copular constructions do not have the same underlying structure.