Predicate contrastive topic constructions: Implications for morpho-syntax in Korean and copy theory of movement

Abstract

This paper closely examines two types of predicate contrastive topic constructions in Korean, i.e. Ha-construction and R-construction, and argues that they are derived from the same underlying structure via the same process, which involves a phrasal movement including a subject, leaving behind the copy of the moved constituent (cf. Chomsky, 1995), in contrast to the head movement analysis. That is, as far as syntactic process is concerned, Ha- and R-constructions are one and the same construction. Two constructions and their surface variations arise as a result of selective PF-deletion process in the lower copy of the moved constituent. The analysis proposed in this paper provides a uniform analysis of two types of predicate contrastive topic constructions in Korean and also provides a systematic account of both similarities and differences with regard to morpho-syntactic and semantic properties found in two construction types. To the extent the current proposal holds, it provides strong empirical evidence for copy theory of movement and late lexical insertion along the lines of Distributed Morphology (cf. Halle and Marantz, 1993). Furthermore, it constitutes strong empirical evidence for the assumption that verbal inflections as well as verbal roots are independently projected to syntactic structure in Korean.