Two-arguments-crossing phenomena in adjectival constructions

Abstract

Although certain crossing relations between two arguments in verbal constructions have been discussed in previous works, few studies have been conducted on adjectival constructions. Based on a large-scale database of adjectives, this study examines the syntactic constructions of adjectival predicates and classifies diverse types of two-arguments-crossing (TAC) relations in the adjectival constructions. This study has a twofold goal. First, it provides a reliable result obtained from the exhaustive examination of 6600 adjectival predicates, instead of reporting typical complement types or crossing relations between arguments based on a limited number of examples. About 17% of Korean adjectives have been revealed licensing TAC relations. Second, the TAC relations, distinguished from other syntactic alternations, are empirically discerned and classified into four sub-types: IS-SYM, IS-CRT, DS-LOC and DS-PSY types. The first three types of the TAC relations are also observed in verbal constructions, whereas the last type seems exclusive to adjectival constructions. On the ground of the current study on adjectives, a full-scale study on verbal constructions licensing crossing relations between two arguments would be conducted in future works and therefore, a theoretical assumption may be elaborated on the basis of a solid linguistic reality.