Two Types of Sino-Korean Verb Formation

Abstract

This article presents data in which some Sino-Korean verbs behave like dyadic verbs, while others behave like monadic verbs. To account for this difference in adicity, a syntactic analysis of Sino-Korean verb formation is offered under the Distributed Morphology framework: the sharp contrast in adicity is attributed to the distinction between verb formation from roots and verb formation from non-roots; specifically, dyadic verbs are root-derived and monadic verbs are word-derived or non-root-derived. In the latter case, a Sino-Korean root merges with a truncated word. Whereas in the former case, a Sino-Korean root combines another root. In the meantime, the possibility is entertained that such a mode of verb formation may revolve around so-called multiple object constructions in Korean. Extending the present analysis to English data, the article concludes itself by touching upon the point that the current analysis may also be applied to some English noun-containing verbs such as monadic sight-see and dyadic baby-sit.