Usage probability and subject–object asymmetries in Korean case ellipsis: Experiments with subject case ellipsis

Abstract

Case ellipsis for subjects and objects in Korean exhibits several clear asymmetries that have not received a unified explanation. This paper provides a new, probability-based analysis of variable case marking that can account for three types of subject–object asymmetries noted in the literature in terms of asymmetries in the usage probability of the properties of argument NPs in their syntactic or discourse context. This account captures the key generalizations underlying the asymmetries that case ellipsis forwh-word subjects, subjects in OSV sentences and non-specific subjects is unacceptable, whereas case ellipsis for objects with similar properties is acceptable; it also explains why sentences with a subject NP not marked for case that have been predicted to be syntactically ill-formed by previous syntactic accounts are judged acceptable when the subject represents expected, predictable information in context. These results provide strong support for the view that native speakers’ knowledge of grammar includes not only some degree of knowledge of probabilistic information but also access to fine-grained predictability and probabilities.