Verbal suffix-repetition construction in Korean: A constraint- and construction-based approach

Abstract

There are various Verbal Suffix-Repetition (VSR) constructions in Korean, where suffixes such as -kena/tun(ci)/tun(ka) are attached to the repeated verbs. Calling the VSR Choice-denying Repeated Verbs construction, Lee (2011) claims that the following verb of the VSR, which can be replaced with mal-, should contain a negative but the preceding verb should be affirmative in the VSR construction which disallows any NPI within it. Unlike Lee (2011), we claim that the verbs in the VSR can freely occur either in the preceding position or in the following one regardless of their Neg value so long as they share the same verbal suffix forms such as -tun(ka). Furthermore, NPIs may occur within the VSR construction if they occur with a negative predicate within the same clause. To implement the findings above into HPSG, we have proposed the two lexical entries for mal-, the VSR Construction Rule, and the NPI Clause-mate Constraint. These tools enable us to account for the idiosyncratic properties of the VSR constructions under this constraint- and construction-based approach.