A new account of the case alternation in Korean complex predicates

Abstract

This paper investigates the phenomenon referred to as 'case alternation' in the complex predicate with the auxiliary verb siph- 'want' in Korean. It provides an account for the analysis within the framework of Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG). It begins by reviewing previous analyses that case alternation in the construction of the complex predicate -ko siph- 'want to' can be accounted for by a dual inheritance property specified in the lexicon. This study, by contrast, proposes a new account of case alternation in the complex predicate -ko siph- 'want to'. It introduces a new classification of the particle -i/ka, arguing that it functions not only as a subject case marker but also as an information structure marker. Furthermore, it argues that the grammatical case of the second argument marked with the particle -i/ka has not changed. Instead, the particle -i/ka enables the argument to be focused. Through a detailed analysis of the complex predicate -ko siph- 'want to', this research proposes a lexical entry for the particle -i/ka as an information structure marker, elucidating its role in the complex predicate construction -ko siph- 'want to'. The findings have implications for our understanding of case-marking and the argument structure of the Korean complex predicate -ko siph- 'want to'.