Case-mismatching versus D-linking of ATB wh-questions in Korean
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This study explores how conjunct locus and D(iscourse)-linking can improve the acceptability of Korean across-the-board (ATB) wh-questions that violate the case-match requirement of wh-fillers. A 2 × 2 design is employed – involving Korean ATB wh-questions with the first-conjunct or second-conjunct case-mismatches and with bare or D-linked wh-phrases. The results show that the first-conjunct case-licensing of a wh-filler is crucial when the wh-filler is bare, as reconstruction into the first conjunct is allowed while reconstruction into the second is not. Meanwhile, the first-conjunct case-licensing of a wh-filler is not crucial when the wh-filler is D-linked. More precisely, D-linking improves the acceptability of syntactically ill-formed ATB wh-questions which violate the first-conjunct case-licensing requirement of a wh-filler, but it does not improve the acceptability of syntactically well-formed ATB wh-questions. These results thus suggest that the amelioration effect of D-linking only occurs as a last resort when the acceptability of ATB wh-questions is degraded due to a violation of certain grammatical principles.
Authors: Jeong-Seok Kim, Yoo-Jeong Kim, Jee Young Lee
Institution: Korea University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,489
OpenAlex ID: W4404557937