Number in (in)definite contexts: The case study of Korean

• Published in: Linguistic research Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 109 - 134
• Main Authors: Kim, Kyumin, Park, Seong Eun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul Kyung Hee Institute for the Study of Language and Information 01.03.2024; 언어정보연구소
• Subjects: Algonquian languages; Armenian language; Blackfoot language; Case studies; Context; English language; Grammatical number; Korean language; Mandarin; Noun phrases; Reference (Semantic); Semantics; Syntactic complexity; 언어학
• ISSN: 1229-1374
• DOI: 10.17250/khisli.41.1.202403.005

This paper investigates number in the nominal domain with a particular focus on Korean. English is well-known to show singular-plural number contrast unlike Korean that shows number neutral-plural contrast. Recent studies, however, have suggested that Korean has singular-plural number contrast in a certain context, namely definite context. This paper proposes that in Korean singular and plural nominals in definite contexts do not have the same structures as indefinite contexts. In a definite context, a plural nominal has a full DP structure with NumP similar to a singular nominal. In an indefinite context, on the other hand, a plural nominal has a modifying plural unlike a singular nominal with a bare nP. The proposed structures form a basis for the semantic account, i.e., the syntactic-complexity-based competition for number in Katzir (2007) adopted for Western Armenian. Assuming this syntax-based semantic account for Korean, it is shown that the different number contrasts in the two different contexts are natural consequences of the singular-plural competition. The proposed syntactic and semantic accounts for Korean suggest that a language like Korean may have two two-way number contrasts, not one two-way contrast (e.g., as in English) suggested in previous literature. This paper shows that the two two-way number contrasts are not a cross-linguistically rare phenomenon as originally suggested in the literature but possible in various languages such as Blackfoot (Algonquian), Western Armenian, and Mandarin, and so on. (Chungbuk National University)