Multiple fragment answers in Korean

Abstract

There are two main approaches to fragments: the Ellipsis Approach (Morgan 1973, Merchant 2004, 2010) and the Direct Interpretation Approach (Yanofsky 1978,Stainton 1998, 2006, Barton and Progovac 2005). Examining fragment answers in Korean and proposing a generalization of them, this paper argues that the Direct Interpretation Approach fails to account for the wide range of data and suggests two possible directions toward an analysis. It is proposed that fragment answers involve both ellipsis and pro/cleft and that contrary to what the Direct Interpretation Approach assumes, fragment answers involve structure. The arguments come from various ‘word order’ effects of multiple fragments and island (in)sensitivity of fragment answers.