On anaphoric definiteness in Korean: A reassessment

Abstract

This paper investigates the grammatical system of anaphoric definiteness in Korean. This study argues that as a counterpart of English ‘the’ + NP, an article-/determiner-less or bare NP can serve as an anaphoric definite either when it has the same form as its antecedent, or when its referent is inferable from the referent of its associate noun in bridging contexts. In other non-bridging environments, to serve as an anaphoric definite, a bare NP needs to be supported by ‘ku,’ which carries what Schwarz (2009) describes as an anaphoric index argument. As noted by M.-J. Kim (2023), however, an anaphoric definite bare NP that meets form identity with its antecedent needs to be replaced by a demonstrative NP in some restricted discourse contexts. Unlike M.-J. Kim (2023), this paper argues that since ‘ku’ has a disambiguating function, the demonstrative NP is strongly preferred when the referents of the NP description accompanied by the demonstrative are multiply available or evoked.