The Syntax and Interpretation of Korean Semantically Defective kes as an Instance of Deep NP Anaphora

Abstract

In Korean, the dependent noun kes, meaning “thing” in English, is widely used in different structures. It is typically used as a semantically contentful generic non-human noun projection, acting as a relative clause (RC) head NP in RC constructions or playing a generic-stance noun-like role in the conventional complement clause—noun head construction, where it constitutes an instance of deep anaphora. It is also used like a function word devoid of semantic content; in such cases, it also acts as an instance of deep NP anaphora whose semantic content is, at the interpretational/construal stage, inherited from a relevant element in the structural context where it occurs. In this study, we argue that the latter use of kes is found in constructions such as internally-headed RCs and cleft structures. The main argument presented here is that structurally, only one kind of kes is represented as an instance of deep anaphora; however, it can be used either as a content noun or a semantically defective function-word-like noun.