A Syntactic Approach to the Interpretations of Null Arguments in Japanese and Korean

Abstract

In this paper we will argue following Park (2013) that the nature of null arguments in Japanese and Korean (J/K) can be understood on a par with the anaphoric element one or its null form in English. To this end we will concentrate on some properties that null arguments in J/K share with the one anaphor/its null form in English. First, it will be shown that null arguments and the one anaphor/its null form exhibit the same referentiality, having co-reference and disjoint-reference with their antecedent. Second, they are syntactically derived when the NP goes missing or is substituted for by one/its Japanese counterpart no. Third, they are sensitive to the well-known complement vs. adjunct distinction, including the complement obligatorily and the adjunct optionally within the portion replaced by them.