Mismatch between Null Arguments and Their Apparent Antecedents, and Its Implications on the Theory of Null Arguments

Abstract

This paper revisits null argument constructions in Korean and looks into a semantico-syntactic mismatch between a null argument and its apparent antecedent in Korean (cf. Landau 2023). To account for various interpretive or grammatical mismatches, we propose that null arguments are not directly inserted from the Numeration. The idea leads to the suggestion that null arguments imply structural absence at the overt syntax, and that they are reconstructed at LF from their antecedents to enter into thematic relations with the predicator bearing relevant theta roles. Significantly, the reconstructed element in the null argument slot is a minimal head, which we argue suffices to satisfy the theta requirement imposed by the predicator. Reconstructing only the minimal head aligns with the principle of Economy, which is one of the key concepts in Minimalism.