On Anaphoric Bare Nouns in Korean: Their Interaction with the Particle NUN

Abstract

This paper examines anaphoric bare nouns in Korean, concentrating on their interaction with the topic marker NUN. Unlike in English, Korean bare nouns (without determiners) can function as anaphoric definites by referring back to their antecedents introduced in prior discourse. However, Kim (2023) and Tomioka (2024) recently note that when marked with NUN or WA, the displaced bare nouns in apparent topic position require a preceding definite demonstrative to serve this function, a pattern observed in both Korean and Japanese. By focusing on Korean cases and comparing them with Chinese counterparts, we argue that the definite demonstrative ku ‘that’ on the displaced NUN-marked bare nouns in apparent topic position is necessary for reasons beyond simply encoding anaphoric definiteness. In a non-contrastive context where only one referent has been introduced in prior discourse, NUN marking on the displaced anaphoric bare noun in apparent topic position in the following sentence results in infelicity, as it inherently induces a contrastive topic reading. However, this effect is neutralized when the noun at hand is preceded by the definite demonstrative.