THE SYNTAX-SEMANTICS OF JAPANESE/KOREAN INTERNALLY HEADED RELATIVE CLAUSE CONSTRUCTIONS
THE SYNTAX-SEMANTICS OF JAPANESE/KOREAN INTERNALLY HEADED RELATIVE CLAUSE CONSTRUCTIONS

Summary/Abstract: The Syntax-Semantics of Japanese/Korean Internally Headed Relative Clause Constructions. This paper argues for a number of substantive modifications in earlier analyses of the syntax-semantics of I(nternally) H(eaded) R(elative)s of Japanese and Korean. In contrast to Hoshi (1995), Shimoyama (1999), and especially Kim (2007), who view the relative clause as a proposition containing a DP that forms an E-type anaphoric dependency with a relative-external anaphor, the analysis proposed in this paper views the relative clause as denoting a singleton predicate, thereby bringing these IHRs under a common semantic umbrella with other syntactically distinct relative clause constructions that share with these IHRs the property of necessarily having definite/maximalizing semantics. This paper also offers solutions for certain types of data that raise serious empirical problems for Kim's analysis, in particular, IHRs whose internal head forms a long-distance island-sensitive dependency with the 'anaphor', and IHRs whose head is something other than a singular definite or existentially quantified nominal.

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