Co-Event Conflation for Compound Verbs in Korean

Co-Event Conflation for Compound Verbs in Korean* Jong Sup Jun Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, San 89 Wangsanri Mohyunmeon Yonginsi, Kyunggido Korea drjun@hufs.ac.kr Abstract. Compound verbs in Korean show properties of both syntactic phrases and lexical items. Earlier studies of compound verbs have either assumed two homonymous types, i.e. one as a syntactic phrase and the other as a lexical item, or posited some sort of transformation from a syntactic phrase into a lexical item. In this paper, I show empirical and conceptual problems for earlier studies, and present an alternative account in terms of Talmy’s (2000) theory of lexicalization. Unlike Talmy who proposed [Path] conflation into [MOVE] for Korean, I suggest several types of [Co-Event] conflation; e.g. [Co-Event Manner] conflation as in kwul-e-kata ‘to go by rolling’, [Co-Event Concomitance] conflation as in ttal- a-kata ‘to follow’, [Co-Event Concurrent Result] conflation as in cap-a-kata ‘to catch somebody and go’, etc. The present proposal not only places Korean compound verbs in a broader picture of cross-linguistic generalizations, but, when viewed from Jackendoff’s (1997) productive vs. semi-productive morphology, provides a natural account for classifying the compounds that allow –se intervention from those that do not. Keywords: Compound verb, Cognitive semantics, Lexicalization, Conflation, Categorial conversion, Semi-productive morphology 1. Introduction Compound verbs in Korean pose interesting problems for morphosytax and lexical semantics , in that their distribution is constrained by the interaction between morphology and syntax, which is more or less predictable from meaning. C-H Lee (2006: 129) discusses four types of compound verbs in Korean. (1) Compound verbs in Korean: a. VV type: ttwi-nolta ‘to run and play’ b. V-e-V type: ttut-e-nayta ‘to rip off’ c. V-ko-V type: mil-ko-tangkita ‘to push and pull’ d. V-eta-V type: tol-ata-pota ‘to look back’ Among these four types, the V-e-V type shows certain degree of productivity depending upon kinds of preceding and following verbs, as shown in (2). * An earlier version of this paper was presented at Harvard International Symposium on Korean Linguistics 2007. The second stage of Brain Korea 21 project provided me with an ideal atmosphere to work on my research. This work was supported in part by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund of 2007. Copyright 2007 by Jong Sup Jun 202 (2) Elements of V-e-V compounds (K-H Kim 1996: 3): a. Preceding verbs: kal- ‘to grind’, kennu- ‘to cross over’, ket- ‘to walk’, kkul- ‘to drag’, kwulu-‘to roll’, nal- ‘to fly’, nayli- ‘to go down’, noh- ‘to put down’, tul- ‘to enter’, olu- ‘to go up’, ttalu- ‘to follow’, etc. b. Following verbs: kata ‘to go’, nohta ‘to put down’, mekta ‘to eat’, pota ‘to try’, oluta ‘to go up’, ota ‘to come’, cwuta ‘to give’, etc. Among various verbs in (2), kata ‘to go’as the second verb draws our attention in terms of productivity. Some possible compounds with kata are listed in (3). (3) V-e-kata (K-H Kim 1996: 3): kacyekata ‘to take (something) and go’, kechyekata ‘to pass (through)’, kwulekata ‘to go by rolling’, …

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