A Test for Argumenthood : Verbal Compounds in Korean

Abstract

The head of a verbal compound is derived from a verb by affixation and its non-head element is interpreted as an argument of the head or a closely related adjunct. Within the framework of Argument Structure Theory, there has been much discussion on whether the verbal compound can be a test for argumenthood, Grimshaw(1990) has specifically proposed that this construction provides supporting evidence for the hierarchy of fine-grained thematic roles. In this paper, I attempt to figure out which elements can be the non-heads of verbal compounds in Korean by analyzing about 400 compounds in terms of thematic roles. Unlike the previous claims based on English data, the result shows that the fine-grained thematic hierarchy is not observed and that a prominent distinction exists only between the Agent and all the other thematic roles. Furthermore, we cannot find any significant difference between arguments and adjuncts in being incorporated as a non-head. Based on this empirical evidence, I argue that verbal compounds cannot be a test for argumenthood in Korean