Idiomatic Expressions in Korean and Argument Structure

Abstract

본 연구의 목적은 한국어 관용어구(idiomatic expressions)의 의미를 논항구조 이론(Argument Structure Theory) 틀 내에서 살펴보려는 것이다. 관용어구에 대한 연구는 전통문법에서부터 이루어져 왔으나 1980년대 말부터 다양한 통사이론들이 논항구조를 주요 연구과제로 삼기 시작하면서 새로운 관점에서 조명을 받게 되었다. 관용어구의 의미가 논항구조 이론의 가장 중요한 이론적 근거를 제시해 주기 때문이다. This paper deals with idiomatic expressions in Korean within the frame-work of Argument Structure Theory. The theory attempts to figure out what kind of semantic information is relevant to determining the formal characteristic of argument structure. Various studies propose the hierarchy of fine-grained thematic roles as a crucial determining factor, and some of them claim that English idioms provide supporting evidence. In this paper, I analyze the meaning of Korean idioms in terms of thematic roles to see whether it is affected by the hierarchícal order among them. I will show that Korean idioms only support the binary distinction between Patient/ Theme and all the other roles, un1ike the previous claims based on English data. Basing myself on this empirical evidence, I will suggest that aspectual information may be more relevant to the argument structure of Korean idioms rather than the hierarchy of thematic roles