Extra-linguistic knowledge and Pragmatics in the Interpretation of Korean Relative Clauses

Yeon, Jaehoon

Abstract

Yeon, Jaehoon (2021), “Extra-linguistic Knowledge and Pragmatics in the Interpretation of Korean Relative Clauses,” Language and Information Society 44. This paper explores how morpho-syntactic and semantic constraints interact with extra-linguistic and pragmatic factors in the interpretation of Korean relative clauses. Relative clauses in Korean are qualitatively different from those in European languages. This paper demonstrates that the interpretation of Korean relative clauses depends on context and pragmatic factors. In prior research, particularly in formal syntax, pragmatic factors have been neglected in considering relative clauses. Extra-linguistic knowledge and pragmatic factors play important roles in acceptability judgements and plausibility conditions for the interpretation of relative clauses in Korean. We also propose that Korean relative clauses show similarities to topic constructions in Korean. The plausibility condition in relative clauses can be compared to the aboutness condition in topic constructions. Lastly, we have shown that various pragmatic information interacts with and contributes to appropriate interpretation of Korean relative clauses.

Citation

Yeon, J. (2021). Extra-linguistic knowledge and Pragmatics in the Interpretation of Korean Relative Clauses. 언어와 정보 사회 = Ene wa Cengpo sahoy (Language and Information Society), 44, 297-336. https://doi.org/10.29211/soli.2021.44..010

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 9, 2021
• Publication Date: Dec 30, 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 28, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 28, 2022
• Print ISSN: 1598-1886
• Electronic ISSN: 2713-6817
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 44
• Pages: 297-336
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.29211/soli.2021.44..010
• Keywords: Korean relative clauses, contextual-pragmatic factors, extra-linguistic knowledge, topic constructions, plausibility, aboutness