Rethinking island effects in Korean relativization

Ilkyu Kim, Yale University

Abstract

The nature of so-called “island effects” in Korean relativization is still controversial. By taking a pragmatic approach, this paper argues that island effects and their exceptions can be naturally explained by a semantico-pragmatic constraint (called the Characterization Constraint) together with other construction-specific factors that cause processing difficulty. This pragmatic (and processing) account will show that what have been known as “clear” island effects in Korean RCCs are only spurious. The difference between Korean and English in terms of sensitivity to island effects is attributed to the difference in the nature of empty categories.