Subjects of Clausal Intonation Units in Korean Conversation
Haeyeon Kim · Discourse and Cognition · 2004
In discourse analysis of topic-prominent languages, zero anaphora phenomena have been widely studied. However, little attention has been paid to subjects of clausal intonation units (IUs), the existence of which raises an intriguing question in those languages characterized by the prevalence of zero anaphora. This research explores properties of subjects of clausal IUs in Korean conversation. It examines frequency, grammatical forms, and roles of zero- and overt subjects, exploring the relationship between clausal structures and IUs. Furthermore, this study examines cognitive and interactive factors responsible for the occurrence of zero- and overt subjects in conversation. Examination shows that major interactional factors responsible for the occurrence of zero subjects of clausal IUs are: (ⅰ) situatedness, in the sense that participants are contextually given, (ⅱ) 'topic-continuity', (ⅲ) cognitive constraints such as the one new argument constraint and the one lexical argument constraint, and (ⅳ) interactional factors or motivations. This research also shows that the following motivations are responsible for the occurrence of overt subjects of clausal IUs: (ⅰ) introducing new referents into discourse, (ⅱ) performing the function of specifying agents of the following predicates of the partial clausal IUs caused by topic continuity, (ⅲ) making a contrast or placing emphasis on the persons or objects being referred to. Finally, this research suggests the need to investigate the relationship between the clausal units and the IUs in their interactional contexts. (Chung-Ang University)