Idioms in Korean Ditransitive Constructions

Abstract

This paper discusses a so-called asymmetric theory of idiom formation in Korean ditransitive constructions, focusing on its problems. The asymmetric approach, in particular proposed by Kim (2012), claims that the prepositional dative (PD) and the double object construction (DOC) are syntactically different, and that this difference is able to predict logically possible/impossible idiom patterns in Korean ditransitives. This paper, however, argues that idiom formation in ditransitives is better captured in a verb-sensitive approach (Rappaport and Levin, 2008; Levin, 2009, 2010) claiming that a verb’s meaning determines its own argument realization. This idea is supported by fixed argument idioms whose types are fixed theme and fixed goal idioms. It appears that fixed goal idioms only involve send-type verbs associating caused motion and caused possession, whereas fixed theme idioms involve give-type verbs associating caused possession. This study also concludes with the suggestion that the classification of give-type and send-type verbs in Korean needs to be more refined: the verb tencita ‘throw’, for example, is expected to be associated with the caused motion event just like ‘send’ but appears to prefer the theme-goal-V order.