Some Remarks on Ahn and Cho’s (2006) Dual Analysis of Korean RNR

Abstract

There have been various approaches entertained in the literature to account for the properties that the so-called right node raising construction (RNR) displays: Across-the-board rightward movement analyses, PF deletion analyses, and multi-dominance analyses, to name a few. Pointing out that no single uniform analysis can account for all the properties displayed by the RNR, Ahn and Cho (2006) propose a heterogeneous analysis approach: There are two types of RNR structures, one being derived by a semantically constrained ellipsis (S-ellipsis), while the other being derived by a phonologically constrained ellipsis (P-ellipsis). This article shows that despite some genius in it, Ahn and Cho’s (2006) dual analysis approach faces some empirical and theoretical problems. It will be first shown that there exist some RNR properties which are hardly accounted for by any version of ellipsis approach, including S-ellipsis or P-ellipsis. It will be also shown that the mechanism of P-ellipsis, if strictly followed, leads to some non-trivial technical and semantic problems. The conclusion drawn is agnostic: The RNR is still in a haze.