Constraints on Noun Incorporation in Korean

Abstract

In this paper I discuss noun incorporation phenomena in Korean. I will show that noun incorporation of Korean occurs at D-structure and obeys the Head Movement Constraint (HMC) by Travis (1984) and Chomsky (1986) syntactically and the Theme-Only' Constraint semantically. For the discussion, I will first identify the structure of 'iv -tot-i' sunrise-type words, showing that before derivation through attachment of the nominalizing affix '-i'. compounding between h ' sun and `tot' to rise should occur in the syntax. This fact will then be used as direct evidence of noun incorporation, which is a word formation process in the syntax. Based on the structure identified. I will show that every noun which goes through noun incorporation in the syntax should have the thematic role of Theme. This observation is represented by the Theme-Only Constraint.