Publisher: Saffron Books
Publication date: 2005
Pages: 216
This volume contains eight papers that are all dedicated to issues in Korean morpho-syntax from a functional-typological perspective. The contributing authors include Kaoru Horie, Namkil Kim, Stefan Knoob, Sang Whan Seong, Jae Jung Song, Jae-Mog Song, Nam Sun Song and Jaehoon Yeon. The authors analyse Korean data from a cross-linguistic perspective, showing how cross-linguistic generalisations can contribute to an understanding of the structures in individual languages. Cross-linguistic generalisations are significant in understanding individual languages and in gaining insight into the nature of human language. Studies in individual languages and universal grammar should complement each other. The grammar of an individual language serves as direct evidence that provides the basis for universal grammar. Cross-linguistic generalisations make it possible for us to gain insight into the nature of language in general and, in turn, help us discover facts about particular languages. The authors explore various issues on morpho-syntactic phenomena through a cross-linguistic comparison between not only Korean and Japanese, but also Germanic or other languages. The cross-linguistic comparison appeals to semantic and pragmatic considerations. Since these semantic and pragmatic functions are the basis of comparison, it is inevitable that they play a role in cross-linguistic generalisation.