The role of metonymy in the interpretation of Korean multiple subject constructions

Metonymy in grammar

“…Concerning the notion of reference point and metonymy, more germane works relative to the present article are Kumashiro & Langacker (2003), Langacker (2004), and Park (2011, which deal with Japanese and Korean multiple subject constructions. In dealing with Japanese double subject constructions, Kumashiro & Langacker (2003) argue that the topic-like property of the outer noun phrase in double subject constructions is the result of the reference point subject creation.…”

“…Progressing from Kumashiro & Langacker (2003) and Langacker (2004), Park (2011) analyzes Korean multiple subject constructions. Though the details of Park are different from Kumashiro & Langacker (2003) and Langacker (2004), the article claims that metonymy plays an important role in interpreting Korean multiple subject constructions.…”

“…Though the details of Park are different from Kumashiro & Langacker (2003) and Langacker (2004), the article claims that metonymy plays an important role in interpreting Korean multiple subject constructions. What I attempt in this article is to extend Kumashiro & Langacker's (2003) and Park's (2011) analysis of Japanese/Korean multiple subject constructions to multiple object constructions. Although the two constructions differ in many aspects, I argue that both multiple subject and object constructions are systematically accounted for when viewed from the perspective of metonymy and reference point.…”

When Richard met CG: reference-point and English copy-raising

“…In this example, Sally is invoked as a reference-point, and dog is accessed via Sally . The notion of reference-point has in fact been adopted in the analysis of various phenomena, such as possessor–possessee (Langacker, 2008; Taylor, 1996), multiple subject constructions (Kumashiro & Langacker, 2003; Park, 2011), and antecedent–anaphora (van Hoek, 1997), among others.…”

“…Indeed, in the literature that adopts the notion of reference-point, scholars such as Kumashiro and Langacker (2003) and Janda (2011) utilize an implicit reference-point, which cannot be interpreted as a topic. For example, in the Korean sentence (5), the relational nominal subject hand implicitly invokes a reference-point, the owner of the hand , because without the owner, the speaker cannot access hand (see Park, 2011). The implicitly invoked reference-point functions as a mental address for hand in the lower clause without identifying a specific person, although it ultimately corresponds to Trump in the higher clause. [ Thulemphu-ka [ son-i cakta ]]. Trump-Subj hand-Subj be.small ‘Trump has small hands.’ …”