On the Intensionality of Korean Possessive Verbal Nouns

On the Intensionality of Korean Possessive Verbal Nouns

  Taking the two-component theory of aspect, where Smith (1991) distinguishes grammatical aspect ((im)perfectivity) from lexical aspect (Aktionsart), I propose that intensionality of events (denoted by Korean possessive verbal nouns) arises from their lexical aspect that indicates what part of and how the internal temporal development of an event would unfold in time. Drawing on the asymmetric distribution in some extensional contexts including the genuine perception verb see, which has been known to select for events as its complements (Higginbotham 1983, 1985), I reveal that Korean possessive verbal nouns are characterized by their lexical aspect while English argument-taking derived nominals by their grammatical aspect. They should not be comprised into the same group of complex event nominals, contra Grimshaw (1990), Jung (1997) and Miyamoto (1999). I further claim that it is the intensional or hypothetical nature of the lexical aspect that leads Korean possessive verbal nouns to be interpreted as intensional. I provide a bare nominal structure for the intensionality of Korean possessive verbal nouns, to show that the intensionality of events can be encoded in the nominal syntax, though many of the traditional studies on intensionality have been directed to individuals and propositions.