중간동사구문의 표층주어에 관한 고찰

On the Surface Subject of the Middle Constructions

We will discuss what effect the definiteness of the surface subject has on the derivation of middle constructions. Following Iwata(1999)'s claim that middles should be sensitive regarding genericity, the adverbial effect, modality, and implicit arguments, but some of these characteristics are necessary while others are just typical, we will focus on clarifying the distinctions between generic middles and non-generic middles. The primary characteristics of middle constructions are two: first responsibility and change of the property or event. In order to form a wholly generic middle construction, the implicit argument is generic and the surface subject is also indefinite. In non-generic middle constructions, however, the more specific the middle situation is getting, the more definite the surface subject becomes. When the surface subject is definite, the range of the implicit argument is confined to a unique class of individuals or a unique individual. In this respect, the definiteness of the surface subject plays a crucial role in deriving non-generic middle constructions. Therefore, we divide the middle constructions into three categories.