연어 ”-을 수 {있/없}-”의 서법성과 중의성에 대하여

On the Modality and Ambiguity of the Collocations -(u)l swu {iss/eps}-

The collocation -(u)l swu iss-, which triggers the modal meaning of can, is considered ambiguous, triggering the ability interpretation (root modality: RM) and the possibility interpretation (epistemic modality: EM) (see Ha 2007; see also Myeng 2019 and references therein). As for the ambiguity of the collocation, Chung (2007, 2017) assumes that it is derived from that of the noun swu. However, in this paper, I suggest the following, which I assume can also be suggested for the collocation -(u)l swu eps- (‘cannot’): (A) The noun swu has the meaning of pangto (‘way ) or toli ( way ), which means that the clause headed by -(u)l is a relative clause, and that the collocation forms an idiom, triggering the modality of can. (B) -(u)l is the combination of the modal -(u)l- ( will ) and the null C; and the modality of can, which is triggered by the collocation as an idiom, is derived from or based on the modality of the morpheme -(u)l- ( will ), which can be ambiguous between the volition interpretation (RM) and the inference/prediction interpretation (EM). (C) The -(u)l swu {iss/eps}- constructions may or may not undergo optional Restructuring (see Chomksy 1981), primarily depending on whether it triggers RM or EM. By examining other collocation cases that trigger a particular modality, containing -(u)l, I show that (A-C) are on the right track, which leads to the conclusion that except for the modality of will, the modality in Korean is obtained via the form of idiomatic collocation.