On the Discrepancy Between Fronted Predicates vs. Fragmented Predicates

This paper observes and tries to account for a discrepancy in grammaticality between predicate fronting vs. predicate fragments in Korean: Predicate fronting is banned in non-elliptical contexts, while predicate fragments are fine. The ban on predicate fronting in non-elliptical contexts is shown to follow from the constituency requirement on syntactic operations based on J. H. Yoon s (1993, 1994, 1997) phrasal affix analysis of verbal endings. Predicate fragments are shown to be permitted since what undergoes movement is not a predicate alone but a clause with all other elements (except for the predicate) suppressed.