VP-Internal Nominative in Multiple Nominative Constructions

The aim of this paper is to discuss two questions concerning multiple nominative constructions (MNCs) in Korean: whether or not all nominative-marked elements are subjects and how nominative marker can be realized on more than one nominal. As for the first question, I support that not all the nominatives represent the subjecthood of their bearer as mentioned by Mok (2005). Special attention is devoted to inalienable possession constructions (IPCs). I demonstrate with empirical evidence that the second nominative is not a grammatical subject but a VPinternal element. This finding carries over to the second question, arguing that the nominative case does not have to move up to T to be valued. It is valued within VP periphery. Consequently, this paper presents a possibility that apparent case marking does not always represent its syntactic position.