On the Negativity of Negative Fragment Answers and Ellipsis Resolution

Abstract

Based on the assumption that the amwu-(N)-to expressions in Korean are Negative Concord Items, this paper presents evidence for the inherent negativity of the amwu-(N)-to expressions. Further, along the line of the recent studies which argue that ellipsis ‘is’ subject to some syntactic identity condition over and above any semantic identity condition, this paper explores the syntactic resolution of Negative fragment ellipsis: the amwu-(N)-to expressions can be used without negation only in ellipsis exactly because ellipsis repairs a violation of Neg-feature checking requirement. In consequence, the puzzle of Island-Insensitivity of fragments in Korean can be handled.