The so-called Plural Copy in Korean as a marker of distribution and focus

Abstract This paper provides a detailed account of the so-called Plural Copy phenomenon in Korean, wherein the plural marker of the subject nominal is copied and suffixed to non-subject elements including ‘unorthodox’ categories such as adverbs, complementizers, illocutionary markers, etc. Contrary to what has been claimed in previous studies, the Plural Copy is not optional, because it has its own semantic function of signaling conceptual, spatial, and/or temporal distribution. Arguments are brought to bear in demonstrating that its occurrence is far from random, but externally motivated by the speaker's intention to indicate what s/he wishes to assert.