Light verb constructions have been treated as a relevant linguistic topic because they show unique characteristics that are not found in other verb constructions in Korean. Thus, previous studies are mainly focused on specific characteristics: (i) the relationship between light verbs and v and (ii) the affixation of accusative case particles. However, in this thesis, I examine more important issues related to light verb constructions in Korean: (i) how light verb constructions can works as predicates in clauses, (ii) the nature of the relationship between the complement and the light verb in light verb constructions, and (iii) where the complement and the light verb are present in the surface structure in Korean. Operating under the assumption that the light verb construction is a way of presenting a predicative type similar to lexical verbs or adjectives in Korean, I claim that (i) the lexical-semantic and syntactic information of all predicates, including light verb constructions, is determined in the “lexical conceptual structure” (e.g., Levin & Rappaport 1998), (ii) the conceptual categories in the lexical conceptual structure become the lexical items in the lexicon differently in light verb constructions than in lexical verb constructions, and (iii) the light verb construction is built by incorporation which is similar to semantic noun incorporation (e.g., Dayal 2010). In addition, in this thesis I will present new characteristics of light verb constructions in Korean: (i) the function of each component in the light verb construction such as the modifier and the modified item, (ii) the relationship between components in the light verb construction (i.e., s-selection), (iii) the existence of a functional projection between two components (i.e., Event Phrase), and (iv) the generation of the negation particle an ‘not’ under the head of vP.

Light verb constructions have been treated as a relevant linguistic topic because they show unique characteristics that are not found in other verb constructions in Korean. Thus, previous studies are mainly focused on specific characteristics: (i) the relationship between light verbs and v and (ii) the affixation of accusative case particles. However, in this thesis, I examine more important issues related to light verb constructions in Korean: (i) how light verb constructions can works as predicates in clauses, (ii) the nature of the relationship between the complement and the light verb in light verb constructions, and (iii) where the complement and the light verb are present in the surface structure in Korean. Operating under the assumption that the light verb construction is a way of presenting a predicative type similar to lexical verbs or adjectives in Korean, I claim that (i) the lexical-semantic and syntactic information of all predicates, including light verb constructions, is determined in the “lexical conceptual structure” (e.g., Levin & Rappaport 1998), (ii) the conceptual categories in the lexical conceptual structure become the lexical items in the lexicon differently in light verb constructions than in lexical verb constructions, and (iii) the light verb construction is built by incorporation which is similar to semantic noun incorporation (e.g., Dayal 2010). In addition, in this thesis I will present new characteristics of light verb constructions in Korean: (i) the function of each component in the light verb construction such as the modifier and the modified item, (ii) the relationship between components in the light verb construction (i.e., s-selection), (iii) the existence of a functional projection between two components (i.e., Event Phrase), and (iv) the generation of the negation particle an ‘not’ under the head of vP.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to find a representative sample of selected verb-noun constructions involving a concrete noun and to evaluate the syntactical differences and similarities that relate these constuctions to light verb constructions. The thesis consists of the necessary theoretical knowledge of light verb constructions and of a personal research. The theoretical knowledge includes tests for identification of the verb-noun constructions, the main characteristics of ligh verbs and predicative nouns and we also introduce the main differences between verb-noun constructions and fixed expressions. The practical research of verb-noun constructions with a concrete noun has been done with the aid of a French language corpora FrWac. The nouns we received by the corpora research had been further analysed by several tests serving to identify a verb-noun constructions.

The dissertation deals with aspect in light verb constructions in French (LVCs). Light verb predicates such as faire du doublage, faire une découverte, and donner un conseil, constitute a specific kind of verb-noun construction recognizable by two transformational tests i.e., the cancellation test and the argument co-reference test. From the aspectual point of view, there are three parameters to be recognized: the lexical aspect (states, processes, events), grammatical aspect (perfectivity, imperfectivity), and aktionsart (quantity, quality, and phase of action). Being the semantical root of LVCs, the predicative noun is a starting point for aspectual analysis, nevertheless this aspectual interpretation is drawn from the whole sentence and takes account of the whole LVC, as well as of other aspectually relevant components (aspect shifting and aspectual composition). The objective of the research is to clarify the aspectual properties of the predicative noun and examine whether and how the principle of lexical aspect shifting is applied in the context of LCVs with a focus on the role of semantics (creation, motion containing a goal destination), of the predicative noun's complement (its quantization and cumulativity), countability, and determination of the predicative noun. It is observed that countability marked by articles has a crucial effect on the interpretation of the lexical aspect and aktionsart (faire un saut - sauter une fois, faire un emballage - emballer un cadeau, *emballer une fois). The research is based upon a systematic use of real corpora contexts (InterCorp 2018, FrWac, araneum), French lexicon-grammar data (Maurice Gross and his colleagues), and native-speaker competence.