대한언어학회 전자저널

Chung, Inkie & Kim, Jiyoung. (2022). A markedness-theoretic account of the Korean verbal suffix -ko in mun tat-ko na-ka. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 30(1), 93-112. Native speakers of Korean have no problem understanding the intended meaning of the utterance Mun tat-ko na-ka. In fact, the expression may seem to carry semantic absurdity as it literally means Close the door, and go out! Thus, studies have tried to analyze its meaning focusing on its pragmatic function, the semantic features of -ko, and the meaning span of the verb na-ka Go out! However, no studies have tried to focus on its syntactic structure and the pragmatic role of the two conjuncts. In this paper, we show that the first conjunct mun tat-ko close the door carries the principal meaning of Mun tat-ko na-ka and the whole utterance is syntactically designed to make a request of the second conjunct na-ka go out. Also, we propose to attribute the interpretability of Mun tat-ko na-ka to the unmarkedness of the suffix -ko because it does not seem to add any meaning while connecting two clauses in seemingly reverse order. This proposition is testified by analyzing sentences with other semantic exceptionality. Finally, we demonstrate why -ko corresponds to the characteristics of the unmarked member of a certain linguistic category, as proposed by Jakobson (1932/1984) and Greenberg (1966). Compared to other Korean suffixes with similar meanings, -ko is the most frequently used suffix with the most versatile functions and is the one children acquire first.

# 한국어 연결어미 -고(Korean verbal suffix –ko) # 문 닫고 나가(Mun tat-ko na-ka ‘Close the door # and go out!’) # 담화표지 좀(discourse marker com) # 도상성(iconicity) # 유표성(markedness)

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