On the Meaning of the Pre-Final {-tə-} in Modem Korean-In the Case of Sentence-Final Position-

Abstract

There have been disagreements among scholars on the nature of the prefinal ending {–tə–} in Modern Korean. Based on the conviction that the meaning (function) of a grammatical morpheme should be defined by opposition, this paper argues that the basic meaning (function) of the prefinal {–tə–}, which has the opposition relation to {ø2~ni}, is 'the shift of the speaker's viewpoint; i.e., locating the speaker's viewpoint at the moment of experiencing the situation referred to'. The shift of the speaker's viewpoint can be analyzed into three elements, 1) reserving the moment of speech 2) shifting to the moment of experiencing the situation 3) referring to the situation itself at the moment of experiencing the situation. When one of these elements is highlighted in the context, {–tə–} may have contextual meaning. In relation to 1), {–tə–} can express the meaning of 'telling of the situation objectively (as he/she experienced it)', in relation to 2), the meaning of 'retrospection'; and in relation to 3), the meaning of 'perception and experience'. The shift of the speaker's viewpoint can have implicatures- 'not knowing the situation in detail', 'psychological distance', 'non-responsibility'- and these implicatures can also be explained in relation to the above elements, respectively