Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual System

This paper examines the grammaticalization of aspectual markers in Korean, focusing on the evolution of -go iss- -고 있- and -eo iss- -어 있- from Middle Korean to modern Korean. In Middle Korean, these markers conveyed both resultative and progressive aspects, with -go is- -고 잇- indicating the duratio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bishwanath Kumar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani) 2025-01-01
Series:Acta Linguistica Asiatica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uni-lj.si/ala/article/view/19711
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832098361254084608
author Bishwanath Kumar
author_facet Bishwanath Kumar
author_sort Bishwanath Kumar
collection DOAJ
description This paper examines the grammaticalization of aspectual markers in Korean, focusing on the evolution of -go iss- -고 있- and -eo iss- -어 있- from Middle Korean to modern Korean. In Middle Korean, these markers conveyed both resultative and progressive aspects, with -go is- -고 잇- indicating the duration of a resultant state and -eo is- -어 잇- serving broader aspectual functions. Over time, -go is- became primarily associated with the progressive aspect in modern Korean, while -eo is- retained its role in marking the duration of a resultant state, though its usage diminished. The study situates these changes within a broader typological framework, demonstrating that the evolution of Korean aspectual markers aligns with global linguistic trends. The paper also critically reviews existing literature, highlights gaps, and suggests avenues for further investigations on the interaction between pragmatics, transitivity, and aspect in the grammaticalization process.
format Article
id doaj-art-d6c7094b2f7c488d913b37c0f2e47935
institution Kabale University
issn 2232-3317
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher University of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)
record_format Article
series Acta Linguistica Asiatica
spelling doaj-art-d6c7094b2f7c488d913b37c0f2e479352025-02-05T12:07:07ZengUniversity of Ljubljana Press (Založba Univerze v Ljubljani)Acta Linguistica Asiatica2232-33172025-01-0115110.4312/ala.15.1.47-62Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual SystemBishwanath Kumar0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1256-8168Seoul National University This paper examines the grammaticalization of aspectual markers in Korean, focusing on the evolution of -go iss- -고 있- and -eo iss- -어 있- from Middle Korean to modern Korean. In Middle Korean, these markers conveyed both resultative and progressive aspects, with -go is- -고 잇- indicating the duration of a resultant state and -eo is- -어 잇- serving broader aspectual functions. Over time, -go is- became primarily associated with the progressive aspect in modern Korean, while -eo is- retained its role in marking the duration of a resultant state, though its usage diminished. The study situates these changes within a broader typological framework, demonstrating that the evolution of Korean aspectual markers aligns with global linguistic trends. The paper also critically reviews existing literature, highlights gaps, and suggests avenues for further investigations on the interaction between pragmatics, transitivity, and aspect in the grammaticalization process. https://journals.uni-lj.si/ala/article/view/19711aspectual markersgrammaticalization-eo iss--go iss-Korean aspectual systemlinguistic typology
spellingShingle Bishwanath Kumar
Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual System
Acta Linguistica Asiatica
aspectual markers
grammaticalization
-eo iss-
-go iss-
Korean aspectual system
linguistic typology
title Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual System
title_full Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual System
title_fullStr Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual System
title_full_unstemmed Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual System
title_short Grammaticalization in the Korean Aspectual System
title_sort grammaticalization in the korean aspectual system
topic aspectual markers
grammaticalization
-eo iss-
-go iss-
Korean aspectual system
linguistic typology
url https://journals.uni-lj.si/ala/article/view/19711
work_keys_str_mv AT bishwanathkumar grammaticalizationinthekoreanaspectualsystem