Korean Conjunctive (Converbal) Suffixes

@cite{sohn-1999}

Medial clause markers in Korean: conjunctive suffixes on the verb stem that link clauses in a chain. Korean has no switch-reference morphology; instead, each conjunctive suffix directly encodes the interclausal semantic relation (sequential, simultaneous, causal, conditional, concessive, etc.).

Korean converbal constructions are among the most extensively described in the clause chaining literature. The system is highly productive: new chains can be extended indefinitely by adding medial clauses with conjunctive suffixes before the single final (independent) verb.

Inventory

Suffix	Meaning	Tense on medial	Negation
-go	sequential/additive 'and, and then'	no	possible
-myeonseo	simultaneous 'while'	no	possible
-eoseo	causal/sequential 'because, and then'	no	possible
-(eu)myeon	conditional 'if, when'	possible	possible
-jiman	concessive 'but, although'	possible	possible
-dorok	purpose 'so that, until'	no	possible
-nikka	causal 'since, because' (evidential)	possible	possible
-(eu)ryeo	purpose/intention 'in order to'	no	possible

structure Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.ConjSuffixEntry : Type

A Korean conjunctive suffix entry.

• form : String

  Suffix form (romanized).

• gloss : String

  Semantic relation gloss.

• allowsTense : Bool

  Whether tense can be marked on the medial verb with this suffix.

• allowsNegation : Bool

  Whether independent negation is possible on the medial clause.

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instReprConjSuffixEntry.repr : ConjSuffixEntry → Nat → Std.Format

Equations

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instance Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instReprConjSuffixEntry : Repr ConjSuffixEntry

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instReprConjSuffixEntry = { reprPrec := Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instReprConjSuffixEntry.repr }

instance Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instBEqConjSuffixEntry : BEq ConjSuffixEntry

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instBEqConjSuffixEntry = { beq := Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instBEqConjSuffixEntry.beq }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instBEqConjSuffixEntry.beq : ConjSuffixEntry → ConjSuffixEntry → Bool

Equations

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• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.instBEqConjSuffixEntry.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.go : ConjSuffixEntry

-go: sequential or additive 'and, and then'. The most neutral connective — imposes minimal semantic constraint.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.go = { form := "-go", gloss := "and/and then (sequential/additive)", allowsTense := false, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.myeonseo : ConjSuffixEntry

-myeonseo: simultaneous 'while, as'. Requires temporal overlap between medial and following event.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.myeonseo = { form := "-myeonseo", gloss := "while (simultaneous)", allowsTense := false, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.eoseo : ConjSuffixEntry

-eoseo: causal or tight sequential 'because, and then'. The medial event is either the cause or the immediately preceding event. Differs from -go in implying closer connection between events.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.eoseo = { form := "-eoseo", gloss := "because/and then (causal/sequential)", allowsTense := false, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.myeon : ConjSuffixEntry

-(eu)myeon: conditional 'if, when'. Can combine with past tense for counterfactual readings.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.myeon = { form := "-(eu)myeon", gloss := "if/when (conditional)", allowsTense := true, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.jiman : ConjSuffixEntry

-jiman: concessive 'but, although'. The medial event holds despite the following event.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.jiman = { form := "-jiman", gloss := "but/although (concessive)", allowsTense := true, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.dorok : ConjSuffixEntry

-dorok: purpose or extent 'so that, until'. The medial event is the goal or limit of the following event.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.dorok = { form := "-dorok", gloss := "so that/until (purpose)", allowsTense := false, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.nikka : ConjSuffixEntry

-nikka: causal 'since, because' (with evidential overtone). Marks the medial event as an established or experienced reason.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.nikka = { form := "-nikka", gloss := "since/because (causal-evidential)", allowsTense := true, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.ryeo : ConjSuffixEntry

-(eu)ryeo: purpose/intention 'in order to'. The subject intends to bring about the medial event.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.ryeo = { form := "-(eu)ryeo", gloss := "in order to (purpose/intention)", allowsTense := false, allowsNegation := true }

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.allSuffixes : List ConjSuffixEntry

All conjunctive suffixes.

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def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.tensedSuffixes : List ConjSuffixEntry

Suffixes that allow tense marking on the medial verb.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.tensedSuffixes = List.filter (fun (x : Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.ConjSuffixEntry) => x.allowsTense) Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.allSuffixes

def Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.untensedSuffixes : List ConjSuffixEntry

Suffixes that disallow tense marking on the medial verb.

Equations

• Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.untensedSuffixes = List.filter (fun (x : Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.ConjSuffixEntry) => !x.allowsTense) Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.allSuffixes

theorem Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.suffix_count : allSuffixes.length = 8

8 conjunctive suffixes in the inventory.

theorem Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.all_allow_negation : (allSuffixes.all fun (x : ConjSuffixEntry) => x.allowsNegation) = true

Every suffix allows independent negation on the medial clause. Korean medial clauses can always be independently negated.

theorem Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.tensed_count : tensedSuffixes.length = 3

3 suffixes allow tense on the medial verb.

theorem Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.untensed_count : untensedSuffixes.length = 5

5 suffixes disallow tense on the medial verb.

theorem Fragments.Korean.MedialVerbs.tense_partition : tensedSuffixes.length + untensedSuffixes.length = allSuffixes.length

The tensed/untensed partition exhausts the inventory.