A Corpus-Based Analysis of Interactional Functions of Korean Inferential Evidential Marker, -n tus (ha)-

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the inferential evidential marker in Korean, -n tus ha-, which can be translated into English as ‘to seem, I think, it looks like, or I guess," using a discourse analytic approach. This study investigates the pragmatic and interactional functions of the form in spoken/written discourse. In order to accomplish this, an authentic and contemporary corpus is alo used to explicate the systematic patterns of the use of the target forms, using a frequency distribution across different genres and registers. The findings of this study demonstrate that the speaker"s choice of the target evidential markers is not solely based on the source of information as most research on evidentiality claims, but also on the speaker"s stance, as each expresses a different psychological and or interactional position. Overall, this analysis will contribute to the study of the Korean language as it elucidates the complex relationship between grammar and socio-cultural interaction observed in the use of the target forms in Korean conversation, and will contribute to future studies on the Korean language.