Correction and compensation: The taysin construction in Korean

Abstract

This paper explores the taysin construction in Korean, ClauseAtaysin ClauseB, which can convey corrective semantics (‘ClauseB instead of ClauseA,’ where only ClauseB holds) or compensatory concessive semantics (‘ClauseB even though ClauseA,’ ‘ClauseB in exchange for ClauseA,’ where both clauses hold). The taysin construction is remarkable in that (1) when it conveys corrective semantics, it may not require any overt negativizer as correctives usually do (e.g., he is not rich, but instead poor) and in that (2) its function covers a specific type of concessive—compensatory concessive. I contend that the various uses of this versatile construction are conceptually related by showing that all evoke mutual exclusiveness at some level (whether profiled or not) and that there must always be an assessment of compensation/offset between the effects of situations referred to in the two clauses. To explicate the constructional polysemy better, this study clarifies definitions of corrective and compensatory concessive and argues that the uses are better grasped by employing the domain analysis (following Sweetser, 1990). Then, this study provides a systematic account of the distribution of the taysin construction in Korean by discussing how the relevant mutual exclusiveness is construed together with compensation/offset as being at the content, epistemic, or speech-act level.