On the classification of Korean sentence types

Abstract

In this paper we try to present the new classification of Korean sentence types, using the concept ‘sentence mood’ which is understood as the complex of formal aspects and functional/semantic aspects. We cannot find any systematic classification from the previous researches, although there have been proposed various classifications of sentence types. Following the concept ‘sentence mood’, we examine first morphological and syntactic properties of each sentence type, and then construct the interpretation of each sentence type by using discourse-based concepts such as CG(Common Ground), QS(Question Sets), and TDL(To-Do List). As a result, we conclude that Korean has 6 sentence moods such as declaratives, interrogatives, imperatives, exclamatives, promissives and exhortatives. In addition, we show that there are some implicational relations among the sentence moods.