Types of Clauses and Sentence end Particles in Korean

Abstract

Abstract. It is well known that Korean marks clauses through the particles that occur at the end of sentences and also that there are many clause types. One can find as many as eleven clause types proposed in the literature. In this paper I examine all proposed sentence types and sentence end particles through Sadock and Zwicky's (1985) criteria on clause types and decomposition of the particles. The study lends the conclusion that there are at most 5 clause types; declarative, interrogative, imperative, exhortative, and promissive (the last three can even be grouped into one clause type, jussives). It also reveals that not all sentence end particles mark clause type and that they can be categorized into three categories: special mood particles, speech style particles, and clause typing particles. The paper concludes with the issue of the role of clause typing particles. While they are labeled clause typing particles in the sense that they are unique to the clause types they appear in, I argue that they are not markers of sentential force.