국어 담화에서의 ‘-는 것 같다’의 화용적 의미와 상호작용적 기능

Abstract

This research investigates meanings and functions of the modal marker -nun kes kathta ‘I think’ from an interactional perspective. This marker carries not only the state of speaker’s knowledge about a state/event but also the speaker’s stances toward the proposition being delivered. After providing a brief summary of the previous studies, this research examines properties of -nun kes kathta in two terms: (i) speaker’s guessing or supposition which is made based on indirect and inferable evidence, and (ii) speaker’s politeness strategy of not imposing on others. Examination shows that the use of -nun kes kathta is related to the speaker’s stance toward his/her guessing/ supposition about an event/state. The use of -nun kes kathta intends to seek the next speaker’s agreement, disagreement, or additional information. Finally, this research suggests that an interactional approach is needed in analyzing lexical items or grammatical constructions to characterize them in their contexts.