Interrogatives as Discourse Markers

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the development of Korean interrogative pronouns -nwugwu `who`, mwue `what`, we `why`, edi `where`, ence `when`, and eddeykey `how`- as discourse markers. The grammaticalization of interrogative pronouns into discourse markers is not a new phenomenon, but has been attested in few languages. Traugott (1982) cites why in English as an example of the shift from propositional to textual to interpersonal meaning, in that it changes from a mark of interrogation to a complementizer to a "hearer-engaging" form. Based on 679 modern Korean spoken corpora, which amounts to about 6 million words, including TV or radio programs, lectures, every-day conversations and so on, the present study will attempt to provide a unified account of the grammaticalization and discourse functions of all six interrogative pronouns. In particular, three main goals of this paper are: (a) to examine the functions of interrogatives as discourse markers found in the modern spoken Korean, (b) to attempt to explain the cause and developmental path by which interrogatives become discourse markers, and lastly (c) explain the phenomenon from a cross-linguistic perspective. This study will suggest that interrogatives acquire new discourse functions over time as the speakers desire to express their attitudes toward the on-going discourse. That is, their grammaticalization process can be explained in terms of the historical changes from the propositional to subjective to intersubjective meanings. To be short, this study hopes to give a unified explanation of how the interrogatives acquire functions as discourse markers and why it happens.