Semantic Alternation of Korean Case Markers '에e' and '에게ege', and '에서eseo' and '에게서 egeseo'

  • Published : 2014.09.30

Abstract

In this paper, we maintain that case makers '에e' and '에게ege', and '에서eseo' and '에게서egeseo' are not two separate morphemes but are simply allomorphs of the same morphemes respectively. When '에e' and '에게ege' are used as a dative marker, they show exactly the same semantic function and are in complementary distribution in relation to the semantic features of their preceding noun; that is, if the preceding noun is an animate noun, '에게ege' is used and '에e' is used if not. Also, '에게서egeseo' and '에서eseo' as ablative and locative case makers show exactly the same semantic function and show complementary distribution depending on whether the preceding noun is animate or non-animate. Therefore, we assume that these markers are semantically conditioned allomorphs.

Keywords