Earticle

The object of this study is to analyze the differences in the uses of ‘-ŏsŏ’ and ‘-ko’ connective endings in the Korean language which express the temporal sequence of action between two clauses. Previous studies have indicated that the clausal connective ‘-ko’ is used after a transitive verb taking an object while ‘-ŏsŏ’ is used after an intransitive verb as well as in cases where the predicates in the two clauses of a sentence repeat the same speech elements, including the object. Studies have also explained that ‘- ko’ is used when the action in the preceding clause is completed before the following action takes place while ‘-ŏsŏ’ is used when the action in the preceding clause continues to have effect on the action in the following clause. These suggestions, however, come with many exceptions. This study aims to analyze, modify, and support previous research on these connectives. It argues that ‘-ŏsŏ’ is used when the result of the action in the first clause continues into the action in the following clause and when pragmatic relevance is established. It also maintains that the connective ending ‘-ko’ is used without regard to pragmatic relevance or whether the action in the first clause affects the action in the second, following clause. The result of the study is a clear, effective explanation of the differences in the uses of the connective endings ‘-ŏsŏ’ and ‘-ko.’

This article discusses the various vowel systems of the Korean language, with consideration of the element theory of Government phonology. Korean vowel systems are different from one another, according to region and/or age variations. The differences are mainly in (i) whether or not the two non-high front peripheral vowels undergo neutralization, and (ii) whether or not the system allows the two front interior vowels. Overall, Korean vowel systems are shifting toward a reduction in the number of vocalic items. It has been claimed that the shifts of the segmental system generally arise from the structural factors within the system. That is, the problem of phonological structure that can be seen in a vowel system is mainly due to the violation of the principle of vowel dispersion. However, we claim that the case of Korean is somewhat different. As for the evolution of Korean vowel systems, we claim that it has not occurred by violating the principle of vowel dispersion, but rather by the tendency of constraint; Korean does not allow two different dependency relations between elements contained in a segment. More concretely, the constraint that A-head non-high front and back peripheral vowels are not allowed is emerging as a trend in Korean phonology. Another trend in Korean is the constraint whereby the fusion of the two elements I and U are not permitted. The former excludes a vowel from the front peripheral space, and due to the latter the two vowels /y/ and /ø/ are not present in the list of Korean vowels.

This article aims to consider the pronunciation types of consonantal sequences, and to propose a teaching plan for Korean as a foreign language by taking advantage of them. The pronunciation of consonantal sequences is considered by dividing them into two groups; namely the case of no phonological changes such as Chinese and Vietnamese, and the case of consonantal assimilation such as Japanese, English, Hindi, and Korean. The consonantal assimilation is discussed in terms of the place of articulation and the manner of articulation. The former is quite common in languages, whereas the latter is not. Korean has both processes, even if the pronunciation with the application of place assimilation is not regarded as standard Korean. The consonantal assimilation in terms of manner of articulation in Korean appears to be nasalization and lateralization. Since the processes, both nasalization and lateralization, are marked compared to other languages, and the phonological environment of the two processes is so complex, Korean language learners may have some difficulty in the acquisition of Korean. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that teachers present the data which are involved with consonantal assimilation one by one, and provide explanations to the learners by contrasting the target language, Korean, and the learner’s native language.

This article analyzes grammatical forms of Mongolian and Korean which can describe past situations. Mongolian suffixes -laa, -jee and -v are past tense forms, but they have different evidential connotations: firsthand past -laa, non-firsthand past -jee and neutral past -v. Korean has two grammatical forms which are mainly employed for past situation description: -ess- and -te-. Korean -ess- is a past tense form but -te- is an evidential form. Korean -te- is a firsthand evidential (past sensory observation), indicating that the speaker has firsthand information about the situation and that the information was acquired before the speech time. Non-firsthand past -jee in Mongolian and firsthand evidential -te- in Korean show a superficial similarity in their subject restriction. They are not usually allowed in first person contexts. When the first person participants lack awareness, control or intention of the situation, -jee and -te- are allowed with first person participants, the so-called ‘first person effect’. This article proposes to divide firsthand evidentials into three subtypes depending on the referential scope of the observee: experiencer-oriented, performer-oriented and observer-oriented evidential. ‘First person effect’ is redefined in this article to incorporate examples from ‘observer-oriented evidential’.

In this article, I am concerned with the dynamics of self among North Koreans, in conjunction with their predicament of being under constant surveillance. To the outside world, the public behavior of North Koreans counts as one of the most puzzling aspects of the reclusive state, while many observers of North Korea point to a “real face” or “pure heart” behind the theatrical “public face” among North Koreans. Based on ethnographic interviews with visitors to North Korea and North Korean refugees, I explore the interweaving relations between the opposing modes of North Koreans’ selfpresentation: a theatrical “public face” and a non-theatrical “pure heart.” I argue that however contrasting they seem, the two modes of self-presentation are in support of, rather than in opposition to, each other for the purposes of the state. Exploiting the cultural notions of public and private and mind-heart, the North Korean state strives to make the face and the heart one and the same in piousness and loyalty. Yet the dramaturgical outlook of North Koreans begs a serious question as to the success of ideological indoctrination when an effort is made to co-opt the mind-heart of a people in the service of state sanctity.

This study is intended to track the historical process of how the concept of ‘yŏnae’ (love) was formed, and how it evolved until the late colonial period. ‘Yŏnae,’ which was coined to refer to a modern form of love, first used in Sŏyu kyŏnmun [Observations on travels in the West], was published by Yu Kil-chun in 1895 with a value-neutral tone. However, the signifier ‘yŏnae’ won enthusiastic support later in the late 1910s as a channel for expressing the subjectivity of modern ego, by bringing ‘emotion’ and ‘intellect’ into its semantic field as requirements for marriage and turning the spotlight upon inner emotional issues, within the context of free marriage. In the first half of the 1920s, the signifier ‘yŏnae’ began to be aestheticized as a divine virtue with an image of lofty civilization, so that the word ‘chayu yŏnae’ (free love) was even highly appraised, transcending its negative nuance of free sex and bringing about a vogue of the ambiguous word ‘sinsŏnghan yŏnae’ (sacred love). However, the word yŏnae ultimately functioned as a disengaged ideology rather than as creative energy to portray individuality in reality, since the concept was infatuated by abstract images of civilization. Connecting the concept with traditional custom and combining it with real life practice from the late 1920s, the concept of yŏnae rapidly degraded into a stage of dates, aiming for marriage. As a result, the concept became subjugated under the gender hierarchy and colonial middle class’ secular familism, in which they could distinguish their identity from the older generation and make nuclear families based on conjugal relations, which was actually confidentially supported by the colonial regime. In this way, the concept started to become conservative, losing its innovative connotations in the late colonial period.

In the present Chinese-character cultural sphere, the term konghwa has been used as the standard translation of republic. This semantic equation raises a question, how konghwa, which originally refers to the konghwa regency in ancient China and literally means “cooperation and harmony,” came to be associated with this Western concept, which etymologically means “public thing” or “public good.” The answer to this question will also have a profound influence on our understanding of Article 1 of the constitution of South Korea, which stipulates “Taehan min’guk shall be a minju konghwaje,” a seemingly pleonastic expression, as shown in the English translation: “The ‘Republic’ of Korea shall be a democratic ‘republic.’” To address these interrelated questions, this work explores the linguistic and historical contexts of early modern Japan, China, and Korea, where the initial association was made between the words konghwa and republic, and also the period when the official name of South Korea and its constitution were initially created. In conclusion, this article provides answers to these questions by showing the close association between konghwa and the political system of the United States, particularly, the indirect voting system for its presidential election.

This article suggests a new research methodology for Korean Neo-Confucianism. In order to do this, we need first to be clear about the nature of Korean Neo- Confucianism in relation to the question of whether it can be legitimately called philosophy in the Western sense of the term. In this article, I shall focus on the following questions: (1) Is there such a thing as world or universal philosophy? (2) Can Korean Neo-Confucianism be considered to be world philosophy? (3) What is the reason for the Western rejection of non-Western thought as philosophy? And (4) what conditions are required for Korean Neo-Confucianism to remain as a science which is understandable to the ordinary man of reason? I offer a negative answer to (1) for the reason that there is no consensus on the definition of philosophy itself. And if there is no such philosophy, we do not have to be concerned with (2). In relation to (3), I examine Defoort who blames the rejection of the existence or legitimacy of Chinese philosophy on Western chauvinism or ethnocentrism. Unlike Defoort, I consider that the rejection is rather due to Western indifference to, or ignorance of, East Asian traditions of thought. The main contention here is that, although there is no such thing as world philosophy, contemporary Korean Neo-Confucian scholars still need to satisfy a number of basic conditions to make Korean Neo-Confucianism a science worthy of discussion in the future. In answer to (4), I here suggest consistency, validity, and conceptual clarity as such conditions. They are in general called logical elements since they are most commonly found in Western books on logic, but they are in effect “commonsensical” in that they are basic elements required in everyday conversation. It is hoped that the conditions should not be taken as a repetition of a controversy over the definition of philosophy, but simply as a “commonsensical” suggestion to write various traditions of thought in a “commonsensical” way.

This paper analyzes the kugyŏl 口訣 glosses in the Asami Collection copy of the Ch’ŏllo Kŭmgang kyŏng 川老金剛經 owned by the University of California-Berkeley. Though the text itself was printed in 1387 at the end of Koryŏ, making it the oldest glossed Korean text available in North America, the analysis shows that the vast majority of the glosses were copied over from the 1464 Kŭmgang kyŏng ŏnhae 金剛經諺解 and the 1482 Kŭmgang kyŏng samgahae 金剛經三家解. However, the glosses also include a few archaisms, show interesting hybrid glosses that combine abbreviated Chinese character kugyŏl graphs and Hunmin chŏng’ŭm glosses, and include instances of ‘final sound suffixation’ (marŭm ch’ŏmgi 末音添 記)-type glossing and other vernacular script annotations in the lefthand margin that raise interesting questions about the transition from high Koryŏ ‘interpretive’ glossing (釋讀口訣 sŏktok kugyŏl) to Chosŏn ‘sequential’ glossing (順讀口訣 sundok kugyŏl) and the role of the new Korean vernacular script as an extension of kugyŏl glossing practice. In other words, it would appear that after the demise of the older ‘interpretive’ glossing at the end of Koryŏ that used both sides of the line in an integrated process, the lefthand side of the line was more or less abandoned for many decades with the advent of the newer ‘sequential’ glossing that used only the righthand side of the line. However, with the invention of the vernacular script in 1446, a new use was found for the lefthand side of the line: vernacular glosses that complemented the newer-style 順讀口訣 sundok kugyŏl glosses on the righthand side of the line and partially reprised the role of the now-defunct ‘interpretive’ glossing in a new, ‘two-dimensional’ glossing practice.