｛좀｝의 기능과 문법화

Abstract

The mopheme {jom} has been generally described as a abbreviated form of the adverb {jogeum} . But {jom} shows many particular behaviors that could not be explained if it be a adverb. We separate {jom_2} as a sort of determiner from {jom_1} as a shortened form of the adverb {jogeum}. { jom_2 }, as a determiner, has a function similar to the Korean determiners {ga, leul} , which means that {jom_2} and {ga}, {leul} can be compared with the French indefinite article {un} or partitive article {du, de la, des}. We assert that {jom_2} plays two main roles. The one is the role of introducing a new information and focusing an entity in the discourse. {jom_2} has a correlation with the presupposition, also. The other role is related with modality. The function of {jom_2} doesn`t lie so much in `politeness` in the speech level as generally accepted, as in `demand` in the order of modality.