부정적 편향을 나타내는 ‘-을까 말까 하다’ 구문

Abstract

This study aims to explain the specific contexts and diverse syntactic features of the negative bias expressed by the construction ‘-lkka malkka hada’. First, based on the characteristics of scalar expressions that indicate negative bias in English, it was demonstrated that expressions located at the low scale play a crucial role in emphasizing negative bias in Korean. Furthermore, it was observed that, unlike English, scalar expressions in the ‘-lkka malkka hada’ construction, while indicating negative bias, are not treated as negative polarity items. The study examined the amount scales and the frequency scales that can combine with the ‘-lkka malkka hada’ construction and proposed strategies to express an extremely low likelihood of an event occurring. When an amount scales is used, ‘-lkka malkka hada’ conveys the meaning that the likelihood of a specific entity reaching the reference value is low. When combined with a frequency scale, the construction indicates that the possibility of the event occurring is extremely low. In cases where either a positive scale or a frequency scale is used, ‘-lkka malkka hada’ in its adnominal form can also convey the extreme degree of the following adjective. Additionally, strategies such as setting an extreme event as the minimum condition or comparing it with an even less likely event were identified to emphasize the exceedingly low probability of occurrence. This analysis demonstrates that the ‘-lkka malkka hada’ construction serves as an important linguistic tool for expressing refined inferences about scales based on the speaker’s experience and knowledge. As a future research direction, the study suggests the necessity of systematically collecting and analyzing various constructions and configurations that express the semantic concept of ‘bias’ in Korean linguistics. By categorizing the linguistic strategies for representing ‘bias’ in Korean and deeply examining the unique semantic functions and syntactic characteristics of each construction, this research aims to contribute to a more systematic and sophisticated understanding of ‘bias’.