형용사의 품사론

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the discussion on word class for Korean adjectives and concludes that previous debates have proceeded without distinguishing between typological theories of word class and the word class system specific to the Korean language. Haspelmath (2010) argued that the tools for typology and the grammatical categories of individual languages need not align, suggesting that the former should be treated as “comparative concepts” and the latter as “descriptive categories.” This study adopts the distinction between comparative concepts and descriptive categories and applies it to the discussion of Korean adjectives. Comparative concepts are tools used for cross-linguistic comparison and define adjectives as words that describe or restrict the attributes of nouns. In contrast, descriptive categories classify word class based on the grammatical and morphological characteristics of a specific language. According to Haspelmath’s theory, comparative concepts and descriptive categories are not mutually exclusive and can be usefully employed to explain cross-linguistic comparisons and the internal structures of individual languages, respectively. When adjectives are defined as a comparative concept, Korean adjectives can be categorized into verbal adjectives and nominal adjectives. Using semantic criteria such as “state” and “attribute” as comparative concepts, not only conventional adjectives but also determiners, attributive nouns, and predicate nouns expressing states can be included in the adjective category. By adding the attribute of “modification” and incorporating the concept of markedness, only determiners and attributive nouns are included in the adjective category. This is because conventional adjectives primarily function as predicates. When adjectives are defined as a descriptive category, a variety of discussions on word class classification become possible. However, based on criteria such as distribution and syntactic combinations, it is difficult to clearly distinguish conventional adjectives from verbs. The inclusion of adjectives depends on the degree of granularity in the classification of word class. Within the nine-part system of Korean grammar, adjectives can be established as a subcategory of verbs. Determiners can also be classified as a distinct word class if “modification” is used as the primary criterion and the concept of unmarkedness is included. Similarly, attributive nouns, which do not fulfill the unmarked function of nouns, may be grouped with determiners. Although examples like “자상은 하다 (compassionate)” allow the separation of “자상 (compassion)” as a word for word class analysis, such constructions can also be explained as root-separation phenomena. The combination of “은” with “자상” can be analyzed as a phonological phenomenon, while functionally, it may be interpreted as being affixed to the entire structure of “자상하”