국어 문법 기술과 절의 문제

Abstract

Although clause is a basic unit of Korean grammar which composes conjunctive or embedded sentence, little attention has been paid to its grammatical features or boundary in depth. In this regard, this present article attempts to examine the definition and characteristics of clause and consider the true nature of clause in complex sentences. Problems of clause in the description of Korean grammar are as follows. First, the definition of clause is blurred; clause is often defined as syntactic construction containing a subject and predicate and forming part of a sentence, however, this definition contradicts the concept of antecedent clause or following clause. Second, the limit of clause is unclear as this term is currently also used to refer to quoted clause, matrix sentence, principal sentence, antecedent clause, and following clause. Third, inconsistent use of clause-related terms leads to confusion when describing Korean grammar. Fourth, there are hierarchical contradictions among clause, phrase, and sentence. By focusing on these issues, this paper seeks to examine the status of clause as a unit of Korean grammar. In Korean grammar, clause is defined in relation to sentence: clause is a unit of a sentence containing a subject and predicate. Meanwhile, sentence is a unit that has sentence-final intonation. This article explores the boundary of clause according to these definitions and examines issues such as the boundary of antecedent and following clause in conjunctive sentences, and problem of embedded and matrix clause in embedding sentences. Lastly, this paper sets bound to the definition of clause by discussing a few cases which entail controversy in terms of their status as a clause. By clarifying the boundary of clause, this study provides a foundation of more consistent grammatical description of Korean complex sentences.