-느-'와 종결어미의 융합

Abstract

The language is in the course of change. But the changing degree of each language is different by the unit. The purpose of studying a language is to examine the systems of the targeted language, and thus the systems under the course of changing can be seen either as the systems before changing or as the systems completed changing according to the changing degree. In case of the words, it is easy to judge which is more reasonable because their meanings are usually changed. However, the elements with grammatical functions are difficult to be judged because of the uncertainty of their meanings. ‘n/nɨ’, the object of studying in this thesis, is the succession of ‘-na-’, a present tense pre-ending in the Middle Korean Language. But we can safely say that it has been changed because it does not function as a present tense pre-ending any more in the Modern Korean Language. Notwithstanding, ‘n/nɨ’ still has the possibility of separation. Thus we can regard it either as a new form of grammatical category or as the fusion with the ending without forming a new grammatical category. In this study, I examined the possible problems according to the different views. The results lead me to the conclusion that it is the better to consider it as the fusion with the ending.