1887
Volume 22, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0257-3784
  • E-ISSN: 2212-9731

Abstract

It has been discussed that there is a close relationship between sentence ending particles and clause types in Korean. In this paper, I focus on the cases where we find interesting pairings between the form and the function. Specifically, the constructions that I investigate have a form of interrogative while they have the illocutionary force of exclaiming. After discussing their syntactic and semantic/pragmatic properties, I characterize them as wh-marked polar interrogatives in Korean. These wh-marked polar interrogatives are used to express surprise or unexpectedness of the speaker towards the prior assertion or listener’s belief in the context. Due to the presence of a wh-word, the sentence expresses the speaker’s judgment that p < ¬p.

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2026-07-10
2026-08-16
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): clause types; expressive; interrogative constructions; polarity reversal; wh-words
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