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Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 34:4 (2017) ► pp.437–469

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Articles / Aufsätze

From middle to passive

A diachronic analysis of Korean -eci constructions

 | Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
 | Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen | Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Published online: 9 February 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.16037.ahn
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between middle and passive voice constructions in Korean, in particular how they have come to share the same grammatical marker -eci. Based on diachronic data from the UNICONC (Korean historical) database, spanning Old, Middle and Modern Korean (15th to 20th century), our analysis reveals that -eci was initially used as a middle voice marker for spontaneous and inchoative events, with change-of-state as their common feature, then extended to transitive contexts, giving rise to passive voice usage. More recently, -eci has developed into a marker of facilitative middle constructions as well. These semantic extensions involve shifts in aspectual focus from change-of-state to resultative-state, and further to potential aspect and mood. This analysis contributes to our understanding of the diachrony of voice markers beyond the causative-to-passive pathway commonly seen in Northeast Asia to include the middle-to-passive pathway, with typological implications.
Résumé
L’article examine la relation entre les constructions des voix moyenne et passive en coréen, et en particulier la façon dont elles en sont arrivées à partager la même marque grammaticale -eci. Se servant des données diachroniques de l’UNICONC (base historique du coréen) qui couvre les coréens ancien, moyen et moderne (du 15ième au 20ième siècles), notre analyse fait apparaître que -eci, à l’origine utilisé comme marque de voix moyenne pour les événements spontanés et inchoatifs, avec le changement d’état comme trait commun, s’est ensuite élargi aux contextes transitifs, donnant lieu à une utilisation comme voix passive. Plus récemment, -eci s’est développé en marque de facilitation des constructions moyennes. Ces extensions sémantiques impliquent des modifications du point de vue aspectuel, du changement d’état à l’état résultant, ou même à un aspect (et/ou mode) potentiel. Cette analyse contribue à élargir notre compréhension de la diachronie des marques de voix, dépassant le simple passage de causatif à passif : en Asie du Nord-Est ce changement comprendrait le passage du moyen au passif, avec ses implications typologiques.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Artikel untersucht die Beziehung zwischen Medial- und Passivkonstruktionen im Koreanischen, insbesondere die Hintergründe, warum beide Konstruktionen den gleichen grammatischen Marker -eci teilen. Basierend auf diachronischen Daten aus der UNICONC-Datenbank. zeigt unsere Analyse, dass -eci zunächst als Marker für spontane Ereignisse oder inchoative Handlungen verwendet wurde, wobei der Zustandswechsel beiden gemein war. Später wurde die Konstruktion auf transitive Kontexte ausgedehnt, was zur Verwendung des Passivs führte. In jüngster Zeit hat sich -eci zu einem Marker von sogenannten ‚facilitative middle constructions‘ entwickelt. Diese semantischen Erweiterungen beinhalten Verschiebungen im aspektuellen Fokus von Zustandsveränderung hin zum Ergebniszustand und darüber hinaus Veränderungen in Aspekt und Modus. Während in Nordostasien Sprachmodusentwicklungen von Kausativ zu Passiv häufig betrachtet wurden, bezieht diese Arbeit Entwicklungen von Medial- zu Passivkonstruktionen in die Analyse ein und gibt typologische Implikationen wieder.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous studies on different pathways in the development of voice markers
  • 3.Grammaticalization of -eci as a voice marker in Korean
    • 3.1From lexical verb fall to spontaneous middle -eci
    • 3.2Further extensions within the middle domain: Spontaneous > inchoative > facilitative
      • 3.2.1From spontaneous middle to inchoative middle
      • 3.2.2Role of subjectification in the emergence of facilitative middle -eci constructions
    • 3.3From middles to passives: A secondary grammaticalization pathway for -eci
    • 3.4Layers of grammatical evolution of -eci
    • 3.5Interim summary
  • 4.Usage frequencies of -eci: A diachronic analysis
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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