51 This unit discusses some major characteristics of Korean clausal conjunc-tives, and then introduces three clausal conjuncconjunc-tives, ~(㦒)⩂, ~(㦒)⩺ἶ, and ~☚⪳, that indicate the purpose or intention of the speaker.
Clausal conjunctives
Clausal conjunctives are used to link two or more clauses and to add special meanings, such as simultaneous actions, contrastive actions or states, paralleling actions, and so on. Examples of English clausal conjunctives include “and,” “whereas,” “while,” and “though.”
Korean has an extensive list of clausal conjunctives that indicate various meanings, such as “and (e.g., ~ἶ),” “because/and then (e.g., ~㠊/㞚㍲),”
“while (e.g., ~㦒Ⳋ㍲),” “although (e.g., ~㰖Ⱒ),” “in order to (e.g., ~☚⪳),”
and so forth. Korean clausal conjunctives are non-sentence-final endings, since they attach to the predicate stem of the preceding clause. Consider how the conjunctive ~(㦒)Ⳋ㍲ “while” serves to connect two different clauses:
[䕳䆮㦚Gⲏ㠊㣪 “(I) eat popcorn”] + [㡗䢪⯒G⽦㣪 “(I) see a movie”] =G 䕳䆮㦚Gⲏ㦒Ⳋ㍲G㡗䢪⯒G⽦㣪 “(I) see a movie, while eating popcorn.”
In the example above, the conjunctive ~(㦒)Ⳋ㍲ attaches to the verb stem of the first clause ⲏ “eat” and indicates the new meaning “while”
to the first clause: 䕳䆮㦚G ⲏ㠊㣪 “(I) eat popcorn” changes to 䕳䆮㦚G ⲏ㦒Ⳋ㍲ “while eating popcorn.” Notice that the conjunctive ~(㦒)Ⳋ㍲
is not a sentence-final ending, since it does not end the sentence. Instead,
~㠊/㞚㣪 in the main clause (or the second clause) is the sentence-final ending since it attaches to the verb stem of the main clause ⽊ “see” and ends the whole sentence. Consider another example:
㧊G⌊ⰂἶG⧢㧊G┞┺. “The snow falls and the wind blows.”
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The clausal conjunctive ~ἶ “and” links two clauses: 㧊G⌊Ⰲ┺ “Snow falls” and ⧢㧊G┺ “Wind blows.” Again, the conjunctive ~ἶ ends the verb stem of the first clause ⌊Ⰲ┺ “fall,” while the deferential speech level ending ~㔋┞┺/ථ┞┺Gends both the verb stem of the main clause
┺ “blow” as well as the whole sentence.
Restrictions
Some Korean clausal conjunctives may be subject to various restrictions regarding how they are used in sentences.
Tense agreement
The first restriction concerns the tense agreement. Since a clausal conjunc-tive connects two different clauses, there are at least two predicates within a clausal-conjunctive sentence. In English, the tense of each clause em-bedded within the sentence must be the same. Consider the following example:
“I eat a pizza and watched TV.”
The above sentence is grammatically incorrect because the tense of the two predicates is not the same. In contrast to English, the tense of each clause can be different in Korean. This is possible because some Korean conjunc-tives are not conjugated for the tense. Consider the following examples:
㡊㕂䧞G Ὃ䟞㰖ⰢG jG ⯒G 㞮㠊㣪. “Although (I) studied hard, (I) received a C.”
㡊㕂䧞GὋ䟊㍲GhG⯒G㞮㠊㣪. “Because (I) studied hard, (I) received an A.”
Notice that both sentences are about past actions. In the first example, both the conjunctive ~㰖Ⱒ “although” in the first clause as well as the predicate of the main clause ┺ take the past tense marker. However, in the second example, the conjunctive ~㠊/㞚㍲ “because” of the first clause does not take the past tense marker but only the predicate of the main clause ┺.
Subject agreement
The second restriction concerns the subject agreement. Some conjunctives can have different subjects, while some cannot. In other words, for some conjunctives, the subject of the clauses within a sentence must be the same.
Consider the following examples:
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Restrictions
䂲ῂṖG䄺䞒⯒GⰞ㎾㰖ⰢG⋮⓪G㤆㥶⯒GⰞ㎾㠊㣪. “Although (my) friend drank coffee, as for me (I) drank milk.”
㦮㌂ṖG♮⩺ἶG㡊㕂䧞GὋ䟞㠊㣪. “(I) studied hard in order to become a doctor.”
In the first example, each clause has its own subject. However, in the sec-ond example, both clauses have the same subject.
Predicate types
The third restriction is about whether the conjunctive may be used with adjectives, copulas, and/or verbs. Some conjunctives must be used only with verbs, whereas some conjunctives may be used with verbs, adjectives, as well as copulas. For instance, the conjunctive ~㰖Ⱒ “although” can be attached to verb, adjective, and copula stems, as shown below:
㡊㕂䧞G Ὃ䞮㰖ⰢG 㠊⩺㤢㣪. “Although (I) study hard, (it) is difficult.”
䞯ᾦṖG Ⲗ㰖ⰢG ⰺ㧒G Ṗ㣪. “Although the school is far, (I) go (there) everyday.”
䕖㧊G 䞲ῃG ㌂⧢㧊㰖ⰢG 䞲ῃG 㡃㌂㠦G ╖䟊㍲G Ⱔ㧊G ⴆ⧒㣪. “Although Tim is a Korean, (he) does not know much about Korean history.”
On the other hand, a certain conjunctive such as ~(㦒)⩺ἶ “in order to”
must be used only with verb stems.
⻫╖㠦G ✺㠊Ṗ⩺ἶG 㭖゚䞮ἶG 㧞㠊㣪. “(I) am preparing to enter law school.”
Sentence types
The fourth restriction is that there are conjunctives that can be used for all sentence types, such as declarative, interrogative, imperative, and pro-positive, while some conjunctives must be used only for certain sentence types. For instance, consider the conjunctive ~(㦒)┞₢ and ~㠊/㞚㍲, which both mean “because/since.”
㿪㤆┞₢G㺓ⶎ㦚G╁㔋┞┺. “(I) close the window because (it) is cold.”
㿪㤆┞₢G 㺓ⶎ㦚G ╁㔋┞₢? “Do (you) close the window because (it) is cold?”
㿪㤆┞₢G 㺓ⶎ㦚G ╁㦒㕃㔲㡺. “Close the window because (it) is cold.”
㿪㤆┞₢G 㺓ⶎ㦚G ╁㦣㔲┺. “(Let us) close the window because (it) is cold.”
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㿪㤢㍲G㺓ⶎ㦚G╁㔋┞┺. “(I) close the window because (it) is cold.”
㿪㤢㍲G 㺓ⶎ㦚G ╁㔋┞₢? “Do (you) close the window because (it) is cold?”
OP 㿪㤢㍲G 㺓ⶎ㦚G ╁㦒㕃㔲㡺. “Close the window because (it) is cold.”
OP 㿪㤢㍲G 㺓ⶎ㦚G ╁㦣㔲┺. “(Let us) close the window because (it) is cold.”
Notice that ~(㦒)┞₢ can be used for all sentence types, whereas ~㠊/
㞚㍲ must be used only for declarative and interrogative sentences.
~(㦒)⩂
The clausal conjunctive ~(㦒)⩂ is used to express the purpose of the speaker’s action. It is translated as “for the purpose of” or “to” in English.
~(㦒)⩂ is a two-form ending: ~㦒⩂ is used after a verb stem that ends in a consonant (e.g., ⲏ㦒⩂ “to eat”), while ~⩂ is used after a verb stem that ends in a vowel (e.g., Ṗ⯊䂮⩂ “to teach”).
~(㦒)⩂ is usually used with a motion verb, such as Ṗ┺ “to go” and 㡺┺ “to come,” to indicate the purpose of going or coming, as shown in the examples below:
䘎㰖⯒G 䂮⩂G 㤆㼊ῃ㠦G Ṗ㣪. “(I) go to the post office to send a letter.”
㡂㧦G 䂲ῂ⯒G Ⱒ⋮⩂G ㍲㤎⪲G ⟶⋮㎎㣪? “(Do you) leave for Seoul to meet (your) girlfriend?”
~(㦒)⩂ is subject to some of the aforementioned restrictions. First, the subjects of both clauses must be the same. Second, it is not conjugated for the tense, as shown below:
㺛㦚G㌂⩂G㍲㩦㠦GṪ㠊㣪. “(I) went to the bookstore to buy books.”
OP 㺛㦚G ㌖⩂G ㍲㩦㠦G Ṫ㠊㣪. “(I) went to the bookstore to buy books.”
Third, it is used only with verbs.
䞲ῃ㠊⯒G Ὃ䞮⩂G ㍲㤎㠦G 㢪㔋┞┺. “(I) came to Seoul to study the Korean language.”
OP 䟟⽋䞮⩂Gἆ䢒䞮ἶG㕌㠊㣪. “(I) want to marry (her) to be happy.”
However, there is no restriction regarding sentence type. For instance, it can be used with any of four sentence types as shown below:
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~O㦒P⩺ἶ
䂲ῂ⯒G Ⱒ⋮⩂G ₆㹾㡃㠦G ṧ┞┺. “(I) go to the train station to meet (my) friends.”
㠎㩲G 㺛㦚G ㌂⩂G ㍲㩦㠦G ṞG Ệ㡞㣪? “When will (you) go to the book-store to buy books?”
㩦㕂G ⲏ㦒⩂G 㞚䕢䔎㠦G ✺⯊㎎㣪. “Stop by (my) apartment to have lunch.”
䄺䞒⯒GⰞ㔲⩂G㓺䌖⻛㓺㠦Gṧ㔲┺. “(Let us) go to Starbucks to drink coffee.”
~(㦒)⩺ἶ
⩺ἶThe clausal conjunctive ~(㦒)⩺ἶ is used to express the speaker’s intention or plan. It is a two-form ending: ~㦒⩺ἶ is used after a verb stem that ends in a consonant (e.g., ⲏ㦒⩺ἶ “intending to eat”), and ~⩺ἶ is used after a verb stem that ends in a vowel (e.g., Ⱒ⋮⩺ἶ “intending to meet”).
The meaning of ~(㦒)⩺ἶ is similar to that of ~(㦒)⩂. However, in contrast to ~(㦒)⩂, which is normally collocated with motion verbs such as Ṗ┺ or 㡺┺, ~(㦒)⩺ἶ can be used with any verb, as shown below:
㡗㠊Gᾦ㌂⪲G㧒䞮⩺ἶG䞯㥚⯒G➚㠊㣪. “(I) earned the degree (intend-ing) to work as an English teacher.”
㥶⩓㦚G㡂䟟䞮⩺ἶG☞㦚G⳾㦒ἶG㧞㠊㣪. “(I) am saving money (intend-ing) to travel in Europe.”
h ⯒G 㦒⩺ἶG 㡊㕂䧞G Ὃ䟞㠊㣪. “(I) studied hard (intending) to receive an A.”
⌊⎚㠦G㌞G㹾⯒G㌂⩺ἶG䟊㣪. “(I) intend to buy a new car next year.”
╖㔶G 㰧㠦㍲G Ὃ䞮⩺ἶG ☚㍲ὖ㠦G 㞞G Ṫ㠊㣪. “(I) did not go to the library, intending to study at home instead.”
㫡㦖G䞯ᾦ㠦G✺㠊Ṗ⩺ἶG㡊㕂䧞GὋ䟞㔋┞┺. “(I) studied hard (intend-ing) to enter a good school.”
~(㦒)⩺ἶ is subject to the following restrictions: (1) it is not conjugated for the tense; (2) the subject of the clauses must be the same; (3) it is used only with verbs; (4) it is used only for declarative and interrogative sentences.
㩲㧊㓾㦚G Ⱒ⋮⩺ἶG 䣢㌂㠦G Ṫ㠊㣪. “(I) went to the company to meet Jason.”
㠎㩲G 㺛㦚G ㌂⩺ἶG ㍲㩦㠦G ṞG Ệ㡞㣪? “When will (you) go to the bookstore to buy the book?”
OP 㩖⎗㦚Gⲏ㦒⩺ἶGṖ㕃㔲㡺. “Go (intending to) have dinner.”
OP 䄺䞒⯒GⰞ㔲⩺ἶG㓺䌖⻛㓺㠦Gṧ㔲┺. “(Let us) go to Starbucks to drink coffee.”
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~
☚⪳☚⪳The clausal conjunctive ~☚⪳ is used to express “so that” or “to the point where.”
⋮ⶊṖG 㧮G 㧦⧒☚⪳G ☢⽦G 㭒㎾㠊㣪. “(He) took care of (the tree), so that the tree would grow better.”
⼧㧊GゾⰂG⌁☚⪳G₆☚䟞㠊㣪? “Did (you) pray so that the illness would be healed soon?”
䐆㧊G㩲┞䗒⯒G㭓☚⪳G㌂⧧䟞㠊㣪. “Tom loved Jennifer to death.”
㤆Ⰲ⓪Gⶒ㧊G⋮☚⪳G㤙㠞㠊㣪. “As for us, (we) laughed till tears ran down our faces.”
~☚⪳ is subject to only one restriction: It is not conjugated for the tense. However, it can be used with any sentence type; it can be used with any predicate type; its subject does not have to be the same as that of the main clause.
Ṧ₆G㞞GỎⰂ☚⪳G㫆㕂䟞㔋┞┺. “(I) was careful so that (I) would not catch a cold.”
㤆ⰂG 䕖㧊G Ợ㧚㦚G 㧊₆☚⪳G 㡊㕂䧞G 㦧㤦䞮ἶG 㧞㔋┞₢? “Are (they) cheering (for our team) enthusiastically, so that our team may win?”
⳿㧊G㞚䝚☚⪳G㏢Ⰲ⯒G㰖⯊㕃㔲㡺. “Shout to the extent (your) throat hurts.”
㑮㧪㧊GⓊ㣫㦒⪲G⟶⋶G㑮G㧞☚⪳G㑮㧪㦚G☚㤗㔲┺. “(Let us) help Susan so that Susan can leave for New York.”