Comparatives in Korean: A grammaticalization perspective

Abstract Korean has a large number of markers signaling diverse notions involved in comparative constructions. This paper analyzes Korean comparatives from the grammaticalization perspective, thus identifying the source semantics of the comparative markers in contemporary as well as historical data, analyzing the grammaticalization mechanisms behind their development, creating the conceptual and functional networks among the comparative markers, and comparing the grammaticalization sources with those attested in other languages. It is found that the standard markers are small in number, whereas degree markers diverge greatly: superiors, inferiors and superlatives make use of a small number of markers, whereas elatives make use of a large number of intensifying adverbials. We discuss the development of the comparatives with respect to grammaticalization mechansims, i.e. Desemanticization, Extension, Decategorialization, and Erosion, and conclude that their operation is variable depending on the functional category item as well as the individual lexical form. From a crosslinguistic comparison, we argue that the concepts and schemas found in Korean are largely consonant with those attested in crosslinguistic literature.