pragmatic understanding of subject expression in spoken Korean

Abstract

Whereas there are a number of studies that address subject omission in Korean as a pro-drop language, expressed subjects have been less explored. I argue that the reasons for expressed subjects to remain un-omitted are found in their pragmatic effects rather than elsewhere. This study particularly investigates the pragmatic effects of the alternation among reference forms for the expressed subject in spoken Korean and uses three different spoken corpora to identify specific examples of the relevant effects. I believe that this study makes a significant contribution to the literature because it shows that shifts among different reference forms play a crucial role in conveying specific pragmatic effects. In particular, I have categorised the pragmatic effects of expressed subjects into two categories, (im)politeness and authority, and intimacy and estrangement, by the characteristics of interpersonal behaviours.