Korean imperatives at two different speech levels

Abstract

Korean imperatives are differentiated by speech levels or levels of honorification. Accordingly, most research on Korean imperatives examines them from the perspective of politeness and interpersonal relations. This study takes a different approach, focusing on two types of non-honorific imperative turn design: one with the intimate speech level imperative e/a and the other with the plain speech level imperative ela/ala. Close examination of the forms in naturally occurring conversation provides a clearer picture of when and how the use of these imperatives is warranted by specific interactional configurations and contexts in everyday Korean talk-in-interaction. This study shows that alternate imperatives do not simply index politeness or social status, but are important resources for implementing separate action formats that pursue divergent interactional trajectories.