A Study on Sentence Final Intonations in Korea

한국어 문미억양에 관한 연구

This study has two objectives. ft attempts to describe the forms and (He functions of sentence final intonations in Korean, and it also attempts to deal with the relationship between questions and rising intonation for Korean and English. The contents of this study are as follows. In Chapter 2, the version of Korean(standard Korean) which this study is assumed to analyse, the sources of material involved, and the method and scope of analysis are stated. Chapter 3, which is a preparatory stage for the analysis of the function of intonation in standard Korean in Chapter 4, classifies the material according to the type of intonation used. In Chapter 4i the discussion is entirely devoted to the function of Korean intonation. The conclusions of Chapter 4 are as follows: Firstly, intonation contours in Korean have the function of distinguishing the sentence types; the falling contour marks declaratives, Wh- interrogatives and imperatives, while the rising contour marks yes/no interrogatives. However, it is interesting to note that in the interrogative sentences with the inflectional ending '-chi', a very different phenomenon is observed; that is to say, most of yes/no interrogatives are marked by the falling contour and all of Wh- interrogatives by the rising one. Secondly, the falling contour in Korean is typically employed in performing the illocutionary act of assertion in rhetorical and tag questions. Thirdly, the intonation in Korean contributes to express the speaker's special attitudes or emotions. In Chapter 5, where the relationship between questions and rising intonation is examined, Liberman's theory turns out to be untenable. Further-more. this thesis shows that an explanation of the relationship between questions and rising intonation should have its basis on general linguistic facts.