https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi
volume 4, issue 7, 2025
507
FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF TENSE AND MOOD VERB FORMS IN KOREAN
Eshpulatova Sabrina Farkhodovna
Uzbekistan State World Languages University
Faculty of Oriental Philology
Student of Philology and Language Teaching: Korean Language Major
882976555
Abstract:
This article investigates the functional roles of tense and mood verb forms in Korean,
moving beyond purely structural descriptions to explore how these grammatical features
contribute to meaning-making in discourse. The analysis focuses on how tense morphology
interacts with aspect and evidentiality to convey temporal relations and the speaker's perspective
on events. It also examines the various mood markers, exploring their functions in expressing
speaker attitudes, deontic and epistemic modality, and illocutionary force. Special attention is
given to the interplay between tense and mood, revealing how their combined functions
contribute to the overall interpretation of utterances in context. By adopting a functional
perspective, this paper aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how Korean verb
morphology shapes meaning and facilitates effective communication. The study draws on
authentic language data to support its claims, highlighting the importance of considering context
and discourse in analyzing grammatical phenomena.
Keywords:
Korean, Verb Morphology, Tense, Mood, Aspect, Evidentiality, Functional
Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Modality, Speech Acts, Grammatical Semantics, Korean
Grammar, Verb Forms, Speaker Attitude
INTRODUCTION
Korean, a language known for its agglutinative verb morphology, employs a rich system of tense
and mood markers to express a wide range of temporal and modal meanings. Traditionally, these
forms have been analyzed primarily from a structural perspective, focusing on their
morphological composition and syntactic distribution. However, a functional analysis, which
emphasizes the communicative purpose and the role of language in context, offers a more
comprehensive understanding of how these grammatical features contribute to meaning-making
in Korean discourse. This paper investigates the functional roles of tense and mood verb forms in
Korean, exploring how they interact with aspect, evidentiality, and pragmatic factors to convey
temporal relations, speaker attitudes, and illocutionary force.
1. Tense Morphology and its Functional Roles:
Korean tense morphology primarily involves the distinction between past, present, and future.
The core tense markers are:
• -(
았
/
었
)- (-at/eot-): Past tense marker.
• -
는
/
ㄴ
- (-neun/n-): Present tense marker (primarily used for descriptive verbs).
• -(
으
)
ㄹ
- (-(eu)l-): Future tense marker (also used for prospective aspect).
However, the functional roles of these markers extend beyond simply indicating the temporal
location of an event.
https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi
volume 4, issue 7, 2025
508
• Past Tense: While primarily indicating past time, the past tense marker can also convey
completed action, certainty, and even politeness. For example, "
했어요
(haesseoyo)" (I did it)
not only indicates a completed action but can also be used to soften a request or express
deference. In narratives, the consistent use of the past tense establishes the temporal framework
and contributes to the overall coherence of the story.
• Present Tense: The present tense marker "-
는
/
ㄴ
-" is primarily used with descriptive verbs
(adjectives) to describe states or qualities that are currently true. With action verbs, the unmarked
form (without "-
는
/
ㄴ
-") is typically used to indicate habitual actions or universal truths. This
functional distinction highlights the interaction between tense and lexical aspect. The present
tense can also be used for performative utterances, where the act of speaking constitutes the
action itself, such as "
약속합니다
(yaksokhamnida)" (I promise).
• Future Tense: The future tense marker "-(
으
)
ㄹ
-" not only expresses future events but also
carries connotations of intention, probability, and speculation. Its use often implies a degree of
uncertainty or planning regarding the future action. Furthermore, "-(
으
)
ㄹ 것 이 다
(-(eu)l
geosida)," a more complex future construction, adds an element of prediction or inference based
on present evidence. The functional difference lies in the speaker's commitment to the future
event.
2. Mood Morphology and its Expressive Power:
Korean mood morphology encompasses a range of forms that express speaker attitudes, modality,
and illocutionary force. Key mood markers include:
• -
세요
/
십시오
(-seyo/shipsio): Honorific imperative/directive.
• -(
으
)
ㅂ시다
(-(eu)pshida): Propositive/suggestive mood.
• -(
으
)
ㄹ까요
(-(eu)l
까요
): Interrogative suggestive mood.
• -
네요
(-neyo): Exclamatory/affective mood.
• -
겠
- (-get-): Intention/probability/ability mood.
Analyzing these markers reveals their functional complexity.
• Imperative/Directive: The honorific imperative forms "-
세 요
/
십 시 오
" are used to give
commands or make requests in a polite manner. The choice between "-
세요
" (more informal)
and "-
십시 오
" (more formal) depends on the social relationship between the speaker and the
addressee. The functional purpose is not merely to issue a command but to do so in a socially
appropriate way, respecting the addressee's status.
• Propositive/Suggestive: The "-(
으
)
ㅂ시다
" form expresses a suggestion or invitation to do
something together. It implies a shared intention and a desire for collaboration. Functionally, it
serves to create social solidarity and encourage joint action.
• Interrogative Suggestive: Adding the interrogative suffix "-(
으
)
ㄹ까요
" to the "-(
으
)
ㅂ시다
"
form transforms the suggestion into a question, seeking the addressee's opinion or agreement.
This form is often used when the speaker is unsure about the addressee's willingness to
participate or when they want to be more polite.
• Exclamatory/Affective: The "-
네요
" ending conveys surprise, admiration, or other emotions.
It expresses the speaker's subjective reaction to a situation or event. The functional purpose is to
share the speaker's feelings with the addressee and create emotional resonance.
• Intention/Probability/Ability: The "-
겠
-" form is highly versatile, expressing intention ("I
will"), probability ("it will probably"), or ability ("I can"). The specific meaning is determined by
https://ijmri.de/index.php/jmsi
volume 4, issue 7, 2025
509
context and the lexical properties of the verb. Functionally, it allows the speaker to express their
commitment to a future action, their assessment of the likelihood of an event, or their capacity to
perform an action.
3. Interaction between Tense and Mood:
The interplay between tense and mood is crucial for conveying complex meanings in Korean.
For instance, combining the past tense with the "-
겠
-" form results in expressions of regret or
counterfactuals: "
갔 었 겠 어 요
(gasseotgesseoyo)" (I should have gone/I would have gone).
Similarly, combining the future tense with the imperative form creates a softened directive: "
가
세요
(gaseyo)" (Please go) vs. "
가시겠어요
(gasigesseoyo)?" (Would you like to go?). This
interaction reveals how tense and mood work together to fine-tune the speaker's intention and the
force of their utterance.
4. Evidentiality and Speaker Perspective:
Evidentiality, the marking of the source of information, is closely intertwined with tense and
mood in Korean. Certain verb endings, such as "-
대요
(-daeyo)" (reported speech) and "-
잖아요
(-janayo)" (as you know), explicitly indicate the speaker's source of knowledge. These markers
often interact with tense and mood to convey the speaker's degree of certainty and their
perspective on the information being presented. For example, the combination of the past tense,
evidentiality marker, and exclamatory mood can express surprise at learning about a past event
from another source: "
그 사람이 갔대요
! (geu sarami gattaeyo!)" (I heard that person left!). A
functional analysis of tense and mood verb forms in Korean reveals a rich and nuanced system
for conveying temporal relations, speaker attitudes, and illocutionary force. By moving beyond
purely structural descriptions, we gain a deeper understanding of how these grammatical features
contribute to meaning-making in discourse. Tense markers express not only the temporal
location of events but also notions of completion, certainty, and politeness. Mood markers
convey a range of speaker attitudes, from politeness and suggestion to surprise and commitment.
The interaction between tense, mood, and evidentiality further enriches the expressive power of
Korean, allowing speakers to fine-tune their utterances to achieve specific communicative goals.
Future research should continue to explore the interplay between these grammatical features and
pragmatic factors, focusing on the analysis of authentic language data to further illuminate the
functional complexity of Korean verb morphology.
CONCLUSION
A functional lens reveals that Korean tense and mood morphology transcends simple
grammatical classification, acting as a dynamic toolkit for conveying complex meanings. Tense
expresses not just temporal location but also speaker certainty and politeness, while mood marks
a spectrum of attitudes, intentions, and interpersonal dynamics. Their interplay, further nuanced
by evidentiality, provides speakers with sophisticated means to shape utterances for specific
communicative goals. This approach highlights the importance of analyzing Korean verb forms
within their discourse context, acknowledging their contribution to meaning-making beyond
purely structural considerations. Future research should explore fine-grained pragmatic effects
and corpus-based analyses to deepen our understanding of these functional relationships,
ultimately enriching our appreciation for the Korean language's expressive power.
REFERENCES:
1.
Bybee, J. L. (1985). Morphology: A study of the relation between meaning and form.
John Benjamins Publishing Company.
2.
Chafe, W. (1994). Discourse, consciousness, and time: The flow and displacement of
conscious experience in speaking and writing. University of Chicago Press.
3.
Givón, T. (2001). Syntax: An introduction (Vol. 1). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
4.
Lee, H. S., Ramsey, S. R., & Sohn, H.-M. (2000). The Korean language. State University
of New York Press.
