An Analysis of Korean Sentence-Ending Suffixes in Caregiver-Child Interaction

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze Korean sentence-ending suffixes (SESs) that are frequently used by the caregiver in caregiver-child interaction. Three SESs that are most frequently found in the data examined, -ci and its related form -cianha, and -ney, are analyzed in comparison with the 'unmarked' SES -a/e. Also included in the analysis are -tela and -(u)lkka, which are SESs often employed by the caregiver putatively as markers of self-inquiry. In caregiver-child interaction, the caregiver's use of -ci/-cianha indexes his/her trust that the child shares his/her commitment. -Ney is used when the caregiver formulates an explanation as something that s/he has fortuitously noticed. The caregiver's use of -ci/-cianha and -ney indexes an orientation toward downgrading his/her role as the expert vis-à-vis the child and positioning the child as a partner/facilitator co-participating in the given pedagogical activity, i.e., by evoking a shared domain of knowledge and experience (with -ci/-cianha) or by formulating a pedagogically motivated observation as something that the child can easily notice (with -ney). Indexing of a lapse in memory or lack of knowledge through the use of such SESs as -tela and -(u)lkka is also motivated toward designing the on-going pedagogical activity as a joint one in which the child is invited to co-participate as a competent partner. The tendency of -a/e utterances to be constitutive of a corrective action embedded in a side sequence is noted, which indexes the caregiver's orientation toward organizing pedagogical activities as a collaborative, joint practice by way of minimizing the extent to which the child's incompetence is highlighted.