만주어 의문문 종결어미 -rA와 -mbi의 분포와 의미

Abstract

This paper aims to clarify the difference between Written Manchu suffixes -rA and -mbi by describing their distribution and meaning in interrogative sentences, and based on which, an internal reconstruction that can encompass the asymmetric tense systems that appears in declarative and interrogative sentences in WM is attempted. In WM affirmative sentences, -rA appears only with the first person subject and realizes the modal meaning of promise. In other hand, -rakū, which is the fusion of -rA and akv not, and -mbi are distributed complementarily in negative and positive sentences, respectively, and seem to be synchronically in a relationship as variants of same morpheme. In interrogative sentences, however, they can appear in the same position, that is, at the end of the predicates. Unlike in declarative sentences, mbi in interrogative sentences can generally be classified as present tense (including situation in progress, general facts, and scheduled future), and -rA can be classified as future tense which refers to an event taking place after the moment of speech. In particular, -rA and -mbi are opposed in the adarame how questions with first-person subject: the former raises questions about typical future situations, while the latter raises questions about the present and possible world. Through internal reconstruction, it can be inferred that the asymmetric tense system in WM declarative and interrogative sentences was symmetric in the previous period. That is, with the introduction of the new present tense -mbi, the old present tense -rA functioned as non-past tense and future tense in negative and interrogative sentences, respectively, leading to an asymmetric tense system in WM.