"Irregular" Verbs in Korean Revisited

Abstract

A number of Korean verbs 1 do not follow the general phonological rules in their conjugation. However, the patternedness of their "irregularity" has long been noted by most grammarians. Thus even the earliest analyses set up different "classes" of "irregular" verbs (Choy 1937- 1971, Martin 1954, He 1965- 1972, C-W Kim 1967)2. Furthermore it was well known that many of the irregularities were due to some earlier historical processes. More recently in applying the generative theory, many linguists (C-W Kim 1970, Chag-yun Kim 1971, Lee 1973, Cook 1973) have come to believe that most, if not all, of these "anomalous" verbs are not really exceptions to some fixed rules but that they behave differently because they have different underlying forms. Thus superficially identical forms of "regular" and "irregular" verbs are thought to be a direct result of certain phonological rules which neutralize them in a well-defined environment. This paper purports to review some of the "regular" solutions thus far given and to present my own claim on the underlying representations of the "irregular" verbs and the phonlogical rules required to derive their phonetic representations. Choy(l937-71) gives twelve classes of verbs which show anomaly either in the shape of their stems or in the affixes that are attached to them. I shall group them into five sections in each of which related processes will be discussed.