Semantic Changes in Grammaticalization of Postpositionoids from Movement Verbs in Korean

Abstract

This paper attempts to provide an account of semantic changes displayed by six verbs in the course of their grammaticalization into ten postpositionoids. These source verbs, despite their phonological and morphosyntactic complexity, have shared semantic characteristics in that they denote movement containing manner components. For semantic change mechanisms it is proposed here that various mechanisms such as variable frame of focus, metaphor, metonymy, pragmatic inference, subjectification, and hyperbole are the driving forces, and individual instances of semantic change operation are illustrated. Of note among these mechanisms is that hyperbole has not been proposed as a semantic change mechanism in grammaticalization to date, but is seen to be operative in grammaticalization of an allative marker -ey tayko from tayta 'touch'.