Chapter 8. Repetitive constructions and stance-marking

Abstract

Korean has highly formulaic patterns of repeating a sentence two or more times with a variation of speech level indicated by the sentence-final particles. The repetition usually involves progressive downward modulation of the speech level from more formal to less formal. The repeated sentences occur within a single intonation contour, thus forming an utterance unit, and carry diverse intersubjective and interpersonal functions that are not available in the mere repetition of an identical sentence. By virtue of having the pairing of a syntactic pattern and a non-compositional meaning, these patterns are best considered a construction, named here as Multiply Juxtaposed Sentences (MJSs). MJSs encode the speaker’s subtle negative attitude toward the addressee.