| This dissertation is a discourse analytic study of the spoken and written use of Korean discourse markers comparing those that undergo form reduction and those that do not. Following the functional framework, this dissertation attempts to explore the relationship of language structure and language use.; The data consists of an approximately 1.4 million-word corpus from the Sejong Korean corpus database and my collection of natural conversational data (16,296 words). The study is premised on the notions of typical speech and typical writing. The data for typical writing in this study are expository writings and the data representing typical speech are spontaneous conversations.; The examination of Korean discourse markers kulentey, kulenikka, kulayse, and kuliko in speech and writing shows that these grammatical forms are context sensitive. Except for kuliko , these forms (kulentey, kulenikka, and kulayse) appear to have more than one function in spoken discourse. On the other hand, these four forms were found to have only one function in written discourse. Since discourse participants are detached in time and space, the grammatical forms in written discourse show "one meaning-one form" pairing for effective communication. In contrast, on-line processing and the availability of immediate context in spoken discourse allow a form to have diverse functions. In addition, the development of variant forms in spoken discourse can be explained in terms of economic motivation. Competing motivations are in effect when the meaning transparency is hindered, thus preventing form reduction. Therefore, the study reveals that grammatical items are "responsive" to communicative context for the achievement of effective communication.; By elucidating the different functional characteristics displayed by a grammatical form in different discourse environments, this study demonstrates that language is context sensitive and that there is an inseparable relationship between language structure and use. The study attempts to contribute to studies in functional linguistics which argue that grammar adapts to the task of communication. |
