Abstract
The Korean temporal system exhibits a striking discrepancy
between the tense-aspect markings used in declarative sentences and those found
in noun-modifying (adnominal) clauses. While contemporary declarative sentences
primarily utilize -ess- for the past and
-nun-/-n- for the present, modifying clauses maintain a
system where a “zero” form marks the past and -nu- marks the
present. This paper argues that these discrepancies are the result of uneven
historical grammaticalization. By examining 15th-century Middle Korean, this
study demonstrates that noun-modifying clauses are conservative structures that
preserve an older temporal system, whereas declarative sentences have undergone
radical reorganization due to the emergence of the past tense marker
-ess- originating from the resultative marker -e
is-.
Abstract
The Korean temporal system exhibits a striking discrepancy between the tense-aspect markings used in declarative sentences and those found in noun-modifying (adnominal) clauses. While contemporary declarative sentences primarily utilize -ess- for the past and -nun-/-n- for the present, modifying clauses maintain a system where a “zero” form marks the past and -nu- marks the present. This paper argues that these discrepancies are the result of uneven historical grammaticalization. By examining 15th-century Middle Korean, this study demonstrates that noun-modifying clauses are conservative structures that preserve an older temporal system, whereas declarative sentences have undergone radical reorganization due to the emergence of the past tense marker -ess- originating from the resultative marker -e is-.
© 2026 John Benjamins Publishing Company
Available under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

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2026-07-10
2026-07-19
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