Korean Language Education Research

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Interactional and Rhetorical Functions of –nka in Korean — A Discourse-Based Analysis Across Spoken and Written Modes

Jeong Seunggon Bae Eunyoung

Seoul National University Seoul National University

Korean Language Education Research Vol. 60 No. 5 pp.165-194 (2025)

DOI: 10.20880/kler.2025.60.5.165

Abstract

This study examines how the Korean interrogative ending –nka functions across spoken and written discourse and addresses three re- search questions concerning its interactional purposes, mode-specific distribution, and pedagogical implications. Spoken telephone conversa- tions and written newspaper texts were analyzed to capture distinct dis- course ecologies. Using data drawn from the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) Corpus and the Sejong Corpus, the study conducted a qualitative discourse- and interaction-based analysis to identify the functional pat- terns of –nka. The findings show that –nka is used in spoken interaction to manage uncertainty, seek confirmation, and formulate self-addressed questioning, whereas in written discourse it serves rhetorical and issue- raising purposes tied to stance-taking. These results suggest that teaching –nka requires attention to genre-specific functions and epistemic stance management. The study thereby highlights the pedagogical value of in- tegrating discourse context into instruction on sentence-final endings in Korean.

Keywords

–nkainterrogative endingepistemic stancediscourse analysisspoken–written modeKorean language pedagogy

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