A Contrastive Study of Grammaticalization Processes in Japanese and Korean : A Typological Perspective(<Special Issue>Grammaticalization in Japanese)

Abstract

This study presents a contrastive study of grammaticalization processes in Japanese and Korean from a typological perspective. Grammaticalization processes involving (i) nouns, (ii) aspectual constructions, and (iii) verbal inflections are presented to aid understanding of the similarities and differences between the two languages. Though superficially similar in many respects, intriguing differences are found between the two languages regarding the productivity and pathways involved in the specific grammaticalization processes (i)-(iii). There is ample scope for future contrastive studies that pay particular attention to dynamic/synchronic dimensions of grammaticalization-conventionalization of linguistic forms/constructions repeatedly occurring in discourse and the concomitant emergence of specific grammatical meanings-to explore the grammaticalization processes between the two languages.