This appendix is on the inflectional paradigms of mid-fifteenth-century Middle Korean verbs and adjectives, henceforth referred to as "verbs" for convenience's sake (note that Korean adjectives behave as a subset of verbs).
All romanizations are in the Yale Romanization of Korean.
Middle Korean verbal pitch is determined by three intertwining factors: the pitch of the verb stem, the pitch of the suffixes, and a simple tone sandhi rule.
For the purposes of verbal pitch, the verb stem has up to three allomorphs, depending on the accentual class. Korean verb stems cannot appear without at least one suffix, and the allomorph taken depends on which of the following three categories the immediately subsequent suffix falls into:
The initial minimal vowel of the final category of suffixes is dropped after a verb stem ending in a vowel or the sonorous consonant /l/, except for (ᄋᆞ/으)시〮 (-(ò/ù)sí), which drops the initial vowel after a vowel but not after /l/.
The monosyllabic verb classes are given two names: an acronymic name given by Korean scholar Yoo Pil-jae, and a numbered name given by American scholar S. Robert Ramsey. The multisyllabic classes are given Yoo's names only, because Ramsey did not discuss them.
With a few exceptions, verbs which are a compound of multiple stems inherit the pitch accent pattern of their components.
Most Middle Korean suffixes have a fixed underlying pitch. For most of them, this is an underlying high pitch on all syllables.
The following suffixes involve a syllable with a fixed low pitch. There may be some others, but they are rare.
The following three suffixes lack a fixed pitch, but take the same underlying pitch as that of the syllable that precedes it. In Korean, these are called 전의적(前依的) (jeonuijeok, “precedent-dependent”).
Finally, the object-honorific suffix ᅀᆞᇦ (-zǒW) had an unusual allomorphy:
This is identical to the pitch behavior of Class R! verb stems. In fact, this is because ᅀᆞᇦ (-zǒW) was the grammaticalized, suffixized form of the Class R! verb stem ᄉᆞᇕ〯 (sǒlW-, “to report to a superior”); see Old Korean 白 for more.
The interaction between stems and suffixes determine the underlying pitch of a conjugated verb. The surface pitch, which is what is written in actual Middle Korean sources (with a few very rare exceptions by scrupulous scribes attempting to write the underlying form) and transcribed in Wiktionary, is shaped by a simple but pervasive tone sandhi rule: high pitch cannot appear consecutively for more than two syllables, and the penultimate syllable in any such sequence is lowered to avoid this.
Note that the "rising pitch" is not really a distinct pitch but a low-high sequence within a single bimoraic syllable, so this sandhi rule still applies to it.
For example, the form 수〮므〮시ᄂᆞ〮니라〮 (swúm-úsì-nó-n(-)ì-lá, “ is hiding”, hide-SBJ.HON-PRESENT-DUR-DEC) has underlying high pitch on all six syllables. However, the third and fifth syllable surface as low-pitch to avoid a triple sequence of high-pitch syllables.
While there are exceptions to this rule, they are largely irrelevant for the purposes of the verbal paradigm.
The verb stem is a low-pitch monosyllable.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
먹다〮 (mèktá, “one ate”) | 머거〮 (mèké, “to eat”) | 머그〮면〮 (mèkúmyén, “if one eats”) |
벗다〮 (pèstá, “one took off”) | 버서〮 (pèsé, “to take off”) | 버스〮면〮 (pèsúmyén, “if one takes off”) |
The verb stem is normally a low-pitch monosyllable. Before minimal-vowel-initial suffixes, it takes a bisyllabic allomorph involving a final low-pitch minimal vowel. Another analysis—producing the same results, although at odds with the explanation of MK pitch given above—could be that the stem is still a low-pitch monosyllable, but that it forcibly lowers the underlying pitch of any subsequent minimal vowel. See the example below.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
나타〮 (nàthá, “one gave birth”) | 나하〮 (nàhá, “to give birth”) | 나ᄒᆞ면〮 (nàhòmyén, “if one gives birth”) |
븟다〮 (pùstá, “one poured”) | 브ᅀᅥ〮 (pùzé, “to pour”) | 브ᅀᅳ면〮 (pùzùmyén, “if one pours”) |
The verb stem is always high-pitch.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
숨〮다〮 (swúmtá, “one hid”) | 수〮머〮 (swúmé, “to hide”) | 수〮므면〮 (swúmùmyén, “if one hides”) |
쓰〮다〮 (ssútá, “one wrote”) | 써〮 (ssé, “to write”) | 쓰〮면〮 (ssúmyén, “if one writes”) |
The verb stem changes irregularly according to the suffix that follows it; this cannot be predicted phonologically. In compounds, the verb stem takes high pitch, which is why scholars now tend to suggest that the underlying pitch is high.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
보다〮 (pwòtá, “one saw”) | 보〮아〮 (pwóá, “to see”) | 보면〮 (pwòmyén, “if one sees”) |
두다〮 (twùtá, “one put”) | 두〮어〮 (twúé, “to put”) | 두면〮 (twùmyén, “if one puts”) |
The pitch determination is loosely morphologically conditioned, and is as follows:
The stem takes low pitch when immediately followed by:
The stem takes high pitch when immediately followed by:
However, the separation of "verb-final" and "verb-internal" suffixes is fluid, as many verb-final suffixes etymologically fuse verb-internal ones. There is no rule as to whether a given verb-final suffix will trigger low pitch due to being perceived as a single suffix, or high pitch due to still being perceived as a compound; this must be memorized by the learner.
Ramsey divided Classes 3 and 4 based primarily on modern dialectal data, but there is little support for it in the Middle Korean corpus, as he himself admitted.
The verb stem is always rising-pitch.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
호〯다〮 (hwǒtá, “one sewed”) | 호〯아〮 (hwǒá, “to sew”) | 호〯면〮 (hwǒmyén, “if one sews”) |
곱〯다〮 (kwǒptá, “one is beautiful”) | 고〯ᄫᅡ〮 (kwǒWá, “to be beautiful”) | 고〯ᄫᅳ면〮 (kwǒWùmyén, “if one is beautiful”) |
The verb stem is rising-pitch before a consonant-initial suffix, and low-pitch before any vowel-initial suffix.
As the rising pitch is not really a distinct pitch but a low-high sequence, what is really happening here is that the sequence is compressed into a single syllable when before a consonant, but bleeds out into the next syllable if there is any subsequent vowel. Therefore, the subsequent vowel is always underlying high-pitch, only surfacing as low-pitch when sandhi intervenes.
This is particularly important for the pitch of the minimal vowel of (ᄋᆞ/으)시 (-(o/u)sí). If we mistakenly believed that the syllable simply transforms from rising- to low-pitch, the minimal vowel would also have to be low-pitch due to being dependent on the preceding syllable. However, the vowel in question always takes high pitch absent sandhi.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
걷〯다〮 (kěttá, “one walked”) | 거러〮 (kèlé, “to walk”) | 거르〮면〮 (kèlúmyén, “if one walks”) |
웃〯다〮 (wŭstá, “one laughs”) | 우ᅀᅥ〮 (wùzé, “to laugh”) | 우ᅀᅳ〮면〮 (wùzúmyén, “if one laughs”) |
All of these verbs have irregular stems that are normally vowel-final bisyllabic, but take a monosyllabic consonant-final allomorph for non-miminal vowel-initial suffixes. All syllables of the stem are always low-pitch.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
흐르다〮 (hùlùtá, “it flows”) | 흘러〮 (hùllé, “to flow”) | 흐르면〮 (hùlùmyén, “if it flows”) |
시므다〮 (sìmùtá, “one plants”) | 심거〮 (sìmké, “to plant”) | 시므면〮 (sìmùmyén, “if one plants”) |
These verbs have irregular stems that are normally vowel-final bisyllabic, but take a monosyllabic consonant-final allomorph for non-miminal vowel-initial suffixes. The bisyllabic form has an initial low pitch and a final high pitch. The monosyllabic form has rising pitch. These verbs are very rare and Ramsey did not have a separate category for them.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
누르〮다〮 (nwùlútá, “one presses”) | 눌〯러〮 (nwǔllé, “to press”) | 누르〮면〮 (nwùlúmyén, “if one presses”) |
모ᄅᆞ〮다〮 (mwòlótá, “one does not know”) | 몰〯라〮 (mwǒllá, “to not know”) | 모ᄅᆞ〮면〮 (mwòlómyén, “if one does not know”) |
This is the largest class of bisyllabic verb stems, with a low pitch on the first syllable and a high pitch on the second.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
ᄆᆡᇰᄀᆞ〮다〮 (mòyngkótá, “one made”) | ᄆᆡᇰᄀᆞ〮라〮 (mòyngkólá, “to make”) | ᄆᆡᇰᄀᆞᆯ〮면〮 (mòyngkólmyén, “if one makes”) |
어듭〮다〮 (ètúptá, “it is dark”) | 어드〮ᄫᅥ〮 (ètúWé, “to be dark”) | 어드〮ᄫᅳ면〮 (ètúWùmyén, “if it is dark”) |
This is a medium-sized class of bisyllabic verb stems with low pitch on both syllables.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
맛나다〮 (màsnàtá, “one met”) | 맛나〯 (màsnǎ, “to meet”)[2] | 맛나면〮 (màsnàmyén, “if one meets”) |
그우다〮 (kùwùtá, “one rolled”) | 그우러〮 (kùwùlé, “to roll”) | 그울면〮 (kùwùlmyén, “if one rolls”) |
This is a small class of bisyllabic verb stems with underlying high pitch on both syllables.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
그〮리다〮 (kúlìtá, “one drew”) | 그〮려〮 (kúlyé, “to draw”) | 그〮리면〮 (kúlìmyén, “if one draws”) |
즐〮겁다〮 (cúlkèptá, “one is happy”) | 즐〮거ᄫᅥ〮 (cúlkèWé, “to be happy”) | 즐〮거〮ᄫᅳ면〮 (cúlkéWùmyén, “if one is happy”) |
This is another small class of bisyllabic verb stems.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
ᄭᅥ〯리다〮 (skělìtá, “one shied away”) | ᄭᅥ〯려〮 (skělyé, “to shy away”) | ᄭᅥ〯리면〮 (skělìmyén, “if one shies away”) |
더〯럽다〮 (tělèptá, “it is dirty”) | 더〯러ᄫᅥ〮 (tělèWé, “to be dirty”) | 더〯러〮ᄫᅳ면〮 (těléWùmyén, “if one is dirty”) |
This is the largest of the trisyllabic classes, which are quite rare in Middle Korean.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
므ᅀᅴ〮엽다〮 (mùzúyyèptá, “it is scary”) | 므ᅀᅴ〮여ᄫᅥ〮 (mùzúyyèWé, “to be scary”) | 므ᅀᅴ〮여ᄫᅳ〮면〮 (mùzúyyèWúmyén, “if it is scary”) |
Because of tone sandhi, which obscures the underlying pitch in many inflections of these verbs, Yi 1964 appears to have erroneously classified these with the above underlying LHL class.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
기드〮리다〮 (kìtúlìtá, “one waited”) | 기드〮려〮 (kìtúlyé, “to wait”) | 기드〮리〮시면〮 (kìtúlísìmyén, “if the honored one waits”) |
A very few multisyllabic verb stems have LR, LLL, LLH, RLH, RHL, or HHL pitch patterns. As these are very rare, they have not been given their own sections.
See also Appendix:Koreanic reconstructions.
The alternation between stem-final ㅂ (-p) and ㅅ (-s) before consonants, and ㅸ (-W) and ㅿ (-z) before vowels, are not discussed here because they can be explained by positing underlying ㅸ and ㅿ which surface as ㅂ and ㅅ in voiceless environments. They are therefore not irregular per se.
Verb stems ending in the minimal vowels ㅡ (-u) and ㆍ (-o) have their minimal vowels elided by any non-minimal vowel-initial suffix.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
쓰〮다〮 (ssútá, “one wrote”) | 써〮 (ssé, “to write”) | 쓰〮면〮 (ssúmyén, “if one writes”) |
더으다〮 (tèùtá, “one heard”) | 더어〮 (tèé, “to hear”) | 더으면〮 (tèùmyén, “if one hears”) |
Verb stems ending in ㄹ (-l) have a few features:
Compare below:
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
드다〮 (tùtá, “one held”) 드ᄂᆞ〮다〮 (tùnótá, “one holds”) 들오〮 (tùlGwó, “one holds, and”) |
드러〮 (tùlé, “to hold”) 드룸〮 (tùlwúm, “holding”) |
드니〮 (tùní, “as one holds”) 들면〮 (tùlmyén, “if one holds”) |
먹다〮 (mèktá, “one ate”) 먹ᄂᆞ〮다〮 (mèknótá, “one eats”) 먹고〮 (mèkkwó, “one eats, and”) |
머거〮 (mèké, “to eat”) 머굼〮 (mèkwúm, “eating”) |
머그〮니〮 (mèkúní, “as one eats”) 머그〮면〮 (mèkúmyén, “if one eats”) |
The verb 말〯다〮 (mǎltá, “to not do”) irregularly elides final -/l/ before some (but not all) /k/-initial suffixes as well. Compare:
Verb stems ending in falling diphthongs (ㅐ (-ay), ㅔ (-ey), ㅢ (-uy), etc.) have the following features:
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
여희〮다〮 (yèhúytá, “one departed”) 여희〮오〮 (yèhúyGwó, “one departs, and”) |
여희〮여〮 (yèhúyyé, “to depart”) | 여희〮면〮 (yèhúymyén, “if one departs”) |
ᄀᆞᆯᄒᆡ〮다〮 (kòlhóytá, “one chose”) ᄀᆞᆯᄒᆡ〮오〮 (kòlhóyGwó, “one chooses, and”) |
ᄀᆞᆯᄒᆡ〮여〮 (kòlhóyyé, “to choose”), ᄀᆞᆯᄒᆞ〮야〮 (kòlhóyá, “id.”) | ᄀᆞᆯᄒᆡ〮면〮 (kòlhóymyén, “if one chooses”) |
Some verb stems end in ㄷ (-t) before consonants and ㄹ (-l) (realized as ) before vowels. These behave like the lenited consonants ㅸ (-W) and ㅿ (-z); indeed, an archiphoneme T could be posited for them.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
걷〯다〮 (kěttá, “one walked”) | 거러〮 (kèlé, “to walk”) | 거르〮면〮 (kèlúmyén, “if one walks”) |
듣다〮 (tùttá, “one heard”) | 드러〮 (tùlé, “to hear”) | 드르면〮 (tùlùmyén, “if one hears”) |
Some verb stems have CVCV shape before consonants and minimal vowel-initial suffixes, but have a CVCC allomorph before non-minimal vowel-initial suffixes. The final consonant that appears here may be ㄱ (-k), ㅇ (-G), or ㄹ (-l). The vast majority of these stems belong to Class LL/8.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
ᄌᆞᄆᆞ다〮 (còmòtá, “one sinks”) | ᄌᆞᆷ거〮 (còmké, “to sink”) | ᄌᆞᄆᆞ면〮 (còmòmyén, “if one sinks”) |
비ᅀᅳ다〮 (pìzùtá, “one adorns”) | 비ᇫ어〮 (pìzGé, “to adorn”) | 비ᅀᅳ면〮 (pìzùmyén, “if one hears”) |
누르〮다〮 (nwùlútá, “one presses”) | 눌〯러〮 (nwǔllé, “to press”) | 누르〮면〮 (nwùlúmyén, “if one presses”) |
Related to this, some bisyllabic verb stems whose second syllable is 르 (-lu) have an allomorph with 를 (-lul) before non-minimal vowel-initial suffixes. These stems belong to Class LH.
C-initial | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
누르〮다〮 (nwùlútá, “it is yellow”) | 누르〮러〮 (nwùlúlé, “to be yellow”) | 누르〮면〮 (nwùlúmyén, “if it is yellow”) |
프르〮다〮 (phùlútá, “it is green/blue”) | 프르〮러〮 (phùlúlé, “to be green/blue”) | 프르〮면〮 (phùlúmyén, “if it is green/blue”) |
The stem of ᄒᆞ다〮 (hòtá, “to do”), a Class H! verb, takes /-j/ before non-minimal vowel-initial suffixes.
The stem of 잇다 (ista, “to be at; to have”) is realized as 잇 (ìs-) before most consonant-initial suffixes, and as 이시 (ìsì-) before all vowel-initial ones.
C-initial[6] | V-initial | MV-initial |
---|---|---|
ᄒᆞ고〮 (hòkwó, “one does, and”) | ᄒᆞ〮야〮 (hóyá, “to do”) | ᄒᆞ면〮 (hòmyén, “if one does”) |
잇고〮 (ìskwó, “one has, and”) | 이셔〮 (ìsyé, “to have”) | 이시면〮 (ìsìmyén, “if one has”) |