Semantics of '-e ha' for psych predicates in Korean

Abstract

This study examines the Korean evidential morpheme -e ha in to the context of psych predicates, addressing the gap in the systematic study of its role in subordinate clauses and its broader semantic implications. This study reveals that -e ha is necessary when there exists a mismatch between the experiencer and the logophor of the clause. This finding highlights the syntactic transformation of psych predicates from adjectives to verbs facilitated by -e ha, which semantically requires endophoric evidence. Considering these findings, the semantic structures of clauses with psych predicates and logophor shifts are discussed. Furthermore, proposed are the semantic denotations of -e ha and a zero morpheme within the framework of epistemic modals with the assumption that the zero morpheme is requisite for psych predicates wherein experiencer aligns with the logophor. These analyses and proposals have broader implications and offer a foundation for analyzing linguistic phenomena from a logophoric perspective.