Underlying Bases for Reduplicated and Sound Symbolic Words in Korean: The so-called emphatic suffixation revisited*1

Kim, Hyung-Soo. 2006. Underlying Bases for Reduplicated and Sound Symbolic Words in Korean: The so-called emphatic suffixation revisited. Korean Journal of Linguistics, 31-2, 207-232. This paper reanalyzes the so-called emphatic suffixation in Korean, with a focus on the base and suffixal forms used in previous analyses. Jun (1994) analyzes these cases under his rule of Metrical Weight Consistency, but there is no independent evidence for the redundant base-final /l/ in his underlying structure of talkɨlak < *talkɨl-lak "rattling". In this paper, a new morphological analysis is provided by investigating 1) the stem-suffix correlations stipulated by Jun and 2) the patterns of affixation and alternation in ideophones such as talkak, talkɨlak, and talkatak. It is argued that these three near-synonymous ideophones share the same underlying stem *talkɨand the surface variants are a combined result of affixation and three independent phonological rules: /ɨ/-truncation (talkak<*talkɨ-ak), /t/-to-/l/ lenition (talkɨlak<*talkɨ-tak) and dissimilation of KCVK# → CVK# (talkatak<*talkaktak). Some comments on recent Optimality-Theoretic analyses and their weaknesses are made as well as a remark on the ramifications of the analysis. (Jeonju University)