The Semantic Extension of ‘Jinjja’ in Korean

This study analyzed the diverse usages of jinjja (진짜) based on corpus examples and categorized them by their relationship to its prototypical meaning. It explored how jinjja expanded semantically, driven by both semantic and pragmatic factors. Initially emphasizing truth or reality, jinjja evolved in spoken language to express emotions and highlight focus. Its frequent use in colloquial contexts suggests that discourse heavily influenced its semantic expansion. The study highlights the mechanisms behind jinjja’s development into a discourse marker.