Korean Contrastive Focus Entailment Constructions: ‘X-i/ga mwoya, Y-do V’.

This study analyzes the Korean construction ‘X-i/ka mwoya, Y-do V’ within the framework of Construction Grammar. It discusses that, when viewed from the perspective of Construction Grammar, the target expression can be regarded as a ‘construction’. In this case, ‘뭐야’ does not function as an actual question, and its actual meaning is not a simple inquiry. When this construction is used in affirmative sentences, ‘mwoya’ adds the meaning that the preceding element is naturally or obviously satisfied, and when it is used in negative sentences, it adds the meaning that the preceding element is naturally or obviously denied. While both the preceding and following elements exhibit contrastive focus, in affirmative contexts the semantic relationship between them does not always involve entailment. This construction is identified as belonging to the [-negative polarity] subtype of the Korean contrastive focus entailment construction. This study aims to discuss this construction as an independent construction and to compare it with other known Korean contrastive focus entailment construction.