Japanese/Korean Linguistics

This paper reexamines the Korean aspectual marker -ko iss- by addressing its long-standing ambiguity between progressive and resultative readings. While earlier studies have linked resultative interpretations to lexical reflexivity, this study proposes a biclausal syntactic structure as the source of the resultative reading, contrasting with the monoclausal structure underlying the progressive meaning. Through syntactic diagnostics—such as adverbial placement and negation—as well as pragmatic factors including spatial, possessive, force-dynamic, and episodic involvement, this paper demonstrates that resultative readings are not inherent in the verb alone but arise through pragmatic inference. It argues for a revised understanding of the Korean aspect system, recognizing -ko iss- as an imperfective marker expressing progressive and habitual readings, while perfective aspect is marked by -e iss-. This syntactic-pragmatic perspective not only clarifies the function of -ko iss- but also contributes to the broader typological understanding of aspect in Korean.