Expression of concessive relations in the Korean language

Concessive relations in the Korean language can be expressed by many conjunctive affixes. Some of them may have not only concessive but also contrastive meaning. The difference between opposition and concession lies in the following fact - opposition implies that the speaker adopts the dependent predicative unit as an actual fact already exists in reality or fact in future recognized as actual. If the dependent predicative unit is irrespective to the reality of fact and suppose any action or statement, the concessive meaning is expressed here. Affixes -지 만, -(으)나, -아도 can replace each other when real fact is expressed by the dependent predicative unit. If the dependent predicative unit contain a supposed or impossible action, the use of conjunctive affix -지 만 and -(으)나 makes the sentence erroneous. Compound forms -(으)근망정 and -(으)근 지 언정 also express concessive meaning, when the speaker chooses a dependent action. The speaker, however, makes the choice basing not on sympathy but basing on the lack of desire to choose the major predicative unit. Sometimes, these concessive affixes are used in the contrastive meaning. In such sentences, the content of the dependent predicative unit is a real fact, and the affixes express opposition. Thus, we see that modality plays a significant role in the determination of the meaning of conjunctive affix. Depending on the speakers’ recognition of the content marked by conjunctive affix as real or unreal different meanings are expressed.