From choice to counter-expectation: Semantic–pragmatic connections of the Korean disjunctive, concessive, and scalar focus Particle -na

•This study proposes semantic–pragmatic connections from Choice (disjunctive “or”) to Free-choice (“regardless”), and then to Counter-expectation (“even”, “even though”).•Using a diachronic corpus from the 5th century, it demonstrates that the Korean disjunctive -na engendered “even” in the nominal and “even though” in the verbal domain through the mediation of “free-choice”.•It draws on the historical development of Korean -na, on additional evidence from Hausa, and on König's studies on the emergence of concessive markers (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991a).

This study proposes semantic–pragmatic connections from Choice (disjunctive “or”; two given choices) to Free-choice (“regardless”, “whatever”; regardless of choices), and then to Counter-expectation (scalar focus particle “even” and concessive “even though”; beyond expectation), drawing on the case of Korean -na, on additional evidence from Hausa and Korean, and on König's studies on the emergence of concessive markers (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991a).Starting with 5th century pre-alphabet texts, the study uses diachronic corpus data to investigate the history of Korean -na. The versatile -na expresses nine functions (mostly markers of choice, free-choice, and counter-expectation) including two opposite scalar focus particles, additive “as many as” and restrictive “just”. The study proposes that after starting out as a disjunctive with NPs in the 8th century, -na subsequently became disjunctive with VPs and then engendered “even” in the nominal and “even though” in the verbal domain through the mediation of “free-choice”.The study presents an integrated analysis of the historical development of these seemingly remote nine functions of -na, and on that basis, demonstrates the importance of pragmatic inference and local context in the emergence of new polysemies.