Please confirm what I inferred: On the Korean inferential-evidential marker -napo-

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the semantics of the Korean inferential evidential marker -napo- (-na ‘whether’ and po- ‘see’ > -napo-), which had not received much attention in the literature. This paper also aims to discuss its underlying cognitive mechanism by investigating their functions and distributions. First, this paper addresses its core function of marking inferential evidentiality, which relies on the speaker's inductive reasoning process. Then, I focus on the marker's extended functions of encoding mirativity and of mitigating the strength of the speaker's assertion, providing a unified account of the marker's multiple functions. Finally, this paper discusses that the underlying cognitive mechanism of the marker is to pose a conceptual distance between the speaker and the inference that she makes in the utterance. The discussion includes comparison with -napo- and -n-moyang-i- (-n ‘relativizer,’ moyang ‘appearance,’ and i- ‘copular verb’ > -n moyangi-), another inferential periphrastic expression in Korean.

► I examine the semantics of the Korean inferential evidential marker -napo-. ► I address the marker's core function of marking inferential evidentiality and the speaker's inductive reasoning process. ► I explore the marker's extended functions of encoding mirativity and of mitigating the strength of the speaker's assertion. ► The underlying cognitive mechanism of the versatile marker is to create a conceptual distance between the speaker and her inference.