[KS] Long vs short vowels in verb and adjective conjugations

Stefan Ewing sa_ewing at hotmail.com
Thu Sep 20 21:44:06 EDT 2007


Dear KS list members: I am stuck on a question of the utmost triviality, but I can't get a satisfactory answer from other sources.  (Warning: mindnumbing discussion of pronunciation rules follows!)
 
The non-polite, non-formal, present finite form of the verb 하다 (hada) is 하여 (hayo^), which of course is often shortened to 해 (hae).  The vowel sound in 해 (hae) is long, because it represents the consolidation of two distinct vowel sounds.  This is shown in the 표준국어대산전 (P'yojun Kugo^ Taesajo^n; _Dictionary of Standard Korean_) for 하다01 (hada 01), and in 표준 발음법 (P'yojun Paru^mpo^p; _Standard Pronunciation Rules_), rule 6 (http://korean.go.kr/06_new/rule/rule04_04_03.jsp).
 
One would assume that, by analogy, verbs and adjectives that consist of a root word plus the suffix -하다 (-hada) [e.g., 가능하다 (kanu^nghada)] would also have a long vowel sound when conjugated to 가능해 (kanu^nghae).  If one consults the same rule 6 in the "P'yojun Paru^mpo^p," however, one sees it mentioned that contracted diphthongs (or triphthongs) only have a long vowel sound if the verb or adjective stem is single-syllable, which would thus apply to 하다 (hada) itself but not to 가능하다 (kanu^nghada).  Thus, 해 (hae) would have a long vowel sound, whereas 가능해 (kanu^nghae) would end in a short vowel sound.  More specifically, elsewhere under the same rule 6, it is mentioned that nouns with long vowels in their first syllables shorten their vowel sounds when they are preceded by a prefix. 
All the above applies to 되다 (toeda) as well, whose abbreviated, non-polite, non-formal, present finite form is 돼 (twae), also with a long vowel sound, because it's a contraction of 되어 (toeo^).  Thus, the ambiguity is this: should word forms such as 가능해 (kanu^nghae) or 
입학돼 (ip'aktwae) end in a short vowel sound or a long vowel sound?
 
At first glance, the "P'yojun Kugo^ Taesajo^n" does not answer this question, because while it indicates the paradigmatic conjugated forms and pronunciations of the standalone verbs 되다01 (toeda 01) and 하다01 (hada 01), it does not do the same for the suffixes -되다05 (-toeda 05) or -하다03 (hada 03), nor does it give the pronunciations of the conjugated verbs of virtually any verbs or adjectives ending in those suffixes.
 
As I write this, however, I may have found the answer to this question.  The one special adjective 안되다02 (andoeda 02) gets its own entry in the "Taesajo^n," and shows no long-vowel mark for the conjugated form 안돼 (andwae).  Could this be a model for all similar compound verbs and adjectives???
 
If anyone has survived to this point in my email and is still awake, I would appreciate any light or guidance you can shed on this.
 
Yours,
Stefan Ewing
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