-데
See also: 데
Korean
Etymology
First appears in the late sixteenth century as 데 (Yale: -tey). Traditionally analyzed as a shortening of Middle Korean 더〮ᅌᅵ다〮 (Yale: -té-ngì-tá), from 더〮 (Yale: -té-, imperfective suffix) + ᅌᅵ (Yale: -ngì-, listener-honoring suffix) + 다〮 (Yale: -tá, declarative suffix), with the last being fully deleted.
However, Jang Yun-hui suggests that it may be more appropriate to posit 이 (Yale: -i) as a colloquial Middle Korean verb-final suffix, in which case this is a simple compound of 더〮 (Yale: -té-, imperfective suffix) + 이 (Yale: -i).[1]
Suffix
데 • (-de)
- Intimate-style equivalent form of 더라 (-deora).
- 걔가 밥을 먹데.
- gyae-ga bab-eul meok-de.
- [I personally saw that] he was having a meal.
- The intimate-style interrogative retrospective suffix. See 더 (-deo-) for usage notes.
- 걔가 밥을 먹데?
- gyae-ga bab-eul meok-de?
- [Did you personally see that] he was having a meal?
Usage notes
- Koreans sometimes confuse this with homophonous 대 (-dae), which is used to mark reported speech:
- 그렇데. ― geureot-de. ― [I personally saw that] it was like that.
- 그렇대. ― geureot-dae. ― [According to what people say,] it was like that.
Related terms
from the same suffix or shortening process
- 네 (-ne)
- 으이 (-eu'i)
References
- 장윤희 (1997), “중세국어 종결어미 '(으)이'의 분석과 그 문법사적 의의 [Analysis of the Middle Korean sentence ender (-u)i and its significance in grammatical history]”, in Gugeohak, volume 30