‘-는 법이다’와 ‘-기 마련이다’의 양태 정도성

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the grammatical collocations -nunpep-i-ta and -kimalyen-i-ta in terms of modal meaning. Chapter 2 considers the grammatical and lexical components of -nunpep-i-ta and -kimalyen-i-ta, and Chapter 3 investigates similarities and differences between the two collocations. Both phrases mean “universal truth” or “general facts in common.” However, in terms of co-occurrences with the grammatical forms -(e)yaha-ta, -keyss-, and other forms that have epistemic modal meanings, -nunpep-i-ta and -kimalyen-i-ta take on a different color. These differences have been ascribed to the distinctiveness between the modal meanings of -nun and -ki. The form -nun is associated with a realis feature, whereas -ki expresses an irrealis one. In Chapter 4, we investigate degrees of modality for both -nunpep-i-ta and -kimalyen-i-ta. After considering -nunpep-i-ta and -kimalyen-i-ta in terms of semantics and syntax, and adopting a prototype approach regarding their degrees of modality, we have come to the conclusion that they express epistemic modal and usuality. However, they are not real-modals but pseudo-modals.