Allomorph: 로 (-lo)
The postposition 으로 is highly polysemous. It is used primarily to mark entities relating to causal force (i.e., Instrument and Means), spatial locations (such as Goal, Path, and Direction), Identity, and Manner.
For most causal force usages, postposition 으로 can be used interchangeably with 으로써 (-ulosse).
This postposition marks the Instrument role---an entity that facilitates an action via causal force.
'(We) do complicated calculations with a calculator' 003
Postpositions marking the materials of construction are considered Source↝Instrument.
'These glasses are heavy because they are made of glass' 005
Instrument is distinguished from Means, where the causal force is an event or a situation rather than an object or an entity.
'(They) made me cry with their harsh behavior' 033
This usage can take on various construals:
When attached to a title, role or a category, 으로 can also mark the Identity (both temporary and permanent) of the entity.
'As (the paragon of) a 'good wife and wise mother', she protected her family' 008
If the marked nominal describes is a characteristic identity of an entity, then we assign the label of Characteristic↝Identity.
으로 also marks the Goal location (both literal and figurative) or state.
'Today we boarded an airplane headed to New York' 013
'(He) advanced from manager position to general manager position.' 014
The final state of a transformation is also annotated as a Goal:
The postposition additionally serves to mark Path as seen in the following examples.
'(We) went from Seoul to Pusan by way of Daegu' 019
'The criminal slipped away through the back alley' 020
'Sand flowed out through the fingers' 021
Paths of fictive motion is annotated with the construal Locus↝Path.
'The scenery visible through the branches was beautiful' 022
When attaching to directional adverbials, we annotate the postposition as Direction.
Another use for the postposition 으로 is to mark Extent.
'(We) further continued on with our travels' 026
If the semantics of the nominal marked by 으로 qualitatively describes the event and is fully subsumed by the event (no new external event is introduces like in Means), then we have Manner. The phrase generally answers the question of how? or in what manner? the event happened.
'He sold the remaining items from a previous sale at a discount' 027
'People who study for entertainment purposes' 029
Manner uses can sometimes take on a more event-specific scene role via construal.
| description | to (goal), with (instrument) |
|---|---|
| lang | Korean |
| transliteration | ulo |
| other_forms | 로 |
| morphtype | suffix |
| transitivity | always transitive |
| obj_cases | |
| is_pp_idiom | False |