KJC Korea
Journal Central

Nam Ki-Hyun, 2021. A study on classification of idiomatic phrases and polysemous signs in Korean Sign Language–Focused on the [GANGHADA]-. Korean Semantics, 74. This study proposes the necessity of division between idiomatic phrases and polysemic signs in Koran Sign Language(KSL). We recognize as a problem that, in the meaning review of KSL idiomatic phrases, dependence on correspondent expressions of Korean language was traditionally found high. We discovered individual meanings for [GANGHADA] in the context. As a result, [GANGHADA] possesses five semes: 'hard(robust)', ‘strong’, 'rare occurrence of change of situation', 'no problem(confident)', and 'mentally strong.' Also the phrases [GOJIB] [GANGHADA] ‘stubborn’ have the definition of 'not yield one's ideas or will.' To judge [GANGHADA] as either polysemic sign or homographic sign, etymology was employed as the standard. In KSL there are found many signs that are generated based upon iconicity. If target signs have common origin of iconicity, they can be judged as having the same root. However, in judgment of homographic signs, [GANGHADA] has the same manuals but different non-manuals. So they can be seen as separate lexemes with different origins. However, The non-manual element of [GANGHADA] should be dealt with at a pragmatic level by revealing the speaker's feelings, feelings, and thoughts when expressing [GANGHADA] rather than functioning at the word level. Consequently [GANGHADA] shares both the semes of concrete strength and abstract strength. Common attributes of 'strong' exist for these semes; they can be seen as polysemic signs.

YE YINGLIN, 2021. A Research on the Auxiliary Particle ‘-iRago(-(이)라고)’. Korean Semantics, 74. This paper aims to demonstrate the new semantical functions of auxiliary particle ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’. It turns out that auxiliary particle ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’ is probably the product of the fusion of ‘-rago(-라고)’ used in traditional indirect speech and ‘ida(이다)’ used in reference sentence. And auxiliary particle ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’ has been grammaticalized in spoken Korean. To classify the auxiliary particle ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’ from other usages, we came up with an approach to distinguishing the difference between ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’ with ‘cause presentation’ function. We found out that the latter one should be considered as a connective ending. Meanwhile, By means of Sejong Spoken Corpus, we analysed grammatical charateristics of auxiliary particle ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’ and its semantical charateristics as well. Results showed that it is highly possible that the auxiliary particle ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’ is connected with subject, object, adnominal phrase and subject term. Moreover, the auxiliary particle ‘-irago(-(이)라고)’ is constantly used in a neutrality context, performing a role as intensifier.

Kim Na-Hyeon, 2021. The polysemy of Proper Names-Focusing on Organization, Company, and Place-. Korean Semantics, 74. The objective of this study is to present the distinction standard by examining the category of proper nouns with polysemy. Contrary to the researches on the polysemy of common nouns that have been relatively discussed a lot, this thesis discussed the polysemy of proper nouns. By limiting the subjects to ‘institution, company, and place’ out of proper nouns with polysemy, this study discussed the semantic category of each of them, and then presented the semantic distinction standard of proper nouns with polysemy. The meanings of proper nouns with polysemy could be easily distinguished through contexts or appropriate predicate. In case when there is no context or predicate, however, it is not sometimes possible to choose a meaning out of many meanings. Thus, this thesis presented the semantic distinction standard of proper nouns with polysemy. This study argued that it should be distinguished through context or appropriate predicate. In case when it is not possible to be distinguished, the priority should be applied to the overall meaning that could include the partial meaning of proper noun. This study could be helpful for establishing the foothold for constructing precise data, and also to be helpful for the clear analysis of entity name.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the meaning of the prefinal ending ‘-ess-’ and related phenomena in modern Korean from the perspective of Mental space theory (Fauconnier 1985/1994, 1997; Cutrer 1994). This paper suggests that although ‘-ess-’ itself is not a space builder, it can construct an event space (space E) prior to BASE. An expression with ‘-ess-’ can mean the present result state of past event when FOCUS is located in the present space. Even in such cases, EVENT is located in space E which is prior to V-POINT. ‘-Ess-’ is, therefore, a past tense marker. The related phenomena can be explained as follows; First, even when the situation is true to the present, ‘-ess-’ can be used if the location of EVENT is prior to V-POINT. Second, the use of ‘-ess-’ in future situation can be explained by assuming non-factual space which expresses the resultant situation of EVENT space prior to it.

Newspapers ordinarily reflect the meaning of lexical items in two Korean language societies and the changes in vocabulary in the times. This study proposes a methodology that automatically probes for semantic variations in which inter-Korean vocabulary differs from large-scale newspaper data. As a theoretical background, we look at the concepts of the distributional semantics and semantic variations. Next, using deep learning’s word embedding skills, we implement a system to probe semantic variations in an automatic way. This study is significant in the following respects. First, this study systematically concerns the difference in the meaning of inter-Korean vocabulary on a comprehensive scale. Second, this study draws a list of inter-Korean semantic variations by means of the deep learning techniques. Third, this study demonstrates that use of word embedding models facilitate automatic extraction of Korean semantic variations.

In this paper, basic works were performed to systematically deal with the pattern of meaning changes in Korean vocabulary. First, several concepts for describing the change in lexical meanings were examined and our own views were presented. And ‘lexeme’, ‘meaning change’, and ‘meaning relationship’ were defined. Second, from the perspective of research methodology, existing studies on history of vocabulary were summarized and reviewed. Third, the distribution hypothesis-based research methodology(Word2vec), which recently began to be used in lexical research, was applied to studies of history of vocabulary. Through this, the significance and limitations of this research methodology could be examined.

The process of interpreting blends and acronyms is similar to the process of solving a crossword puzzle quiz. First, we need to find out the original form of one part of the word(finding the clues), and then find out the original form of the rest of the parts of the word based on the found one(solving the clues). As strategies for finding clues, this paper suggests ‘Using words which is not clipped’, 'Using frames for analogy', and 'Using a the tendency to maintain the syllable number in blends’. As strategies for solving clues, this paper suggests 'Using a syntactic combination', 'Using a semantic combination' and ‘using a semantic replacement’. We can also use a social context to interpret blends and acronyms. If their meanings are not compositional, further process, using situational context, is needed to find out the added meaning.

The purpose of this paper is to reanalyse the Korean slogan “5 bun meonjeo garyeoda 50 nyeon meonjeo ganda”(a warning against wild driving) within conceptual blending theory, which was analysed in Kwon(2013). The results are as follows. First, the adverb “meonjeo”(‘earlier’) evokes two input spaces. One is the space about arriving at the destination earlier and the other is an alternative space about arriving at the expected time. In the blend there are two people going to the same destination, and their positions can be compared. This is a mirror network. Second, “ga-”(‘go’) of “50 nyeon meonjeo ganda” means ‘die’ by metaphorical blending, which is a single-scope network. Third, the whole slogan is constructed by blending into cause-effect relation of the intention space (“5 bun meonjeo ～”) and the resulting unintended situatiuon space(“50 nyeon meonjeo ～”), which is a double-scope network. Finally, the slogan is understood as a warning through blending with the space of warning frame, which can be regarded as a simplex network.