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English-to-Korean Translation on Numeral Expression

Silo Chin 1 Kwak, Eun-joo 1

1세종대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The English and Korean languages use very different systems for expressing quantified structures. In English, only two structures exist. These two pre-structures (i.e. ‘quantifier+N’) dominate the enumeration process in the English language. In Korean, there are six structures of pre- and post-structures (i.e. ‘N+quantifier’). The general structures are ‘number+unit+(ui)+noun’ (pre-structure) and ‘noun+number+unit’(post-structure). While English countable nouns escape unit nouns, nearly all Korean nouns need ones. Hence, translators must choose between pre-structure and post-structure, and one appropriate numeral unit. This study investigates: (1) the relationship between a text type and its preference for quantified structures, and (2) the elements affecting the degree of acceptability of the numeral units. We have selected data from experimental articles, newspapers, TV news scripts, and novels. These show a strong correlation between a text type(mode of discourse) and its preferred quantified structure. They also give evidence that the field and the tenor of discourse affect the selection of the appropriate numeral unit words.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.