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The History and Etymology of the word ‘가위’[剪]

  • Korean Language & Literature
  • 2008, (64), pp.5-24
  • Publisher : Korean Language & Literature
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature

이선웅 1

1충남대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In this paper, I argue about the history and etymology of the word ‘가위’[剪]. Firstly, I examine the various dialectal forms and the aspects of the historical change of ‘ㅸ’/β/ to reconstruct the ‘*가’ as the proto-form of the dialectia forms ‘가위, 강위, 가우, 강우, 가웨, 가왜, 가외, 가이, 가의, 가아, 강아’. But I also acknowledge the proto-form ‘*개’ of the dialectal forms ‘가시개, 가새, 가세, 가애, 강애, 가에, 강에’, that is there were two etymologies ‘*가’ and ‘*애’ in Korean. Secondly, I explain the ‘*가’ as the form which is made by combining the verbal stem ‘-’(which meant ‘to divide into the same two’) and the suffix ‘-이’(which meant ‘instrument’). This is an entirely different etymology/word from ‘*개’ which is formed by combining the verbal stem ‘-’(which meant ‘to cut’) and the suffix ‘-개’(which meant ‘instrument’). Furthermore I explain the borrowing aspects of ‘*가’ and ‘*개’ in Altaic languages.

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