A Study on the meaning of Korean tautology (국어 항진명제에 대한 의미 연구)

Jeong-Ae Lee (이정애)

A Study on the meaning of Korean tautology

Korean Semantics
2010, 33(), pp.179-202
Publisher : The Society Of Korean Semantics
Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature

Jeong-Ae Lee ¹

¹전북대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study aims to analyse Korean equative tautology. The interpretation of tautology has been discussed through two approaches. One is the Gricean's perspective, which analyses tautology as a conversational implicature (radical pragmaticist's position). Wierzbicka's radical semantic position, which states that tautology is dependent upon certain language-specific syntactic constructions (radical semanticist's position). This study applies Wierzbicka's view and methodology to Korean tautologies. Because Wierzbicka's semantic representation with Natural Semantic Metalanguage offers an efficient method to specify the meaning of Korean tautology. As a result, Korean nominal tautologies can describe the following: 1) recognition and negation of generalization; 2) resignation of human nature; 3) acceptance of reality; 4) recognition of irreducible difference; 5) recognition of indifference; 6) limitations of objects; 7) irreversible state of affairs; and 8) emphasis. Scrutinizing Korean tautology, this paper explicates the language- and culture-specific of Korean and hopefully can contribute in the understanding and education of Korean as a foreign language.

KEYWORDS

항진명제(tautology), 대화 함축(conversational implicature), 언어특수성(language-specific), 의미 기술(semantic representation), 의미설명(explication), 급진적 화용론자(radical pragmaticists), 급진적 의미론자(radical semanticist), 자연 의미론적 메타언어(NSM)

Citation status

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

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.

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