한, 중 단맛 형용사의 의미 확장 대조 연구

Abstract

This paper engages in a comparative analysis of the aspects of semantic expansion of the corpus of adjectives meaning ‘sweet’ in Korean and Chinese from the perspective of experientialism in cognitive linguistics. The study finds that the expansion of the meaning of ‘sweet-tasting’ is manifested in metonymy and metaphor. Among common features found in Korean and Chinese are expansions in terms of physical appraisal, aesthetic evaluation and psychological impression. A major difference is found in Chinese in which a more detailed division in target domain is developed concerning ‘甜(tian)’ and ‘甘(gān)’. Another noticeable difference concerns the sensory field for expansion: in Korean, the adjectives tend to expand into the olfactory and auditory senses whereas in Chinese the expansion is geared toward the auditory and visual senses. In addition, in Chinese the corpus of adjectives meaning ‘sweet’ is applied to human character and attitude, which is not found in Korean.