Browsing results for Koreanic

(1987) Various languages – Value-judgment terms

Hill, Deborah (1987). A cross-linguistic study of value-judgement terms. MA thesis, Australian National University.

The purpose of this thesis is to try to establish the extent to which the words good, bad, true and right can be considered lexical universals. These words have been chosen because they are value-judgment terms that, individually, have been discussed at length by philosophers. It seems to be assumed by philosophers and semanticists that these words reflect concepts shared by speakers of all languages. By testing whether these words are candidates for lexical universals we can then see the extent to which this assumption is true.

On the basis of information from native speakers from 15 diverse languages, we can say that good and bad reflect language independent concepts (GOOD and BAD). However, in many languages, including English, the range of meaning of bad is narrower than the range of meaning of good. By looking at five of these fifteen languages we can see that the words right and true reflect concepts that are not language
independent. Thus, by taking a cross-linguistic approach, we can shed some light on the work done by language philosophers in the area of value-judgment terms.

The following languages are examined in this thesis: Arabic, Arrernte, Chinese (Mandarin), English, Ewe, Fijian, Finnish, Indonesian, Kannada, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish.


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2000) Korean – NSM primes

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2000). Semantic primes of ‘time’ in Korean. Proceedings of the 34th Annual Linguistics Conference, Seoul National University, Seoul.

Rating:


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2000) Korean – NSM primes

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2000). Semantic primes of ‘time’ in Korean. Proceedings of Modern Grammar Conference, Taeku.

Rating:


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2001) Korean – NSM primes

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2001). The semantic prime THIS in Korean. In Cynthia Allen (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2001 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2001.html.

Open access

Abstract:

Korean is known to have three different demonstratives, i, ku, and ce, which are used differently according to context. Despite numerous studies on the meaning and function of these three words, it is difficult to find a clear semantic analysis of them in the literature. The main goal is, therefore, to identify the exponent of the prime THIS in Korean and, on this basis, to explore the possibility of explicating the meanings of the remaining demonstratives. Close examination of i, ku, and ce reveals that the exponent of the prime THIS in Korean is i. The remaining demonstratives, ku and ce, are found to be decomposable via the prime i and other semantic primes. The word ku is found to be polysemous, accordingly two different explications are proposed alongside one for the word ce. Two different texts are presented to test the validity of the analysis.

Rating:


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2003) Korean – NSM primes

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2003). The proposed universal semantic prime THIS in Natural Semantic Metalanguage theory: Is there an exponent in Korean? 한국어학 [Korean Linguistics], 16, 353-373.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to assess whether the hypotheses of the NSM approach are valid in the Korean context and, more specifically, to investigate whether the prime THIS, proposed as one of the universal semantic elements in NSM theory, is lexicalized in Korean. There appear to be several candidates, but further examination allows to select the most likely exponent. In more general terms, the possibility of conducting semantic analyses using NSM in Korean is endorsed.

Rating:


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2004) Korean – Address forms and social cognition / Ethnopragmatics

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2004). Not just words: Korean social models and the use of honorifics. Intercultural Pragmatics, 1(2), 189-210.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2004.1.2.189

Abstract:

This study demonstrates that it is possible to describe cultural values and their associated communicative norms in simple terms and from an insiders’ perspective, even in the case of languages such as Korean, which is widely known for its highly culture-specific and extremely elaborate system of honorifics. Adopting NSM principles, and in particular the cultural scripts approach, the study attempts to capture and articulate Korean cultural rules about social relationships and the associated communicative norms as reflected in the honorific system and present in numerous fixed expressions. Cultural scripts are presented in both the English and Korean versions of the metalanguage.

In addition, the paper tries to articulate the shared understanding behind the existence of honorifics as a social practice, namely, that differential usage of words can send specific social messages about how interactants regard each other. In the case of Korean, relevant components include a ‘vertical’ model of society in which people are commonly thought of as ‘above’ or ‘below’ oneself, a recognized category of revered senior people (Korean 노인 noin), and the importance of relative age differences in one-to-one interaction.

More information:

This paper is part of a special issue on cultural scripts.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2004) Korean – Ethnopsychology and personhood

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2004). Korean maum vs. English heart and mind: Contrastive semantics of cultural concepts. In Christo Moskovsky (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2003.html.

Open access

Abstract:

In this paper, an attempt is made to compare three highly distinct concepts, the Anglo concepts of ‘heart’ and ‘mind’, as well as the Korean concept of 몸 maum. An appropriate analysis of 몸 maum appears to be essential for understanding Korean folk psychology. The attempt is underpinned by the principles of the NSM approach so as to enable outsiders to see the cognitive structure of the analysed concepts through the same window as native speakers. Similarities and differences between the three concepts reflect different folk views on similar psychological entities. The overlap and discrepancies between the NSM explications explain why the Anglo terms can serve as translational equivalents in some contexts but not in others. The Anglo concepts reflect the Anglo culture-specific way of conceptualizing while the Korean concept 몸 maum reflects the Korean way.

More information:

A more recent publication building on this one is:

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). Contrastive semantics of Korean ‘maum’ vs. English ‘heart’ and ‘mind’. The Journal of Studies in Language, 22(3), 171-197.


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2006) Korean – NSM primes, NSM syntax

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2006). Constructing a Korean Natural Semantic Metalanguage. Seoul: Hankook.

Abstract:

This study has two main goals. First, it seeks to test the hypotheses of the NSM theory against Korean in terms of both lexicalization and syntax. Second, it explores the possibility of using the NSM method as a tool of semantic analysis for selected Korean concepts.

More information:

Published version of the author’s 2003 PhD thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.

Rating:


Research carried out in consultation with or under the supervision of one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2006) Korean – Verbs (KKAY-DA, CCOGAY-DA, NANUU-DA)

이정애 [Lee, Jeong-Ae] (2006). *한국어의 메타언어적 의미분석을 위한 소론 [A Natural Semantic Metalanguage study of Korean – focused on the Korean verbs kkay-da, ccogay-da and nanuu-da] [In Korean]. 담화와 인지 [Discourse and Cognition], 13(1), 221-242.

(2007) English, French, Polish, Korean – Physical qualities

Goddard, Cliff & Wierzbicka, Anna (2007). NSM analyses of the semantics of physical qualities: sweet, hot, hard, heavy, rough, sharp in cross-linguistic perspective. Studies in Language, 31(4), 765-800.

DOI: 10.1075/sl.31.4.03god

Abstract:

All languages have words such as English hot and cold, hard and soft, rough and smooth, and heavy and light, which attribute qualities to things. This paper maps out how such descriptors can be analysed in the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) framework, in terms of like and other semantic primes configured into a particular “semantic schema”: essentially, touching something with a part of the body, feeling something in that part, knowing something about that thing because of it, and thinking about that thing in a certain way because of it. Far from representing objective properties of things “as such”, it emerges that physical quality concepts refer to embodied human experiences and embodied human sensations. Comparisons with French, Polish and Korean show that the semantics of such words may differ significantly from language to language.

More information:

A more recent publication building on this one is chapter 3 (pp. 55-79) of:

Goddard, Cliff & Wierzbicka, Anna (2014). Words and meanings: Lexical semantics across domains, languages, and cultures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The term schema, used in the 2007 version of the text, refers to what has since been called a semantic template.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) English, Korean, Malay, Swedish – Mental states

Goddard, Cliff (2007). A culture-neutral metalanguage for mental state concepts. In Andrea C. Schalley, & Drew Khlentzos (Eds.), Mental states: Vol. 2. Language and cognitive structure (pp. 11-35). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.93.04god

Abstract:

In contemporary cognitive science, mental state concepts from diverse cultures are typically described via English-specific words for emotions, cognitive processes, and the like. This is terminological ethnocentrism, which produces inaccurate representations of indigenous meanings. The problem can be overcome by employing a metalanguage of conceptual analysis based on simple meanings such as KNOW, THINK, WANT and FEEL. Cross-linguistic semantic research suggests that these and other semantic primes are shared across all languages and cultures. After summarizing this research, the chapter shows how complex mental state concepts from English, Malay, Swedish, and Korean can be revealingly analysed into terms that are simple, clear and transposable across languages.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) English, Russian, Korean – Cultural scripts, language learning, intercultural communication

Goddard, Cliff, & Anna Wierzbicka (2007). Semantic primes and cultural scripts in language learning and intercultural communication. In Farzad Sharifian, & Gary B. Palmer (Eds.), Applied cultural linguistics: Implications for second language learning and intercultural communication (pp. 105-124). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: 10.1075/celcr.7.08god

Abstract:

This chapter illustrates a number of potential practical applications of the NSM approach: as a guide to core vocabulary in the early L2 syllabus, as a means of writing cultural scripts and interpreting cultural key words for language learners, and as the basis for a culture-neutral international auxiliary language. Illustrative material is drawn from English, Russian, and Korean.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) Korean – Ethnopsychology and personhood

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). Contrastive semantics of Korean ‘maum’ vs. English ‘heart’ and ‘mind’. The Journal of Studies in Language, 22(3), 171-197.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18627/jslg.22.3.200702.171Open access

Abstract:

This paper uses the semantic framework provided by the NSM approach to contrast three ethnopsychological constructs: 몸 maum in Korean, and heart and mind in English. The latter are the most common translational equivalents of the Korean term. There is no semantic equivalence: which of the two English words is used to translate 몸 maum in any particular context is contextually driven. All three play a significant role in expressing emotions and thoughts, but no contrastive semantic analysis of the terms is found in the literature. This study shows it is possible to compare culturally loaded and complex concepts in terms of semantic similarities and differences by using an appropriate tertium comparationis. At the same time it indicates that NSM can endow ethnopsychology with a practical and descriptive tool.

More information:

An earlier version of this paper was published as:

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2004). Korean maum vs. English heart and mind: Contrastive semantics of cultural concepts. In Christo Moskovsky (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society. http://www.als.asn.au/proceedings/als2003.html.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) Korean – Ethnopsychology and personhood / Emotions

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). Korean ethnopsychology reflected in the concept of ceng ‘affection’: Semantic and cultural interpretation. 담화와인지 [Discourse and Cognition], 14(3), 81-103.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15718/discog.2007.14.3.81 / Open access

Abstract:

This paper contributes to a better cross-linguistic and cross-cultural understanding of Korean ethnopsychology and Korean ways of thinking and feeling through a linguistic analysis of the culture-specific concept and emotion known as 정 ceng. It uses NSM to describe the meaning of 정 ceng as well as that of ceng tteleci- ‘be disgusted’, which is one of several fixed expressions containing the word 정 ceng.

It is widely agreed that 정 ceng reflects the essence of Korean psychology in both interpersonal relations and personality characteristics. Understanding the meaning of 정 ceng and of the fixed expressions containing 정 ceng in daily conversations is therefore critical for cultural outsiders of Korean culture, and in particular for language learners. The analysis is based on linguistic evidence collected from corpus and other resources as well as on previous research in Korean cultural psychology.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) Korean – Mental states

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). “Do you remember where you put the key?”: The Korean model of remembering. In Mengistu Amberber (Ed.), The language of memory in a crosslinguistic perspective (pp. 209-233). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.21.11yoo

Abstract:

The general treatment of the English concept ‘remember’ in cognitive science mistakenly suggests that it is a kind of innate human mental state that enjoys universal existence. This is denied by the existence of three translational equivalents of remember in Korean (sayngkakna-, kiekna- and kiekha-), which cannot be used indiscriminately: context is the decisive factor in the selection of the appropriate verb. This paper analyses the meanings of the selected Korean cognitive verbs that are employed as translational counterparts of remember. The NSM approach is adopted as the research framework for semantic analysis. Linguistic evidence is collected from various sources including corpora.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) Korean – Mental states

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2007). Mental states reflected in cognitive lexemes related to memory: A case in Korean. In Andrea C. Schalley, & Drew Khlentzos (Eds.), Mental states: Vol. 2. Language and cognitive structure (pp. 85-108). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.93.07yoo

Abstract:

This study explores the issue of universality and variation in conceptual systems across languages and cultures. It investigates cross-linguistic variability in such systems through a semantic study of various morphosyntactic patterns in Korean. The focus is on three words related to the mental experience of remembering: kiekha- ‘remember’, kiekna- ‘memory comes, remember’, and chwuekha- ‘reminisce’. Their semantic contents is described on the basis of linguistic evidence, using NSM as an analytical tool.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners

(2007) Korean – 화 hwa

이정애 [Lee, Jeong-Ae] (2007). 문화간 의사소통을 위한 ‘화’ 의 의미분석 [A semantic analysis of the emotion word hwa for cross-cultural communication]. 담화와 인지 [Discourse and Cognition], 14(1).

Written in Korean.

(2008) English, Korean – Speech acts

Kim, Heesoo (2008). The semantic and pragmatic analysis of South Korean and Australian English apology speech acts. Journal of Pragmatics, 40, 257-278.

DOI: https://doi.org.10.1016/j.pragma.2007.11.003

Abstract:

The aim of this study is to undertake a semantic and pragmatic analysis of South Korean apology speech acts, in particular with respect to how South Korean apologetic speech act expressions differ conceptually from Australian English expressions of apology. NSM is used to clarify how the main South Korean apologetic speech act expression mianhada differs conceptually from Australian English sorry; in the process, some distinctive features of South Korean culture are illustrated. South Korean apology speech act strategies are investigated in seven situations; this investigation is modeled on the work of Blum-Kulka and collaborators.

The findings of this study are that the attitudinal meanings of mianhada and sorry, as well as the range of illocutionary acts associated with the two expressions, are different. Decomposing mianhada and sorry into their illocutionary components provides a fine-grained description of what are assumed to be the attitudes and states of mind of South Koreans and Australians, respectively, when performing an apology. The study further suggests that conceptualizing speech act expressions through the use of semantically simple words may help second language learners acquire the proper ways of carrying out speech acts (including non-verbal expressions) in the target language and culture.

More information:

For a different analysis, see:

Yu, Kyong-Ae (2017). Perceptions and functions of Korean mianhada: comparison with American English sorry. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 25(2), 197-224.

Rating:


Crude application of NSM principles carried out without prior training by an experienced NSM practitioner

(2008) Korean – Discourse markers (JOM)

Yu, Kyong-Ae (2008). The NSM-based approach to a Korean discourse marker: jom. 담화와 인지 [Discourse and Cognition], 15(1).

(2008) Korean – Ethnopsychology and personhood

Yoon, Kyung-Joo (2008). The Korean conceptualization of heart: An indigenous perspective. In Farzad Sharifian, René Dirven, Ning Yu, & Susanne Niemeier (Eds.), Culture, body, and language: Conceptualizations of internal body organs across cultures and languages (pp. 213-243). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110199109.3.213

Abstract:

This chapter shows the possibility of understanding Korean ethnopsychology through culture-specific concepts, and at the same time provides evidence of cross-cultural and cross-linguistic variability in the conceptualization of human faculties and body parts.

It is widely agreed that the conceptualizations of body parts across languages and cultures may shed light on human cognition in general. This contribution attempts to establish the Korean cultural model of the heart. In Korean, there are three distinctive concepts corresponding to the English concept of heart: 심장 simcang, 가슴 kasum, and 몸 maum. These words are frequently used in daily conversation as well as in literature. Knowing their meanings is therefore crucial in understanding the Korean view on human faculties. These meanings are described here using NSM. The lexical semantic analysis of the three Korean concepts illustrates the Korean culture-specific way of conceptualizing human faculties related to the English concept of heart.

Rating:


Research carried out by one or more experienced NSM practitioners