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영어

Kim, Haeyeon. 2012. A Study of the Uses and Meanings of the Word Nactai 'Low' in a Korean Written Corpus. Korean Journal of Linguistics, 37-1, 107-129. We encode our perception of space such as distance, height, direction, and so on. Among these space-denoting words, this research explores uses and meanings of nacta 'low' as one of our perception about height in space through an analysis of a written Korean corpus. First, this study examines the distribution of uses of nacta in terms of grammatical functions, showing the frequency of nacta in attributive and predicative positions. Second, this work shows meanings of nacta in the database, summarizing them in the following terms: (i) physical reality of height (ie., lowness in height), (ii) little amount of quantity on a vertical scale, (iii) low levels of quality of abstract entities on a scale, (iv) low levels in a social hierarchy, and (v) low frequency rates in a human voice or sound. Such semantic properties of nacta indicate that the basic meaning of nacta as physical reality of height is metaphorically extended to denote relative relations/levels among abstract entities in quality, abstract quality, society, and frequency rates in sound. This work characterizes abstract meanings of nacta in terms of metaphor theory, showing that height in quality, degrees, and social relations are derived from our conceptual notion that views height between a reference point and a target on a vertical scale in terms of a numerical scale. Finally, this research suggests that a corpus-based cognitive approach to language is a useful tool in characterizing metaphorically extended meanings of space-denoting words. (Chung-Ang University)