earticle

영어

An examination of Chinese language acquisition errors among Korean students has revealed that they often transfer the semantic and usage characteristics of the Korean verb “열다” into the Chinese verb “开”, leading to misapplication of the latter. This article refers to <표준국어대사전> (Standard Korean Language Dictionary) and ≪现代汉语词典≫ (Modern Chinese Dictionary) to compare and analyze the semantics of “열다” and “开” across displacement, initiation, and production meanings. In terms of displacement, “열다” primarily encompasses the basic action of “opening,” whereas “开” extends to opening, separating, starting, leaving, becoming known, and dividing. For initiation meanings, both verbs share semantics related to the start of events, but “开” also includes the lifting of prohibitions. Regarding production meanings, both can signify a shop opening, with “열다” also involving the creation of abstract concepts such as establishing diplomatic relations and new beginnings, while “开” emphasizes the emergence of basic entities, such as clearing a path or issuing documents. The article identifies semantic correspondences between “열다” and “开,” providing insights for designing Korean-Chinese language instruction. In addition, the article illustrates the respective motion diagrams for the words “开” and “열다” based on their semantic characteristics. In language teaching, teachers can use intuitive images to explain the meanings of words, reducing the vocabulary memorization burden for students. It may be advantageous for future comparative studies of “开” and “열다” to incorporate native language corpora, allowing for a nuanced exploration of their commonalities and differences within specific contexts.