earticle

한국어

This study investigates the characteristics and linguistic implications of Chinese characters marked with “[日]” in Hanseonmun Sinokpyeon (漢鮮文新玉篇), a mixed-script Korean–Chinese dictionary published in 1913. The research aims to clarify how these markings reflect Japan-originated characters and lexical influences that entered late Joseon Korea during the transition to modernity. Through comprehensive textual analysis, forty “[日]”-marked characters were identified and classified into two main types: (1) Japanese-created characters (国字) such as 匁, 匂, 婲, 峠, 腺, 膵; and (2) Chinese characters used to represent native Japanese words (和語表記字) such as 俵, 栓, 鯖, 掟, etc. The results demonstrate that the “[日]” notation served not merely as a pronunciation or semantic aid but as a cultural metatag distinguishing the origin and path of foreign lexical transmission. These characters embody Japan’s adaptation of Chinese script for modern science, administration, and everyday life, and their subsequent introduction into Korea through educational and print media channels. By marking such characters explicitly, the compilers of Hanseonmun Sinokpyeon consciously delineated the boundaries between indigenous and foreign elements within the East Asian logographic sphere. Consequently, the “[日]”-marked entries in Hanseonmun Sinokpyeon are not passive borrowings but evidence of Korea’s selective and critical acceptance of Japanese lexical innovations. They reveal how early twentieth-century Korean lexicographers recognized, categorized, and recorded cultural hybridity in the process of modernization. This study thus situates Hanseonmun Sinokpyeon as a pivotal document in tracing linguistic contact, cultural boundary-making, and the reconfiguration of Han-character identity in modern East Asia.