문어 말뭉치에서의 ‘동물’과 ‘짐승’의 문자적 의미와비유적 의미의 사용에 대한 분석

Abstract

Metaphor theory (MT) has been widely used to characterize literal vs. figurative meanings of lexical items. The purpose of this research is to explore literal vs. figurative meanings and uses of the lexical items tongmwul ‘animal’ and cimsung ‘beast’ in terms of lexical semantics, corpus linguistics, and metaphor theory through an analysis of a Korean written corpus. The examination of the database shows that the number of tokens of tongmwul amounts to 1.6 times more than that of cimsung. It also shows that the frequencies of the figurative use of tongmwul and cimsung amount to 2.1% and 18.0%, respectively. Based on this observation, this paper discusses literal vs. figurative meanings of tongmwul and cimsung, focusing on the figurative uses of those two lexical items. In the figurative use of tongmwul and cimsung, man is usually described as immoral, savage beings who are far below the standard level of reason, emotion, morality, etc. When considered in terms of MT, figurative uses of tongmwul and cimsung can be explained as metaphorically extended meanings, being derived from the metaphors of MEN ARE ANIMALS and UNETHICAL HUMAN BEINGS ARE ANIMALS. Finally, this research shows that a corpus-based analysis of real, authentic data is a useful method for understanding and explaining literal vs. figurative uses of any lexical items.

Metaphor theory (MT) has been widely used to characterize literal vs. figurative meanings of lexical items. The purpose of this research is to explore literal vs. figurative meanings and uses of the lexical items tongmwul ‘animal’ and cimsung ‘beast’ in terms of lexical semantics, corpus linguistics, and metaphor theory through an analysis of a Korean written corpus. The examination of the database shows that the number of tokens of tongmwul amounts to 1.6 times more than that of cimsung. It also shows that the frequencies of the figurative use of tongmwul and cimsung amount to 2.1% and 18.0%, respectively. Based on this observation, this paper discusses literal vs. figurative meanings of tongmwul and cimsung, focusing on the figurative uses of those two lexical items. In the figurative use of tongmwul and cimsung, man is usually described as immoral, savage beings who are far below the standard level of reason, emotion, morality, etc. When considered in terms of MT, figurative uses of tongmwul and cimsung can be explained as metaphorically extended meanings, being derived from the metaphors of MEN ARE ANIMALS and UNETHICAL HUMAN BEINGS ARE ANIMALS. Finally, this research shows that a corpus-based analysis of real, authentic data is a useful method for understanding and explaining literal vs. figurative uses of any lexical items.