콩글리시 어휘의 유형과 형성의 인지적 동기

Abstract

Kim, Haeyeon. 2007. Types and Linguistic Motivations for the Formation of Konglish Words in Korean. Discourse and Cognition 14.3, 25-52. Since the late 19th century, many English words have been borrowed into Korean, forming a part of Korean vocabulary. Loanwords from English have often been called Konglish words, being treated as examples of nonstandard, “incorrect”, or “wrong” expressions. Contrary to these negative attitudes toward Konglish words, this research claims that Konglish words are formed by observing the principles of word formation in language in general, motivated by some linguistic principles. To support this claim, this study first classifies types of Konglish words into four types based on their phonology, morphology, and semantics: (i) loanwords which keep their original forms and meanings, (ii) loanwords with original forms but changed meanings through expansion or narrowing, (iii) abbreviated expressions, not used in real English, and (iv) coined or fabricated loanwords, mostly compound nouns. Based on the examination of these four major types of loanwords, this research proposes that economy, distinctiveness, and prominence are major motivations which govern the formation of loanwords in Konglish. This study shows that cognitive motivation applies not only to the processes of word formation of natural language in general but also to the formation of loanwords as a process of grammaticalization. (Chung-Ang University)