남⋅북한수어 지문자의 직관적 인식과 표현 용이성

Abstract

[Purpose] This study examined differences in fingerspelling between the South Korean sign language (SKSL) and the North Korean sign language (NKSL) according to intuitive recognition and ease of expression. [Method] Korean letters were presented as a precedent stimulus to 200 hearing college students who did not know the fingerspelling, and then the fingerspellings of South and North Korean sign language were presented at the same time as a target stimulus to determine which fingerspelling is more intuitive and easier to express. The experiment was presented with a program called E-Prime. [Results] First, fingerspelling of consonants in the SKSL showed the highest level of intuitiveness, followed by that of vowels in the NKSL, that of vowels in the SKSL, and that of consonants in the NKSL. In addition, it was found that fingerspelling of the nine letters ‘ㄹ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅍ, ㅓ, ㅡ, and ㅣ’ in the SKSL showed a higher level of intuitiveness than that in the NKSL. On the other hand, fingerspelling of the six letters ‘ㄷ, ㅁ, ㅋ, ㅎ, ㅏ, and ㅑ’ in the NKSL showed a higher level of intuitiveness than that in the SKSL. Second, fingerspelling of vowel in the SKSL showed the highest level of expressive convenience, followed by that of consonants in the SKSL, that of consonants in the NKSL, and that of vowel of NKSL. In addition, it was found that fingerspelling of the ten letters ‘ㄹ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅍ, ㅎ, ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅗ, ㅡ, and ㅣ’ in the SKSL showed a higher level of expressive convenience than that in the NKSL. However, fingerspelling of the three letters ‘ㅁ, ㅋ, and ㅌ’ in the NKSL showed a higher level of expressive convenience than that in the SKSL. [Conclusion] It is expected that the results of this study can be used as basic information to propose a hint for unification of two sign languages’ fingerspelling in the future.