‘착하다’의 의미 확장 양상과 의의

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the aspects of semantic extension and senses of the adjective 'chakhata''. The main results are as follows. First, the basic definition of ‘chakhata’ refers to 'a person or attitude/behavior that is correct, right, and merciful.' When used with an inanimate object, it has affirmative aspects such as 'moral', 'behaving well', 'health-friendly', 'environment-friendly', 'learner-centered', ‘superior', 'economic', and 'aesthetic'. But when used about a person and an inanimate object, it can take on a negative aspect, such as 'depersonalized'. Second, the semantic extension of ‘chakhata'’ can be best captured by the usage-based model and explained by the semantic network and meaning chain model. The direction of semantic extension is: (i) ‘person→ animal→ plant→ inanimate object’ in the basic meaning category; and (ii) ‘behaving well’→ ’moral‘→ ’learner-centered‘→ ’health-friendly’→ ’environ- ment-friendly‘→ 'superior'→ ’economic‘→ ’aesthetic‘→ ’depersonalized’ in the extended meaning model. Semantic extension is peculiar in that various types form polysemous words, while their reception aspects differ according to generation. Oxymoronic collocation and negative meaning of ‘chakhan+noun’ are conspicuous. Lastly, because semantic extension of ‘chakhata’’ is very active and entrenched in terms of the extent and frequency of its usage, it is suggested that its polysemous senses and usage information should be listed in dictionaries.