원형이론에서의 한국어 한자어 접사와 중국어 사철 대조 연구

Abstract

Korean hanja affixes and Chinese affixes play several roles and often belong to different categories, thus limiting the possibility of categorization. In order to overcome these limitations, this study investigates whether the prototype theory, a cognitive linguistics theory widely used in numerous domains, can be employed. First, I examine the Korean and Chinese affixes and their particularities. Then, I review the existing literature and show the problems caused by the classical theory of categorization and, in order to solve these problems, I consider the prototype theory and its particularities. After that, I analyze the specificities of the prototypical categorization of both hanja and Chinese affixes. By doing so, I demonstrate that the prototype theory can be used successfully. Hanja affixes, historically represented as derivatives, are affected by other categories’ factors; they are connected to other linguistic factors from other categories. In other words, Chinese characters were used in the Korean vocabulary system as independent nouns or dependent word root; however, as time passed and circumstances evolved, their usage expanded and they acquired an affix function. The prototype theory originates in the critic of Aristoteles’ classical theory of categorization used in linguistics and philosophy. The categorization of hanja affixes and Chinese affixes have problems such as the ‘indetermination of the categorization’, ‘blurriness of categories’ limits’, ‘hierarchy of terms within a category’, and using the prototype theory can help when making categorization. Consequently, the prototype theory is more relevant than the classical approach.