The syntax comparative research of Korean and Chinese Adjectives

한·중 형용사 통사론적 비교 연구 - 형용사의 특징과 기능을 중심으로

  • Received : 2011.10.21
  • Accepted : 2011.12.09
  • Published : 2011.12.30

Abstract

The main focus of this dissertation is the comparative research of Korean and Chinese adjectives. With the comparison and contrast of the concepts, features and usages of Korean and Chinese adjectives, we have concluded some similarities and differences. The aim is to help Chinese learners who study Korean better understand the features of Korean adjectives and use them more easily. Korean belongs to 阿?泰?族 and expresses meanings with pronunciation; however, Chinese belongs to ?藏?族 and expresses meanings with characters. There are many similarities between those two languages that look completely different, such as pronunciation and grammar at some extent. Even the Chinese words in Korean are quite similar to Chinese. However, the two languages are very different from each other, from the detailed grammatical view. For instance, the auxiliary word in Korean and Chinese is completely different. Then, Korean has a concept: ?尾that does not exist in Chinese at all. Especially, about categories of words, it is very important and difficult to distinguish adjective and verb for the Chinese Korean-learners. One reason of the challenge is that some Korean adjectives are categorized as verbs in Chinese. For example, "like", "dislike", "fear" in Korean are "psychological adjective" however, they are "psychological verb" in Chinese. The differences in categorization always mislead learners in understanding whole articles. At the same time, they cause more problems and difficulties in learning other grammatical items for Chinese Korean-learners. Based on that, the dissertation is helpful for Chinese learners who are studying Korean. Starting from the most basic concepts, the second chapter focuses on analyzing the similarities and differences between Korean and Chinese adjectives. The correct understanding of adjective is the basis of accurate learning of it. With the comparison of concepts and primary comprehension of adjective, the third chapter analyzes in detail about the features of Korean and Chinese adjective from grammar and meaning. Based on those features, we analyze the detailed usages of Korean and Chinese adjective in articles; especially we provide the detailed explanations of adjective changes in different tense and ?尾 changes in using with noun and verb. The fourth chapter emphasizes the similarities and differences of adjective meanings in Korean and Chinese. We have provided the comparative analyses from six different views, which could be helpful for Chinese Korean-learners. Until now, there are few comparative studies of Korean and Chinese adjectives. About this dissertation, some limitations also exist in such an area. However, we hope it could provide some help for Chinese Korean-learners, and more profound research will be developed in the future.

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