｢～にくい｣｢～づらい｣｢～がたい｣의 의미·용법 고찰

Abstract

This paper examines the meaning and usage of the expressions｢～nikui｣｢～zurai｣｢～gatai｣, which connect to a verb and state difficulties in carrying out an action.<BR> A usage analysis of BCCWJ confirms that verbs connecting with｢nikui｣ include non-volitional verbs as well as volitional verbs, and that verbs with specific, concrete meanings can also come before it. Previously, it was thought that｢～zurai｣ cannot connect with non-volitional verbs, but it proves to be false and ｢～zurai｣connects with diverse verbs. Another expression｢～gatai｣was also known to be unable to connect with non-volitional verbs, which has also turned out to be false. Non-volitional verbs, with some limitations, can come before ｢～gatai｣ and it was found that verbs describing human mental activities most frequently connect with the expression.<BR> The analysis of the meaning and usage of ｢～nikui｣｢～zurai｣｢～gatai｣ focuses on the causes or sources of difficulties in taking the action described by the verb.<BR> ｢～nikui｣ can be divided into objective(physical, situational, physiological) causes and subjective(psychological) causes. In case of ｢～zurai｣,we can classify it into objective (physical(corporal), physical(material), situational) causes and subjective psychological) causes. In particular, it is found that physical causes and objective situations suggested by ｢～zurai｣ do not accompany mental and physical pain or displeasure, regardless of the etymology of ｢～zurai｣. Meanwhile, ｢～gatai｣ usually connects with verbs involving human mental activities. The study also confirms that it expresses the narrator’s subjective judgment that the extent or degree of a subject is prohibitively alarming, and mostly used in idiomatic expressions, literal expressions, and formal settings.