일반 언어학의 한자에 대한 이해와 문제점

Abstract

In the introductory books on linguistics, containing general explanations on the basic knowledge of the overall research fields in general linguistics, the selection of the contents to include as basic knowledge of linguistics and the accuracy of its description are of the foremost importance. Therefore, this paper analyses the contents defining the Chinese characters in introductory linguistic books written and/or compiled by Korean linguists since 1990 to discuss what contents are essential to include as basic knowledge of the Chinese character system. Then, based on the discussion, it examines issues associated with the descriptions of the explained contents, focusing on differences from the general views held in Chinese linguistics and graphonomy. The findings of this paper on these two points may be summarized as follows:BR The contents related to Chinese characters in introductory linguistic books can be categorized into seven aspects: origin, types of writing system, font change, the formation principles of Chinese characters (liushu), characteristics, number of characters and propagation. In view of the definitions provided for Chinese characters in Korean dictionaries and the Chinese characters described in Modern Chinese (現代漢語), these seven aspects are essentials to be included in the description of the basic knowledge about Chinese characters. In addition, the content of the modern simplified Chinese should be included.BR The ‘types of writing system’ and ‘liushu’ display variances in different introductory books of linguistics, or differ from the general views held in Chinese graphonomy. In this paper, the two issues of (1) ‘classification of the types of writing system of Chinese characters by stages’ and (2) ‘explanation of the concepts of jiajie (假借) and zhuanzhu (轉注) among the six Chinese character formation principles(liushu)’ are examined based on the general views in Chinese graphonomy. In regards to (1), this paper points out the invalidity of classification by stages in contrast to the necessity of typal classification according to the classification criteria. In regards to (2), this paper clarifies the concept of ‘jiajie’ and what introductory books of linguistics have failed to provide correct explanation on it. Also, this paper points out erroneous explanations of zhuanzhu as ‘extension of meaning’ by introductory linguistic books, suggesting exclusion of zhuanzhu in the explanations of liushu for the ambiguity of concept.BR The purpose of this paper is not to point out any fallacy in the explanation but to address the importance of basic knowledge in explaining the Chinese characters, an ideography, and to extend the discussion. It is argued that detailed contents of each aspect of the basic knowledge of Chinese character system be discussed further and a standardized system established regarding the concepts of the terms and basic knowledge of the Chinese graphonomy which can be universally applied to general linguistics and graphonomy.BR