A Diachronic Study on ‘Литературный Язык’ in Relation to Korean ‘Standard Language’ and ‘Literary Language’

Abstract

After the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Russia in the 1990s, departments of Russian studies were founded at many universities, and Russian studies research was expanded and subdivided into various fields, and the quality of research rose to a considerable level. However, the scope of research in the history of the Russian literary language field is not wide and the research results and achievements are insignificant compared to other fields of Russian studies. Nevertheless, I think that it is time to organize the research results for the next generation of academics, and as a first step, I would like to address the problem of the Korean translation of the Russian term ‘литературный язык(ЛЯ, literary language)’. This paper, which focuses on the process of the development and the historical background of the formation of the relationships “signified-signifier” of the Russian ‘ЛЯ’ and the Korean “standard language” in the aspect of the Korean translation, asserts the following: First, in the history of Russian language, “Simple Russian” of the Peter the Great period in the 18th century is the embryo of the modern linguistic concept literary language. Second, through the 18th, the early and mid-19th century, “Simple Russian” came to form the characteristics of the nation’s literary language. Third, we cannot apply the concept of literary language to any of the language types of old Russian. Fourth, the signifier for the term literary language, which appeared in the mid-19th century with the meaning “language of literature”, gradually expanded, and deviated from the signified-signifier relationship at the beginning of its formation, but the signified does not change even in the present when the first signifier is not recognized. Fifth, for the translation of the term ЛЯ, the signified of the individual language closest to the signifier of ЛЯ should be selected. The Korean equivalent of the ЛЯ is a standard language, so it is reasonable to transfer ЛЯ to a standard language. Sixth, “history” is considered from a retrospective point of view from the point of origin or roots of the present to the present. Therefore, even if the ИРЛЯ begins in the 10th century when the ЛЯ did not exist, it is reasonable to translate it into the history of the Russian standard language.